In the last several weeks, I have been contacted privately by quite a few individuals interested in the possibility of forming new Anglican communities to be brought under the personal ordinariates authorized by Anglicanorum Coetibus. I have had the pleasure of corresponding with Anglican priests from the Episcopal Church, ACNA, the Anglican Catholic Church, and other Continuing Anglican jurisdictions. And I have heard from laymen not only in Anglican jurisdictions but also from ordinary Roman Catholics and Protestants of every variety. These unsolicited contacts seem to be indicative of a huge groundswell of interest on the part of folks, from diverse backgrounds and faith traditions, in the Holy Father's response to traditionalist Anglicans in the recent Apostolic Constitution.
When this blog was founded several weeks ago, its mission was conceived as being primarily a tool to educate the lay faithful of the Traditional Anglican Communion on the momentous happenings related to Anglicanorum Coetibus and to share the glories of Anglo-Catholicism with both our own people and the wider Catholic Church. I must admit being somewhat unprepared for the intense interest shown by members of other Anglican groups and many Roman Catholics in the Apostolic Constitution. For all of our initial excitement as Catholic Anglicans in the TAC, I now think that perhaps we underestimated the truly revolutionary nature of the Holy Father's initiative.
Several correspondents have expressed a desire for an information portal, a communications hub, or a "clearinghouse" for regional information on emerging groups hoping to avail themselves of the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution. This might take the form of a discussion forum with subgroups for each locality in which there existed (or interest was expressed in founding) a Catholic Anglican community. For example, were an individual interested in establishing a group in Lynchburg, Virginia, this person could moderate a dedicated discussion group for this city and interested persons in the Lynchburg area could more readily connect with like-minded folks. A single portal for these regional discussion groups would simplify administration, reducing the duplication of work, fostering cooperation between groups, and facilitating contacts between interested clergy and laity. A single online resource would more readily connect inquirers with the nascent Catholic Anglican communities than myriad disparate sites.
I am willing to provide the technological framework to facilitate just such an online portal. Indeed, the necessary software would only take a few days to install, configure, and integrate into The Anglo-Catholic site. I am willing to bear the burden of administration and maintenance for the overall site provided there is sufficient interest in the project.
To determine the initial level of interest, I am asking that anyone interested in the possibility of founding a new Catholic Anglican community (or coordinating the growth of an existing one) please signal that interest by either commenting on this post, or, if you would like to keep your identity confidential at this time (as may be the case with clergy active in jurisdictions not favorably disposed to the Apostolic Constitution), you may email me at ccampbell at threefishgroup dot com.
Count me interested.
Roman Catholic (former Anglican).
For starters – regional divisions (E.g. West Coast, Midwest, South, etc) may be adequate. Individuals can move it along from there.
God bless.
I am very interested. I live in the greater Washington, DC area (in Virginia).
There is an Anglican convent in Cantonsville, Maryland, that recently joined the Catholic Church — http://www.asspconvent.org/
I am also in the Northern Virginia area, and interested.
It does occur to me that this idea of "groups of Anglicans" is similar to the "stable groups" mentioned in Summorum Pontificium. This Pope is truly a visionary. As the old institutions and conformities crumble, the future of the Church is in staunch and devout groups of faithful and clergy.
Indeed, we are asked to assent to the whole Catholic Faith and accept the authority of the Pope and that of the Ordinaries who will be appointed to lead us, but beyond that, we are not asked to be identical copies of a "uber-catholic prototype".
Truly this Pope rocks as you Americans say! At last I see the future, and perhaps we may be able to recover some of the old medieval churches no one else is interested in.
Hang in there, and no one is asking us to go any faster than the speed at which the Church authorities are preparing to receive us.
A capital idea Christian! I'll help in any way i can.
I'd be willing to help out from Canada. We have a small but vibrant TAC parish in Ottawa, plus some daughter parishes in the region. Recently an Anglican convert to Roman Catholicism friend approached me about whether a prayer group should form for those outside the TAC discerning whether to be part of an ordinariate along with us.
In other words, he believes that there are people like himself and others who might want to join us, add to the "critical mass" and help get an ordinariate off the ground. He also knows of evangelicals who might be interested at least in exploring the idea.
Deborah
This is excellent! I will contact you privately with particulars.
Thank you, servus Dei!
Please, count me in! I am a former high church Episcopalian and now have nearly a decade under my belt as a Latin Rite Catholic. I live in the Diocese of Nashville, Tenn. As I have told Christian in private correspondence, I am not surprised in the least by the intense interest this blog has attracted. There are a great many people wandering in the liturgical desert today, and they ache for a more real and more reverent way of worshiping God. These people understand that embracing Anglo-Catholics and their patrimony will only help the universal Church in her pursuit of a more sacred, God-centered ars celebrandi. So whether we all ultimately join the Ordinariate or not, supporting this endeavor in any possible way is well worth the effort.
Skeeton: I just realized I could reply to comments. I posted below, but I'm also in the Diocese of Nashville. I, too, am a Roman Catholic highly interested in the Ordinariate and the Apostolic Constitution.
Hey, Diezba, another Nashvillian! I was beginning to feel lonely in here! Drop me a line at saulkeeton at gmail dot com. I look forward to connecting. Come, Lord Jesus! Come!
Dear Christian,
I am happy to be the coordinator/moderator for a regional discussion group in upstate NY, or more broadly if needed. This is a grass-roots uprising if there ever was one! I also suggest that we coordinate with the Anglican Use email list – I will send them a message to notify them of this initiative. If such a network is already formed in an informal way, then the job of the personal ordinaries will be much easier.
Andrew,
Excellent! I was going to post to the Anglican Use list myself, but if you could beat me to it, that would be a great help!
Where are you in upstate NY? Are you near the Massachusetts border? I know that the Anglican Use parish in Boston has some contacts with interested people in western Mass., as well as New York City — http://www.locutor.net/
Hi Christian, I just sent them a brief message. If you want to expand on it, please feel free to.
An early-in-life convert to the Church from PECUSA (1983 – age 12), I am keenly interested in assisting in the formation of a group to establish a ordinariate parish in Atlanta.
Truly the boundaries are moving! I see great potential for clergy and faithful of the TAC cooperating with Anglican Use people and regular cradle Roman Catholics who would like the kind of vernacular liturgy we can offer. This is added to the warm relations I have with a number of "Summorum Pontificium" Roman Catholic traditionalists here in France.
Ecumenism indeed!
We are moving away from the Continuing Anglican world, and we can but thank God for this new opportunity to re-draw the map.
This is wonderful! Keep up the good work.
I live in the Philippines, though I am frequently in the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, and Washington DC. Count me in on any effort I can help with either in the Philippines or in the US.
There are two organizations that could be a good source of help and members for any effort:
The Anglican Use Yahoo Group, around for 10 years, is way to connect to interested parties for suggestions and potential members. It is a very active, intelligent group of nearly 500 members from around the world — http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnglicanUse/
From the Yahoo Group came the the Anglican Use Society, which has been around for several years (but not quite ten). The AU Society was explicitly set up to help start AU prayer groups and parishes across the country. They have some resources and contacts that could be helpful — http://anglicanuse.org/
The AU Society is the group that organizes the annual Anglican Use Conferences. The next one will be June 10-12, 2010 in Newark, N.J., — http://www.anglicanuseconference.com/
Whoops. I just noticed that people have already mentioned the Anglican Use Yahoo Group. I was just being repetitive. Well, at least now you have the link.
As you know, I have been regularly communicating with clergy in the Diocese of the Missouri Valley (and with a few others). I have been considering just such an enterprise as you suggest, but having it set up and operated by someone with the requisite skills and facilities would be terrific. In addition to my diocese, I am interested in a community encompassing Texas and in particular the greater Houston area.
I am a Roman Catholic who would be interested in helping establish an ordinarate parish on Long Island, NY.
It's great to see all the interest here. If you do get groups started, please let me know, so that we can further publicize your news.
An aid to any nascent prayer groups is that Book of Divine Worship is now available online, so you can print out the relevant pages to form an easy to use handout for Evensong.
Also, if you shoot me an email, I can let you know if we have any current Anglican Use Society members in your area. The AUS is small, but the annual gatherings have helped keep people in touch.
Steve Cavanaugh
editor, Anglican Embers
I live in Sonoma county in CA. I left the Episcopal Church in 1985 for the RCC. Count me in for any developments in the North Bay.
My wife and I left the Episcopal Church in 1992, under the leadership of Fr. Lloyd Morris and Fr Timothy Church, both former episcopalian clergyman and now Catholic priests. They both live in Plano Tx.
We later moved to the San Antonio area and joined Our Lady of the Atonement parish. (www.atonementonline.com). This has been a great blessing to us as now we feel we are home.
If you wish you can view an Anglican Use liturgy
at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2998268
FR Phillips our Pastor, help write the Book of Divine worship. He says some changes will be made, but at least you will get a feel for the liturgy.
It is unfortunate the Anglican Church has lost it's way, but I believe it was for a reason.
God Bless you in your journey.
Gary
It sounds to me like what you are doing is the same thing the Springfield, Missouri group is doing, except you are opening the possibility to the entire country. Even in areas where there is an existing group, you would cast the net much wider in the community and allow people to explore the possibilities and help the existing groups to respond to them.
I'm a deacon of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. I know we have a TAC parish here in our area which presumably in due course will become part of the Ordinariate. There will no doubt be a time of transition before the Ordinariate is fully-staffed clergywise (impediments to be dispensed, perhaps some additional theological training, marriage situations to be regularized, and so forth), and I would be willing (pending my Archbishop's approval, of course) to assist in any way I can during that time of transition.
I am an Anglican Priest in the Pensacola, Florida area. If there are any Anglicans in my area looking to move into Communion with the Church. I am more than willing to help form an AU parish.
Then we can all go home together. The local Diocese would be all to happy too let us use a chapel.
Fr. Mark
Thanks, Christian for putting this together; it is a joy to see the movement forward. I am a priest in LA and anxious to convert, yet I need to attend to my immediate family responsibilities and the spiritual care of those in my charge. It would be very imprudent for me to put my name out there at this time, but I will after the new year and look forward to meeting other Catholic Anglicans that are joyfully anticipating communion with the Catholic Church. God bless you — us — all!
Sign me up Christian
I am a TAC priest in southwestern Virginia. I do not have a parish, but I am looking for a parish that is wanting to join in the Ordinariates once they are established. My family and I are willing to relocate almost anywhere.
Fr. Seraiah – please stay in touch, we will likely need priests in the near future!
Andrew — I'm here; ready, waiting, and praying.
I would like to meet up with Anglicans/Episcopalians in the area of Los Angeles to San Bernardino Counties who are interested in forming a group to enter into the Church under Apostolic Constitution. I converted years ago and my children were received as Anglican Use also.
Are there any persons interested in the above areas?
Gay, please give me a call after the New Year @ (310) 998-7982. I have friends who have already converted who wish to pray for and otherwise support us in our journey; I am glad to know that you are another. I know there is also a nucleus of Episcopalians wishing to be in communion with the Catholic Church here in Southern California (Orange County). Also, know that there are two convert/revert priests at St. Martha's in Murietta. Perhaps, the TAC churches in LA and Orange County will become parishes.
God bless you and may God bless us all in the year to come!
Rephrase that: Perhaps, the TAC churches in LA and OC will become our Ordinariate parishes. I think we all need to be in contact with them and our local Catholic bishops.
Fr. Bill
Are you talking about Fr. Barker? He was my priest and led us to the Catholic Church, and helped to establish the Pastoral Provision. If he is the one your thinking of, I don't know that he would be interested at this point. His parish is very large. In fact I spoke to him a few weeks ago.
Is the one in Orange the one that Bishop Rasch was Rector of? I am waiting to see what St. Mary of the Angels will do. It would be great to finally have that parish part of the Church. I loved it, but who knows which way the wind is blowing there. I will call you after the holidays.
Also, please pray for me and my family, we have much illnesses. Do you have a parish or do you belong to a TAC parish?
I am so glad you responded to my post. I have prayed for years, but California being so liberal didn't think if would be possible. My number is (909) 902-6016 if you want to contact me.
God Bless you
Gay
I'm a permanent deacon relocated to Central Florida (Lake County) and would love to assist you in any way. I'm supposed to be "old & retired" but I'm young at heart and ready to serve again!
Advent blessings+ to all
352-729-1597 (cell)
Deacon John,
Why don't you give me a call, 407-492-0661. I am the Dean of the Cathedral (ACA) in Orlando, but I am also serving as Priest In Charge of our parish in Ocala, and I would like the chance to meet you.
Deacon John! It is great to meet you! I was rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal in Fruitland Park until 1992. My family and I converted in 1998 and I have been a Catholic priest since 2002. Mt. Dora and Tavares ought to be a fruitful area. Fr. Ernie Davis
Keep us posted on any groups in Northeastern Indiana. We are very interested in the Pope's most generous offer.
I live in Allen, Tx, a suburb of Dallas. I am very interested.
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To "Northern Indiana Episcopalian:" I'm a TAC priest in Indy; where are you located?
Dear Father, we live in Huntington, about 20 miles outside of Fort Wayne.