THE
P RTAL
May 2012
Page 4
Where “North” Begins!
Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane
head north to visit the Darlington Ordinariate group
Travelling from
the South, it is said that Darlington is where road signs stop saying “To the
North”. With the exception of Scotland, it about as far “north” as the Ordinariate gets.
Famous
for
Railways,
engineering and the Northern
Echo, Darlington stands on the
river Skerne close to the Tees,
with a population close to 100,000
people.
On the Monday of Holy Week
(2nd April 2012), the Portal
was at saint Anne’s Darlington to
support the Ordinariate
Group there in its
reception
into
the
Catholic Church.
and Blackpool are the nearest!).
We have been made very welcome
by the Diocese, and can manage.”
Barry Taylor
Barry
Taylor,
a
retired engineer has no
regrets at joining the
Ordinariate and said
the group from Saint
James Darlington, now
worshipping at Saint After Mass with the Darlington group
Anne’s Catholic Church
on the edge of the town, had been
welcomed extremely warmly. “I
cannot stress how warmly” he
emphasised.
The Group has some trustees
who care for the money, of whom
the Treasurer is one. This has been
their interim arrangement. No
doubt they will transfer funds to
the normal Ordinariate Account
now they have joined the Catholic
Church. Most members Gift Aid
their contributions and Barry Nicola Reeves
thinks the Group can afford to
keep itself and their priest Fr Ian Grieves.
Rory Thompson, a retired
University Lecturer and a current
voice coach expressed “great
sadness that we had to leave out
spiritual home. I was a Cathedral
Chorister at Carlisle and am
very much a Cathedral
person.
I
married
a Catholic and my
children were Baptised
in the Catholic Church.
In the end it was an easy
decision to accept the
Hoy, Father’s extremely
generous offer, that we
are not losing anything,
but gaining a great deal.”
“The local Catholics
have welcomed us very warmly. It
has been friendly and easy. Not in
any way awkward. Just like visiting
old friends.”
“Many of us travel some distance
to get to Saint Anne’s, but we did
before. I travel a round trip of
about twelve miles and some to as
much as thirty to forty miles. We
even have people from Bradford!”
“I am a Trustee of the Darlington
Ordinariate Group – a charity –
we will provide a stipend for Fr
Grieves and promote the Catholic Faith in this Area.”
“We need to keep growing. Our continual
“I think we shall grow”, he said; “not only from former
Anglicans and members of Saint Anne’s congregation, evangelising is through socialising. We are great
but also as we make inroads into the local population.” ones for socialising. Everyone is encouraged to bring
another! We also attract people through our music.”
“I do not think our distance from the other
“Most of the other groups in the north are small in
Ordinariate Groups is a problem (Sheffield, Manchester