But here's another question: we know that those eligible to be "members" of the OCSP are Protestants of Anglican background, very flexibly defined, or cradle Catholics who haven't completed the sacraments of initiation. But except for cradle Catholics who've had first communion, none in these groups would have been eligible to receive the sacrament on Epiphany Sunday. Was there just a procession of people who came up to Fr Perkins to receive a blessing, or what?
The next puzzling thing is what they're doing at the potlucks. The one scheduled for, but which may or may not have been held on January 10, was to have included "a discussion of the significance of the season of Epiphanytide". (Catholics who went to mass that Sunday, of course, had that as well.) This suggests that some stab at catechesis is possibly being made, but how much of one, and by whom?
Is the intent to bring these people into the Church at the Easter Vigil? This leaves less than three months to complete catechesis. And let's keep in mind that Mrs Gyapong, a show horse among the OCSP laity if ever there was one, announced only recently that the Anglican Patrimony overrode any necessity for OCSP members to avoid near occasions of sin. This leads me to question if she's ever been to confession, or if she has, if she's ever recited an act of contrition. What sort of catechesis is being done anywhere in the OCSP?
Diocesan RCIA programs, which are often felt to be less than satisfactory, frequently take nearly a year, sometimes two. And to assert that Anglicans have most of it down already is a serious misunderstanding of Protestantism. For instance, a perfectly respectable Anglican understanding of the Sermon on the Mount is that it sets an "impossible standard", to which I guess the faithful are meant to go "gee, wow' and go on sinning. (The link suggests it's meant to blow our minds, but it's not to be taken literally, for instance.)
The Church's position is that She doesn't demand the impossible. This is a serious difference, and at minimum it brings us to the examples of the saints and the reason for purgatory, which as we recall is denounced in the XXXIX Articles. It's also a key reason for aural confession, which in Anglicanism is not required of believers. If my education on confession was too sketchy in RCIA, what's it gonna be after potluck on Wednesdays in lent at St Aelred's?
And who's doing the catechizing here? Is it Mr Tipton? He's been trained in an Anglican seminary, where he's learned about the many branches, one tree, the impossible standard in the Sermon on the Mount, and whatever else. He's in line for ordination like the other sketchy candidates, so of course he's fine to catechize his little flock. Maybe Mrs Gyapong will teach him the finer points of the Anglican Patrimony, too.
Diocesan catechists must normally be certified after extensive and ongoing formation. As far as I can see, Mr Tipton, not even Catholic himself, isn't remotely qualified to teach RCIA, much less bring in people who've had misguided Protestant formation.
If Mr Tipton isn't even Catholic himself, it means he's never been to confession. How on earth can he instruct others on how to make it? How on earth, a few months hence, can he set himself up as someone who can hear it? So why not require members of groups-in-formation to attend RCIA at the same host parish where they're holding potlucks? Well, that might delay things, which might make Bp Lopes look bad or something.
As best I can figure, based on the short-lived example we saw in the Tampa area and what we're now seeing in Georgia, after a few months of casserole and fried chicken on Wednesday nights, Mr Tipton will be clear for ordination, and his dozen or so quasi-Catholics will be ready to be received. The folks who go through RCIA down the hall at the host parish will be better off indeed, no matter how inadequate that program may be.
Bp Lopes is the one who will answer for this, if not when the OCSP goes kerflooey, then certainly in the hereafter.
UPDATE: My regular correspondent provides some corrections and clarifications:
Mr Tipton and his wife were received into the Church last Easter. The mass on January 7 is described as "Novus Ordo"; I believe it was the regular 8:15 mass at St Joseph's, Athens, unless you have other information. The Evensong/potlucks were/are scheduled to take place at the Tiptons' home, which is why the address is not published, but can be forwarded in reply to an email. I note that Mr Tipton is now teaching theology at a local Catholic high school, for what that's worth.I'm still puzzled. If someone's been Catholic less than a year, I don't see how they'd be certified to be catechists. And if I were a school parent, I'd want to know more about that "theology" class -- Catholic parents do have choices. And are members of the St Aelred's group going to the novus ordo mass normally on Sundays, receiving a blessing or eligible for the sacrament? If so, what on earth is the point of Anglican Patrimony here? What is the point of going to mass with Fr Moreau at St Josph's, or in fact going to him for confession, and thinking that things will be "better" once Mr Tipton is eligible to read thees and thous from the DWM?I do agree that there seems to be no reason why what was appropriate preparation for the Tiptons at St Joseph would not be equally appropriate for any seekers who have joined the Evensong group. We are not talking about any community he previously led in his brief stint as a campus chaplain at the university, I would presume. Why this duplication, except as a vehicle for his ordination?
