Being a parishioner for some time, I’ll tell you that the majority of OLOTA membership is not from Anglo-Catholic backgrounds. I don’t know anyone who identifies as Anglo-Catholic or former Anglican. To those who disagree, please chime in. The survey the parish took in 2012 reported 67% were Anglican converts And/Or fallen away Catholics who have returned. But that statistic was not broken down into its two parts. I think it was purposely misleading. If there was a strong Anglo number, the stat would not have been written that way. Remember, the survey was taken and presented to the Bishop for the purpose of persuading him to allow the parish to enter the Ordinariate.My regular correspondent comments,
There were 60 confirmed at Holy Martyrs Murrieta at Pentecost. Looking at Facebook pix, at least half seem to be children of usual Confirmation age. Fr Bergman mentions here in the article entitled "Adult Confirmation on Pentecost" that the St Thomas More Adult Confirmation classes "for years now have been far more populated [with lapsed Catholics] than they have with Protestants seeking full communion with the Catholic church." None of the four adults confirmed at STM this year was a former Anglican, and this is at a full parish which entered the Church in 2005. I think the reception of former Anglicans in the Ordinariate is down to a trickle, representing a small fraction of those received every year in local dioceses.Roughly 30 children of the usual confirmation age at Holy Martyrs suggests that a significant number of cradle Catholic families in the Diocese of San Bernardino picked up and left diocesan parishes to join Holy Martyrs -- if we consider that actively Catholic families in diocesan parishes often do send their children to Catholic schools, this raises the question of whether they pulled these children out of diocesan schools to join the "home school co-op" or whatever it's called at Holy Martyrs as well. It would be fascinating to hear more from knowledgeable parties on what's going on here.
The question in my mind is what the appeal is for lapsed Catholics in ordinariate parishes. As my wife and I travel and become more familiar with diocesan parishes here and there around the country, we find that successful parishes are part of their communities, reflect the communities' interests, and have ongoing programs involving fellowship, service, Bible study, and other ministries. Certainly it's possible, though a little hard to believe, that there are no good options for lapsed Catholics wanting to rejoin the Church in Scranton, PA other than St Thomas More.
In fact, given that parish's size and financial constraints, I've got to question whether it offers a much smaller range of options, with a priest not formed as a Catholic and preoccupied with a family, for Catholics who seriously want to rediscover what they'd overlooked when they were younger. So what's the appeal?
I'll be interested to hear anyone's opinion.
