THE
P RTAL
May 2019
Page 12
Down Your Way
Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane visit the Bristol Ordinariate Group
A lthough it
is called the “Bristol Ordinariate Group”, it meets at St Joseph’s Catholic Church,
Camp Road, Weston-super-Mare. Mass is at 12 noon on the second Sunday of each month. This is
followed by lunch in the Church Hall. All ends with Benediction at 2:30pm.
We arrived early to speak with the
new Group Pastor The Revd Deacon
James Patrick. He is an old friend, and
has taken over from another old friend,
The Revd Peter Clarke. Fr Peter has
retired after a long ministry through
troubled times. Next month, May 12th, we are not
meeting here; we are going to join the
group at Ss Basil & Gwladys Catholic
Church, Tregwilym Road, Rogerstone,
Newport NP10 9DW. Their mass is at
1130. We also support the Glastonbury
RC Pilgrimage.
Deacon James told us, “I have been
the Pastor here for a year now. There is
no problem getting a priest to celebrate
mass for us. “This group has been so kind to me. I
was worried what would happen when
Fr Peter went. But it is OK. We have
a “bring and share” lunch after mass.
Divine Worship is our norm now, and
we have Benediction after lunch.”
Chris Press
“We have been well looked after by
Fr David Lashbrooke and Fr Colin
Furness from Torbay, and now by Fr
David Prichard from Wales.
We were at St Stephen’s House
together. He was a policeman and is
now a hospital chaplain. I am hopeful
that a new permanent Pastor will be
appointed just for this Group.
Mary Studham is retired. She worked
for the Electricity Board before
becoming a counsellor with people
having drug and alcohol problems. “I
loved it,” she told us.
Richard Eddy
“St Joseph’s is an interesting place
to meet for mass. It is a lovely small
church and very beautiful. We are a
small group, and St Joseph’s is equally
inconvenient for most members in the
group. People come from Minehead,
Dorset and Bristol. Fr David comes
from Cardiff.
“I suppose I am a caretaker pastor; a
stop gap appointment. Fr Peter is eighty
years old now and had borne the heat
of the day. He deserves his retirement.
“Growth for the group is difficult.
There are not great numbers coming
into the Ordinariate. But we are a
faithful group although numbers are
critical. We meet once a month. That
is my frustration. Recently we had
an “Away Day” in Torbay which was
lovely.
Sheila Berry
“I was in the Salvation Army, so I
am a Catholic Convert. I come along
with Chris; he is Ordinariate. I stopped
attending the Salvation Army, partly
because it was difficult to get there. It
was a long time ago.
“I was friends with someone who was
very ill. He was a Catholic and I cared
for him before he went into a hospice.
He talked openly about his faith, and
I realised he had something that I
wanted.
“I was passing Our Lady of Lourdes
Catholic Church in Weston-super-
Mare one day, and on impulse, I
knocked on the priest’s door. We talked
for about fifteen minutes and I started
going to mass there. I was received into
the Church on 13th June 2013.
Michael Long
“The man who introduced me died
five weeks after I had been received.
His role was to bring me into the Ø