St Thomas More, Scranton was originally in the PP and is now a full parish of the OCSP. Our Lady of Hope, Kansas City was also formerly a Pastoral Provision parish, now in the OCSP. The former parochial administrator, Fr Davis, was a PP priest but not previously associated with the group before the members became Catholic. He has now returned to diocesan ministry, and the group is led by Fr Sly, pastor of the host parish. The St Anselm's Community in Corpus Christi, TX was also PP, now in the OCSP. The parochial administrator combines his leadership of the group with his position as civilian chaplain at the Naval Air Station there. Masses are held at the base chapel. Based on their websites I would guess that both these latter groups are small and are not the first priority of their respective priests. There was also a PP congregation in Austin, St Margaret of Scotland, which was later suppressed. Perhaps this was the inspiration for Fr Sellers' choice of dedication for the congregation he leads in Katy, TX.A regular visitor adds,
There appears to be one factual error in your final paragraph in today’s post. There is at least one community received under the so-called “pastoral provision” that grew itself to parish status outside of Texas — the congregation now known as St. Thomas More Parish in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I’m aware that you expressed some doubts about the financial situation in this parish a while ago, but Fr. Bergman seems to know which trees to shake to make it rain money when there’s a crunch in the parochial finances.Regarding Scranton, we continue to hear in parish newsletters reported here that the parish has repeated difficulty meeting its cathedraticum, and at other times, payments to staff and creditors have been deferred. I believe Houston is under considerable pressure to show success, and this includes painting a favorable picture of the Scranton parish.More to the point, though, there’s no doubt that each congregation of the ordinariate is in a “sink or swim” situation. Several decades ago, I heard a sermon by a very wise Benedictine archabbot who pointed out that every living entity must grow in one way or another, and that this is just as true of a monastery or a parish as it is of a biological organism. An organism isn’t growing is dead, and thus decaying. In the case of a parish, the key to growth is evangelism — and this encompasses evangelism of successive generations as well as evangelism of the unchurched. Congregations that don’t evangelize effectively are certain to wither and fade in due course.
