"Faith is the Substance"

Date1961

AbstractTitle: "FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE" Intertitle: "Since 1905 the Maine Sea Coast Missionary Society of Bar Harbor has carried the Christian gospel to isolated Maine island and coastal settlements. Hundreds of widely separated families are reached by this inter-denominational ministry which, carried on by faith, embodies in spoken word and practical service the teachings of Christ." Intertitle: "The Mission boat Sunbeam carries workers to remote communities, answers emergency calls, and holds a vital place in the lives of many island people. This film illustrates various aspects of the work of the Maine Sea Coast Mission -- a unique enterprise, undergirded by faith and carried on amid the beauties and rigors of the Maine coast." shots from a lighthouse station looking out over a bay. Views of crashing surf on the rocky coastline in winter. Views from Sunbeam underway in rough seas. Intertitle: "Many types of vessels ply Maine waters" Views of a ferry running between islands, and the schooner Victory Chimes under sail passing by Sunbeam. A small motorboat tows a load of lumber, and a large commercial ship in the distance. Intertitle: "Winter scenes around the waterfront" Views of sea smoke and clouds around a lighthouse in winter, and a buoy bell covered in ice. Views of a fishing boat at dock, with all its rigging covered in ice. Shots of a small coastal village covered in snow, with lobster traps and dories piles at the edge of the sea, trapped in ice. A wood dock is covered with wood lobster traps, and buoys are hung up waiting for the next season. Men walk on the ice at low tide; a young man sits on the deck of a lobster boat. Intertitle: "Scenes of summer fishing for herring and lobsters" Scenes near a lighthouse and breakwater of two fishing boats working with a fishing net. One boat is named "Milky Way" from New Harbor, ME. Shots of a jelly fish swimming in a bay. Views of fishermen bring catch to a larger fishing boat, a young boy rowing a large dory, and a fisherman in a small open motorboat pulling a lobster pot. Intertitle: "A few "dooryard calls" on coast people" Shots of a woman exiting a small hut and using a large saw to cut her firewood. She and another woman pose for the camera. Views of a dilapidated group of homes on the rocky shore. A fisherman tries to untangle ropes and pots. Various shots of the village and several older people. And older man chops wood. views of the large pile of wood outside his dooryard. A young boy strews hay around a field. Two young children pose outside their house for the camera. Another boy carries a bucket of water to a house, then poses with a woman and baby. An older couple chat and pose for the camera. A man tends his spring garden. Views of a dory being brought onboard Sunbeam. Views of Sunbeam at anchor, and pans of the mountains of Acadia in the distance. Views of a small rural cemetery. Intertitle: "Island funeral procession" Views of Sunbeam anchored offshore, and on land an old truck makes its way across a field. An old truck follows with several men in back escorting a casket to the cemetery. Intertitle: "A few of the small churches served by Mission pastors" Views of seven different churches seen mostly in winter in various communities. Intertitle: "Pre-fabricated steeple delivered for island church" A large wooden structure sits on the stern of Sunbeam. Men help unload construction items for the project, including cement block, which is put on the back of a pickup truck. A woman poses with the weathervane for the steeple. The steeple is hoisted off Sunbeam and put on the back of a dump truck. views of the church structure which is prepared for the structure. Intertitle: "Church and Sunday School enrich life in a small community" Villagers walk to the various churches. Bicycles and strollers are parked outside. Children leave the church after Sunday School. Intertitle: "Young couple married in island church" Views of young couple posing for camera on a windy day. The wind blowers the skirt of her dress around. Intertitle: "Working with the children is a constant delight" A girl has her sled on a road in the village. Views of laundry hanging out to dry on a breezy day. A group of children heads to a schoolhouse with a homemade wagon, then pose on the steps of the building. Intertitle: "Hot lunch for hungry youngsters" Four children pose for the camera, then run down a snowy road. Soon two boys with a pail of soup and some bread arrive, and the children all run into a building. Intertitle: "Vitamins, books, and Christmas gifts go out from Mission headquarters" Views of woman packing small containers of vitamins from bulk supply container. A woman stamps books that go in a box for shipment to an island. A bulk box of jelly beans is used to fill smaller boxes for distribution to the islands. A woman retrieves items form shelves, then wraps them in white paper and red string. Intertitle: "Barn remodeled as Christian youth center" Winter views of small building with the Mission superintendent looking over a carpenter's work on the interior, and discussing placement of a cross on the building." Intertitle: "The Sunbeam's special ministry to lighthouses and Portland Lightship" Views from Sunbeam as it approaches a lighthouse, shots of ocean breaking over rocks, views from the lighthouse of Sunbeam at anchor. Views of a ramp up to a lighthouse, and a family with three small children sitting outside their door near the lighthouse [Isle Au Haut?], Views of the light station at Mount Desert Rock, built in 1830. shots from the shore of Sunbeam at anchor, and the mountains of Acadia in the background. Views of Petit Manan lighthouse in winter. It rises 123 feet and was built in 1817. A dory is launched from Sunbeam, and views rowing through slushy water. Views of Portland Lightship in the fog as sunbeam travels around her. Intertitle: "The present Sunbeam, built in 1939, manned by crew of three, 72 feet long, drawing 7 feet, is in year-round service". Views hoisting a dinghy back aboard Sunbeam, and pulling up the anchor. Views of Sunbeam, decked out in nautical flags, leaving dock. Intertitle: "Christian transportation for the dead" A man carries a baby's casket down a ramp to the Sunbeam. Views of snowy day as a casket is removed from a hearse and carried carefully down a snowy ramp to the ship. A crewman shovels snow from the deck as Sunbeam is underway. Intertitle: "Navigation in fog by compass, chart, and radar" Foggy views of a navigational buoy as Sunbeam passes by. Shots of the radar on the top of the ship, and man working with radar equipment and navigational charts. Intertitle: "The Sunbeam carries varied cargo" Household goods are moved from the back of a truck to the deck of Sunbeam. Items are unloaded at the next dock. Intertitle: "The sick are safely transported to mainland medical care" Sunbeam at dock in winter. A sick person is loaded onto the Sunbeam on a stretcher. Views of the ship docking and the person put on a stretcher for an ambulance. Intertitle: "An island community, cut off by ice, is objective of a mid-winter trip" View of Sunbeam of her wake as it churns up a path in the ice. Sunbeam follows an open area between ice as moves forward. "Greenheart sheathing protests Sunbeam's hull against heavy ice" Greenheart is a dense wood from South America; the wood's exceptional density and strength, with high bending and crushing strengths, makes it ideal marine hulls. This was used before steel hulls were more commonplace. Views from Sunbeam as it makes its way through icy waters, pushing back ice pieces as it goes. Views of a harbor iced in, and a group of people waiting on the dock for Sunbeam as it arrives. Views of Sunbeam at her home dock in winter. Intertitle: "Free-will offerings support this work" Intertitle: "The Maine Sea Coast Missionary Society 24 Ledgelawn Avenue Bar Harbor, Maine"