Sixteen OCSP communities own their own church. These range from substantial, if by no means first-rate, buildings newly built under the auspices of the local Catholic diocese (three Texas parishes), to whatever portion of the property on 5530 Honea Egypt Rd, Montgomery, TX is being used as a chapel.And this brought me to the bait-and-switch of the Presentation and other proposals, even at the heart of the Anglicanorum coetibus project as it's shaken out, that disaffected Anglicans can get an "Episcopalian" liturgical experience they wish they had in TEC.
So, even if they don't get a St Thomas Fifth Avenue for a building, they still get the glories of the 1940 Hymnal along with faux BCP, right? I mean, with a significant organ pealing the refrain of "Rejoice Ye Pure In Heart"?
In fact, of the 16 North American ordinariate communities that have their own buildings, it isn't completely clear how many have a real organ. Naturally, without a permanent building, the only chance for an organ is to get access to the one in the main nave of a Catholic parish at a convenient mass time, but this also means paying an organist.
My regular correspondent sent me a link to the apparent situation at St John the Baptist Bridgeport, PA as of May 2018:
I should note that there is also another capital expense on the horizon: the organ. The pipe organ which was here when we arrived is small and inadequate for our musical needs. We are using an electronic instrument, on loan from Kevin Chun, while we develop plans for a suitable replacement. This has proven more complicated than anticipated, and it is not clear at this point what the best solution will be. There are technical issues to be resolved, including the location for the pipes. In order to maintain our already excellent music program, we will need an instrument of reasonable size and excellent tonal quality. However we resolve the technical issues, this will be a significant expense. I’m extremely grateful to a couple of parishioners who have already offered (at their own initiative) to contribute to the costs when the time comes.Here is a YouTube that may give a hint about the current state of their excellent music program, as well as the size of the group that is expected to finance a new organ. (I count about two dozen in the pews.)
One thing that puzzles me is the reference in the report to the need to find a "location for the pipes". Would not the products from companies like Walker Technical, Hauptwerk, or Rodgers Instruments be much more suited to the purpose?
It sounds as though even among the ordinariate communities that could conceivably feature an organ in their worship, there's little synergy or imagination, but if resources are as limited as they must be given the attendance we see in Bridgeport, even installing a modern combination organ of the sort that's accessible to even modest Protestant congregations is out of the question.
I would be interested to hear from informed people about what organs and music programs are in place at ordinariate communities.
