Religion: The Flying Angels

When Queen Elizabeth passed out Birthday Honors last week, she awarded the Order of the British Empire to a Flying Angel. The Rev. Cyril Brown, 52, sports no wings and looks more like a white-haired Pat O'Brien than a member of the heavenly host, but the organization he runs is better known in the world's seaports and ship lanes by its nickname, the Flying Angels, than by its official title, Missions to Seamen.

The Sea for a Parish. The idea of the Flying Angels took wing one bright summer's day in 1835 when a young vacationing Anglican minister named John Ashley stood...

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