THE
P RTAL
December 2012
We brew coffee, pray together, listen to a talk, make
craft items for a big Catholic festival, and organise a project for
schoolchildren. There is cake, chat and laughter, a great sense of
friendship, good discussions on good topics. Who are we?
Ordinariate women’s group
We’re the newly-formed – or fairly new, we’ve been
going for a few months now – Ordinariate women’s
group. We meet in South London, we think we are the
first such group and we would be glad to hear from
any others. The idea emerged quite spontaneously
– and within a few minutes of the suggestion being
made, we were getting out diaries, fixing a date for the
first meeting, and organising things.
We brew coffee
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wri tes
an ecumenical charitable trust, we have launched a
project designed to help with the children’s Christian
Essentially, we formed because there was work formation. Children are invited to discover some of
that needed doing. We needed some items for the the Psalms – they are given a short list from which
Ordinariate stall at the Towards Advent Festival at to choose – and to write out some lines from a Psalm
Westminster Cathedral.
they particularly like, to illustrate and decorate it, and
in a short paragraph to give reasons for their choice.
We felt that we wanted to do something to help with
Religious Education in schools, and we saw a value in Catholic and Anglican
The Project will involve Catholic and Anglican
a specific group linked to the Ordinariate, celebrating
primary schools across London: if you’d like to know
a particular tradition and heritage.
more, just drop us a line at: london.south@ordinariate.
coffee and cake
org.uk
Our first meeting got off to a chatty and agreeable
start, with coffee and cake and a talk about Octavia good links with the
Hill, one of the founders of the National Trust, a Association of Catholic Women
devout Christian, a social reformer, and a lady with a
We have good links with the Association of Catholic
strong bond to our South London territory – a garden Women –in fact, before we got ourselves founded, they
and almshouses that she helped to create are just a few invited us to a very agreeable tea-and-get-to-know-
yards from Precious Blood Church, where we meet.
you gathering at their chairman’s home, and we know
there is a warm welcome at their meetings.
work that needed doing
explore the stories of women
At each of our meetings, we have a talk about a
notable Christian woman; after Octavia Hill came
Lillian Bayliss, theatrical entrepreneur with strong
South London links – she established the Old Vic
Theatre to become a major part of London life.
link up with any other
Ordinariate women’s groups
We’ve given ourselves the working title of the London
Bridge Christian Women’s Group - the Ordinariate
was seen by the Holy Father as a “bridge” for Anglicans
seeking full communion with the Catholic Church, we
We are keen to explore the stories of women who meet at a church at London Bridge, and we want to be
made a specific contribution to the heritage which is a bridge to the local and wider community.
ours: others in the pipeline for talks include Josephine
Butler, Mary Sumner and Florence Nightingale. Group
We have the support and encouragement of our
members take turns to research and give the talks – priest, Fr Christopher. We’d love to link up with any
the standard is high and we’ve had some really good other Ordinariate women’s groups – there is so much
meetings.
to be done and we’re thinking along large lines. How
about a big pilgrimage to Walsingham, specifically to
a big venture for schools
pray for Christian marriage and family life?
Our major undertaking is a big venture for schools,
Joanna Bogle
both Catholic and Anglican. With support from