Thursday, March 12, 2015

A Closer Look At The Ordinariate -- III

So now we can proceed with US missions, given the understanding that we don't know exactly what a "mission" is, except that someone in Houston makes the decision. My informant adds, "The calculation is complicated by the fact that presumably the figure can include only those attendees who are eligible to join the Ordinariate." This would exclude those in irregular marriage situations (at least until they can have these adjudicated), and it would presumably exclude cradle Catholics -- but would it exclude those who, while coming from a Protestant denomination, were not cradle Anglicans? Are they required to have had an Anglican confirmation, for instance? A satisfactory record of attendance for a certain number of years at an Anglican parish? Who can say? Does anyone check this?

Here is the first installment of my informant's list of missions, as before, slightly edited:

  • St John Vianney, Cleburne TX has grown from eleven former Episcopalians to a congregation of "about 70 [which] includes a mix of traditional Catholics and former Protestants" according to an article in the Cleburne Times-Review. The former would probably not be eligible for OCSP membership, however. (During the negotiations between Our Lady of the Atonement, San Antonio and the OCSP it was frequently mentioned that about a third of the OLA parishioners would not meet criteria for Ordinariate membership.)
  • John Henry Newman, Fullerton, CA: a total of 70 people were initially received into the Church between this congregation and the one now worshipping in Carlsbad, CA. About a year later Fr Bartus spoke of his congregation as numbering "about 50". It is extremely difficult even to find this group on the web because Fr Bartus has started up, and then abandoned, at least half a dozen websites, Facebook pages, Pinterest pages, and blogs, all of which are still hanging around in cyberspace, of course. The current site is newmanonline.org, but it is not a goldmine of information.
  • Newman Fellowship Strafford, PA: Thirty-one members were received into the Church last November. Probably not an official mission, as they applied for membership relatively recently and they do not have a pastor as yet.
  • Church of St Michael the Archangel Philadelphia: Twenty-five members of St James the Less, an ACA parish, joined the OCSP in 2012. Their pastor currently ministers to JHN, Strafford as well.
  • Church of the Holy Nativity, Payson, AZ: Picture of reception into the Church from the ACA shows seventeen people, by my count. Recent newsletter claims that congregation has "doubled".
Corrections, clarifications, and updates will be most welcome.