Perhaps I forgot to mention that Fr Hodgins is retiring as parochial administrator of St Thomas More, Toronto at the end of June, so that is one more community which has to be covered, and not one that can offer much financial support.But let's not forget that Peter Jesserer Smith, drafted a press release that was published here last November but quickly withdrawn that included this augury:
In sum, Father Perkins said he's very hopeful that we [St Alban's Rochester] shall have a new pastor by the summer or fall of 2017, so please pray for him!By my count, this gives five vacancies in OCSP groups and parishes that will need to be filled in the next several months. Indeed, in the case of Rochester, we would assume that some type of planning has been underway since last November, and a candidate would presumably be identified and ready to start.
But although the remark has been made that the OCSP has more priests than people, Fr Perkins, despite this surplus, is clearly going to be hard pressed to fill these vacancies. I keep coming back to the remark by the TEC priest in my long-ago confirmation class, that Anglo-Catholics want the prestige of calling themselves Catholic without paying the dues you have to pay actually to be Catholic.
We've got a bunch of supernumerary guys who wear the collar and get to call themselves Father, but far be it from them actually to serve a parish or group if any sort of discomfort is involved. They've got families, after all. We've got to recognize how really special they are!
