Welcome to the Wonderful World of Mariners

The primary emphasis of MARINERS is the support and nurture of families and individuals.

For questions or more information about Mariners, call LGPC or send an email.

If you are interested in other small group opportunities at LGPC, click here.

If you would like to join or form a Mariners Group,

please contact one of our Co-Commodores:

Mark Olen and Susan King

What Is Mariners?

Mariners originated in the Calvary Presbyterian Church of Wilmington, California in 1927 under the leadership of the Rev. and Mrs. Louis H. Evans.   The purpose was to bring couples into a closer relationship with their Christian faith and the church, provide meaningful social activities, and form an organized group (ship) that could be called upon to provide service and/or leadership to the church in a number of ways.

Who May Be A Mariner?

Originally, Mariners was designed to be a couples' organization.   In recent years, not wanting to exclude individuals that through one circumstance or another were single, Mariners opened membership to adult singles as well.   One of the objectives of Mariners is to "interest those outside the church in uniting with the church."   Individuals not formally related to our church are still welcome to participate in a Mariner ship.

What Are the Officers of a Mariner Group?

The name Mariners implies that we use a nautical theme for our officers: Skippers (Presidents), First Mates (Vice Presidents), Log Keepers (Secretaries), Pursers (Treasurers), Chaplain, Cargo Masters (Work Party Chairs), Lookouts (New Member Chairs), and so on.   Individual ships may add or delete officers as they see fit.   Couples serve as officers together, but singles may serve individually.  

What Do Mariners Do?

The answer to this question varies greatly from ship to ship. A lot depends on the make up, personality, and desires of the individual ship.   Most ships meet monthly; some will not meet during the summer months, but members may continue to gather informally for various activities.   A number of elements make up the agenda for the monthly meetings.   They are:

Business Meeting:   Generally no more than 15-20 minutes.   It may go longer if you are electing new officers, planning the coming year's program, or selecting a cargo activity.   The Log Keepers read the minutes of the previous meeting; the Pursers give the report on the funds in the treasury, and other business of the ship is transacted. Rules to conduct the meetings (formal verses informal) may be agreed upon by the individual ships.

Devotions:   There should be a time for devotions at each meeting.   The Chaplains, or others that the Chaplains may have asked in advance, lead the devotions.   The devotions may be original or taken from published devotional materials found in most Bible book stores, current periodicals, or a section from a favorite book that the presenter feels is appropriate.

Programs:   This is a time for creativity.   One of the first programs that a new ship may want to schedule is some type of activity to help members become better acquainted with other members of the ship.   Guest speakers may be invited to make a presentation that would be of interest to the group.   The showing of videos or slides by a member couple of a recent trip, game nights, picnics, day trips to an historical spot, camp-outs, concerts, theater, a progressive dinner, all have and could be used for a ship's program.   When planning a program, remember that your ship also represents the church.

Refreshments:   Usually a different couple or two are scheduled to provide refreshments for each of the meetings.   Generally it is the responsibility of the. individuals providing the refreshments to decide on what to serve.   As a ship you may want to establish some guidelines in this area because of dietary restrictions of some of the members.   Potlucks are very popular.

Do Mariners Have Dues?

This is at the option of the individual ships.   Dues should not be so high that they would restrict any prospective members from joining your ship.   Most ships like to have some means to raise funds to support the activities of the ship and the ship's cargo.   Some ideas are: an auction with members donating and buying the items auctioned and the proceeds going into the ship's treasury; a "Cheer Box" where members having a birthday, anniversary, child, grandchild or other event in their lives that they would like to celebrate, put in a self-determined amount into the "Cheer Box." If the individual ship does not feel a need for funds, then there is no need for dues, fundraisers, or the office of Pursers.   Any church-wide fundraisers conducted by a ship would have to be cleared through the Session of LGPC.

How Many Participants Make Up A Ship?

This is up to each ship to determine. If you are going to meet in a home, usually somewhere between eight and twelve couples will be the maximum that you will want. Twelve couples seems like a large group meeting in homes, but you can usually count on one or more couples being absent from each meeting. If you are going to meet in an activity room, like the Fellowship Hall or the Hub Room at the church, or club-rooms at a residential center, then the number of members could be larger. One of the purposes of Mariners is to get to know people in the church better in an informal setting, and if the ship gets too large, then this purpose is not achieved as well as it might be in a small group.

Do We Have to Belong to National Mariners to be in A Mariner Ship?

There is a National Mariners organization, but membership is not required. Couples or single individuals in a Mariners ship may belong to National Mariners at their discretion.

For additional information and resources, check the national Presbyterian Mariner web site at www.presfam.org