THE
P RTAL
December 2015
Page 20
“Growing Up:
Growing Out”
Realising the vision laid out in Anglicanorum Coetibus
“Growing Up:
Growing Out” is a review of the whole Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
undertaken by Fathers David Lashbrooke, Paul Burch and David Waller, sub-titled “Realising the vision
laid out in Anglicanorum Coetibus”.
While we were with Fr David
Lashbrooke, one of the prime
movers of this report, we took
the opportunity to talk with
him about the report and its
reception.
We began the interview
about the report. “We had
money to survey the whole of
the Ordinariate and you and
Fr Waller and Fr Burch visited
the groups. You presented it
to the Governing Council, to
the Clergy Plenary and to the
Pastoral Council. A summary
is on the Ordinariate web site
and this is going around for
the laity to be consulted.”
Fr David said, “Well I
think it’s not just the Pastoral
Council, the Clergy also have
to do this.
from here, once a month,
could not get on a plane and
give Scotland a weekend.
There’s no reason why one
of those areas where there’s
more than one priest could
help another area.
“Let’s go and find a shop in
Birmingham and let’s go and
celebrate our Mass there.
I think that in the report
we touch on it slightly. In
reality, you’re going to have
some areas where there’s
a higher density. But we’re
not talking grand numbers
are we? Groups cannot be
insular and just look at
themselves. If a Group needs
a Mass, and there is no priest
who will do it, I’ll go and do
one. If we don’t have places
where we are praying, we’ll
never be anywhere.
Jackie expressed the fear that some Anglican
Patrimony would come through. The fear that we say,
“What you could do is to say, ‘Look this is missionary
‘That was a nice report wasn’t it; which shelf shall we work and it’s very hard, and yes, ideally we would do
keep it on?’ Ronald went further and said that it is also this and this but actually one of our priests is going
Fr David’s fear. “He won’t admit it but it is.”
to come and do two days a month with a particular
group. It’s not going to be on a Saturday or a Sunday,
Fr David spoke for himself, “I think those who but it’s going to be on a Tuesday and a Wednesday and
participated in writing the report spent a lot of time on those two days we will have two Masses and on one
in reflection. Interestingly, the three of us found much night we’ll do teaching and the other night we’ll have
in common throughout the country. So although we fellowship.’
were dealing with very different communities in many
ways, I think it would be unwise not to understand
“We could start off in a dining room. Make sure the
that what people are saying is that we need structural teaching, the food and the liturgy are good. You might
solutions to enable communication, to enable pastoral actually have to say after two years, actually we now do
care, to enable good governance with a clear vision.
need to go somewhere with a bigger space but we can
now afford £40 to hire somewhere. The only person we
“We’ve got to be more courageous about this. I said to have to ask is our Ordinary.
Fr Len Black that there is no reason why even a priest
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