THE
P RTAL
August 2017
Page 12
Beside the Sea
Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane visit Southend-on-Sea
N ot every
Ordinariate Group is the same. Some have an Ordinariate Mass every Sunday, some
once a month, and one – Torbay – has its own church building. But there are Ordinariate Groups where
their Pastor is also the Parish Priest and in many of these groups all join together for the Sunday Mass.
Diocesan Catholics at St Peter’s.
We thought it would be a good idea to
visit one such group. It being summertime,
where better to go than the seaside? So we
made our way along the A127 to Southend-
on-Sea.
The weekend we chose was hot and
sunny. Southend was full of people. Wives,
husbands and children, not to mention
grandparents and young people, all out to Ailbe & Darraugh Flynn
enjoy themselves at the seaside.
The mile and a third long pier, and its
train, were doing good business, as were all
the other attractions; funfair and food and
drink places were packed with people.
But, attractive though it was, we could
not stay with the holidaymakers. We had an Anne Peckham
appointment at St Peter’s Catholic Church,
Eastwood Road North. The Sunday Sung
Mass starts at 10:15 and we arrived in good
time.
It is a modern, post war, building. Recent
alterations have made it not unattractive.
Although the Sunday we attended clashed
with a day pilgrimage to Aylesford Priory, it Terrance Peckham
being the Feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel,
the church was still more than two-thirds
full. All ages were present, and a good ethnic
mix as well. Traditional hymns and Gregory
Murray were familiar to us.
The Parish Priest, Fr Jeff Woolnough and
his wife, Julie, are old friends. Fr Jeff is an
excellent preacher and, in his homily, held Bev Cooper
the children present spell-bound. After
Mass people repaired to the hall for some
refreshment. While Jackie busied herself
with taking photos, Ronald began the
interviews.
Usually, we make sure to speak with
Ordinariate members. However, on this
occasion we decided only to speak with
Cellia Fagence
Anne and Terrance Peckham, Margaret
Flynn with Leonore and Ian Burden settled
down with teas and coffee in the Parish
Office. Anne had been attending St Peter’s
since 1970, Terrance since 1994, Margaret
arrived eight years ago, and Leonore had
been a parishioner since 1978.
It seems the church was built by a group
of Irish missionaries: the Order of Mary
Immaculate. Mass was celebrated in a
“battered old hall”.
What did they think about the Ordinariate
that had invaded their church? The first
thing they noticed was that the Ordinariate
has married priests, and that “Pope Benedict
opened the door to C of E people to join the
Catholic Church.” They knew Fr Jeff is a
West Ham United supporter, or “Hammer”
as we say.
Our group of interviewees had noticed
much change, and “100% for the better.” The
rate of change had been dramatic. Terrance
observed that, “The whole environment
is more relaxed, we are together and are
becoming a real church family. The re-
ordering of the sanctuary with the Latin
inscription ‘Thou are Peter...’ is wonderful.”
Leonore felt that Fr Jeff, “Has a wonderful
flare for changing and altering the church
for the better. We really are St Peter’s now”,
Anne added, “We must not leave out Julie.
She has played a massively big part –
together with Fr Jeff ’s parents.”
They agreed that Fr Jeff is approachable
and available, as are the other priests and
the deacon at St Peter’s.
Margaret told us, “The liturgy is always
beautiful. Even at weekday Mass we have a