THE
P RTAL
February 2018
Page 21
First Lay Conference
The Organising Committee reports on the First Lay Conference
of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
to be held at Worth Abbey, Crawley
I t was
at a Meeting of the Ordinariate Pastoral Council during 2017 that the idea for an Ordinariate Lay
Conference was aired. After much discussion, it was unanimously agreed to appoint a small committee to
see it this was feasible. Margaret Tilley, Stephen Slack, and Ronald Crane were elected. We met and co-opted
Margaret’s husband, David, together with the Co-Editor of The Portal, Mrs Jackie Ottaway, to our number.
Five seemed a good number for our purpose.
We looked at a few places to hold the Conference,
but decided that Worth Abbey in the beautiful Sussex
countryside would work well. It was available for the
dates we thought best, and of all the possible sites
offered best value. The conference will be held when
we hope as many people as possible will be free to
attend – Tuesday 7th to Thursday 9th August, 2018.
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What is the Ordinariate for?
What (or who) are we?
What do we do?
How do we do it?
Why should people joint the Ordinariate rather
than become a Diocesan Catholic?
• What do we have that other groups in the church
do not?
• What is Anglican Patrimony?
Aware of the oft repeated criticism of the Anglo-
Catholic movement as being a clergy dominated
movement that forgot the laity, we were determined
With these questions in mind, we set about giving
that, as far as possible, this would not be the case shape to the Conference and settled on tracing a
with the Ordinariate. Every member of our little journey through history, the present and into the
committee thought the laity vital to the well-being of future:
the Ordinariate, so the conference will be two packed
• Where have we come from?
summer days designed for Lay People by Lay People.
• How did we arrive here?
• Where do we go next?
We were anxious to ensure the widest possible
representation from across the Ordinariate, drawing in
The appeal of this conference means we have three
members of Groups and Missions and also members speakers of real quality lined up:
who cannot regularly join Ordinariate worship. To Dr James Kelly of Durham University will address
balance these, we will be welcoming one or two us on the Catholic Church in England from the
members from every Group and Mission and there Reformation to Catholic Emancipation: his specialist
will be a significant number of places reserved for subject.
those on the outliers on a first come, first served basis. Fr Ed Tomlinson, Ordinariate Parish Priest
of Pembury in Kent will take us from Catholic
OK: what was the Conference to be for? This was an Emancipation to the Ordinariate.
easy question to answer. It would be called “BEING Dr Geoffrey Kirk will continue the story from
ORDINARIATE”, and will answer common questions: then until now and into the future.