What's Going On (Or Not) In Southern California?

My regular correspondent reports on efforts to answer this question:

The community in Irvine officially changed its name to St John Henry Newman in December but still describes itself as a “Mission.”

I note that while the ordinariate Guide for Parish Development refers to "Community in Formation", "Mission/Quasi Parish" and "Parish", "Mission" up to now has been rarely used, applying mostly to the Holy Martyrs Murrieta and Presentation Woodlands, TX communities. "Pre-Ordinariate Group" is in use, but it's not listed in the Guide. This is another example of the disorganized state of the North American ordinariate.

UPDATE: My regular correspondent points out, "A “Pre-Ordinariate Group” is a gathered group under lay leadership. There are seven of these shown on the AC Society website." Well, OK, but apparently this information is available only semi-officially, which has been the story in the ordinariate all along. Does Houston not have the manpower to update its own website?

Earlier, it was announced that the Newman community was set to become the first St John Henry Newman parish anywhere. But the Murrieta mission is apparently much larger and a more elaborate operation than the Irvine one. My rorrespondent continues,

Does Fr Barbour still celebrate [in Irvine]? Fr Baaten celebrated mass there on the Sunday JHN was proclaimed a saint, with Bp Lopes in attendance. Why did Fr Bartus delegate that job to him?

Fr Hugh Barbour is a puzzling case. I have a feeling Fr Bartus sold himself and the ordinariate to Fr Barbour on the basis that Barbour’s father, Fr Carroll, was the rector of St Thomas Hollywood who put it on its fully Anglo Catholic path, which Fr Davies has continued to build on. I can’t help but wonder if Fr Hugh was disappointed after a fairly short exposure to Fr Bartus and the OCSP.

As far as I can tell, Fr Hugh is still chaplain to Catholic Answers. But when he celebrated, apparently as an early-mass supply priest, in Irvine, he was "in residence" at the Our Lady of Grace diocesan parish in El Cajon, CA. He had left St Michael's Abbey after over 20 years as its prior and was on some type of leave. However, he is no longer listed in Our Lady of Grace El Cajon bulletins as "in residence" there. I think if Fr Bartus and possibly Bp Lopes had played their cards right, to have Fr Barbour associated with the Newman group would be a feather in their caps and in fact quite possibly a pull for additional mass attendance.

I've had some brief personal experience with Fr Hugh (including sitting in the same seat row on a plane), and he's a charming guy with a great sense of humor, which in Fr Bartus's case he has not got. I could never understand why, a great homilist, he was being used simply as a supply priest. I’ve got to wonder if Fr Barbour felt he wasn’t being effectively employed, although what's really going on in his case is anyone's guess.

While searching for videos I noticed pictures of the various Frs B celebrating at the four SoCal groups but apart from the announcement of Fr Barbour’s participation last year no one is named. I recognised the permanent deacon ordained for St Augustine, San Diego this year as the deacon at a solemn mass at HM, Murrieta.

Fr Bayles has returned from USAFB, Aviano so I assume he is back at OLG, but who knows? The websites and FB pages do not have any information about “leadership.” A phone number is given (the same one for SJHN, HM, and OLG) but no indication of who might be answering it.

Wouldn't one expect some sort of announcement and "welcome back" if Fr Bayles returned? But as far as I know, Fr Bayles, at least before his deployment, lived in the San Luis Obispo area, a 400-mile round trip from Covina. Beyond that, my correspondent thinks that any effort to purchase the Our Lady of Grace facility there by the "pre-ordinariate group" (or whatever it officially is) has ended, and it continues as simply a tenant.

It's a reflection on ordinariate leadership and communication skills, both from Fr Bartus and Houston, that so little is made public about these four communities. I'll greatly appreciate any other information and insights visitors may be able to provide.