A Few Questions About The Lehigh Valley Ordinariate Group

Various questions kept popping into my head after yesterday's post on the restart of the Lehigh Valley ordinariate group. The first is simply how it can pay for the priest's weekly visits. According to the announcement, "Fr. Hummel hails from our sister Parish to the south, St. John the Baptist, Bridgeport, from which he will travel north to minister to the mission congregation in Bethlehem." Bridgeport is 55 miles from Bethlehem via the Interstates, so it's a 110 mile round trip. The 2020 IRS reimbursement is 57.5 cents per mile, so the group owes Fr Hummel $63.25 a week in mileage alone, leaving stipend aside.

My regular correspondent comments,

You posted on this in August 2018. Fr Bergman continued to celebrate for the Bath group twice monthly until the new pastor of the Catholic church there ended that arrangement. The fact that they continued to have mass celebrated in private homes suggests that the group never grew to any size. Will be interesting to see if new arrangements result in a larger community.

Realistically, expenses plus stipend for the priest alone should run well into three figures per week. How can a group that could meet in front parlors cover that?

Also, it's seven miles from Bath, PA to Bethlehem. How many Catholic parishes are closer? And of these, how many offer a reverent OF mass and a music program? What's the draw of a tiny startup?

In part, we can't answer this, because we don't know who these people are, although Fr Bergman presumably does. Wouldn't this be the sort of profile we might expect to see in Ordinariate News, that is, if we were to see anything at all? Something like, "Herb Beatty and his wife Pat, longtime Episcopalians, wanted to become Catholic, but worried that they'd miss the thees and thous of Rite One even more than the magnificent organ and paid choir they knew they'd lose if they swam the Tiber. But together with 73 former parishioners at St Charles King and Martyr, they vowed to build. . ."

But we don't even know if the core group is former Anglican or traddy Catholic, or maybe just non-denominationals on the carousel.

It does appear that Pennsylvania COVID restrictions are more relaxed than in other areas, with churches allowed 75% occupancy, though the Sunday mass obligation is still dispensed, and communion in the hand is still "strongly recommended".

The Bethlehem group will have no problem staying under 75% capacity. Will it have an option of communion in the hand? It's anyone's guess, but I betcha there'll be a reception with "patrimonial" refreshments for the bishop's visit.