THE
P RTAL
November 2015
Page 20
The newly elected
Pastoral Council
Ronald Crane reports on the first meeting
of the Ordinariate Pastoral Council
U
nlike a Catholic Diocese, the Ordinariate has a statutory Pastoral Council. Catholic Dioceses and
Parishes may have one, but they do not have to. In the Ordinariate, a Pastoral Council is a requirement
both nationally and locally.
It has taken some time for the national
Pastoral Council to emerge, although
most local groups have operated with
one from the very beginning. The
Pastoral Council is not a decisionmaking body, it is a predominately
lay council that advises the Ordinary.
The Ordinariate is divided into three
sections, each with a clerical Dean.
The Dean appointed a cleric to sit on the
Council. Then each Pastoral Area elected a
lay person to represent that area on the Pastoral
Council. In some areas, a lay person was elected
unopposed, in other areas an election was required.
With Mgr Keith Newton as President, the new
Council comprises:
Fr Neil Chatfield represents the SOUTH EAST,
with the following elected laity:
East Anglia - Mr Graham Smith;
Essex - Sandra Mussington;
Kent - Mrs Margaret Tilley;
North London - Dr Gill James;
South London - Christopher Smith;
Sussex - Andrew Leach;
Scotland - Michael Thrusfield.
It might seem strange to find ‘Scotland’ listed in the
‘South East’ area of the Ordinariate, but the reasoning
is quite simple and it was Scotland’s choice. Of all
places south of the border, London, they said, is the
easiest place to get to from any part of Scotland, as all
lines of communication, especially by rail and by air,
centre on London!
The NORTH has Fr Andrew Starkie, with laity:
East of England – vacant;
North West - Mrs Raven Wenner;
North East - Miss Nicola Reeves;
Nottingham and Derby - Bernard Peterken;
The West Midlands - Ronald Crane.
contents page
In the SOUTH WEST Fr Keith Robinson
is joined by:
Cardiff and Bristol - Christopher Press;
The South - Stephen W E J Slack;
The West Country - Stephen Haslem.
At the recent meeting, the new Pastoral
Council set about receiving its Statutes
and appointing a Secretary. The major
part of this first meeting was devoted
to a presentation of the report “Growing
Up: Growing Out” by Fr David Lashbrooke.
This is a review of the whole Ordinariate of OLW
undertaken by Fathers Lashbrooke, Paul Burch and
David Waller, assisted by Mrs Jean Chinery.
It is sub-titled “Realising the vision laid out in
Anglicanorum Coetibus” and dated June 2015. The
report’s authors visited and spoke with almost all
Ordinariate Groups and sought the views, aspirations,
hopes and fears of clergy and laity alike. The report will
now be discussed more widely within the Ordinariate.
Following the presentation, the Council engaged
in a wide-ranging discussion of the report and of the
Ordinariate in general. It was realised that this report
must not be allowed to be placed in a drawer where it
can gather dust and not be implemented.
To aid implementation of the report, the Pastoral
Council resolved to consult the lay members of the
Ordinariate in their various areas, and to meet again
in February 2016.
So, to all our lay readers in the UK, read the report
yourself, and look out for the consultation meeting
to be held in your Area. Your Pastoral Council
representative will contact you about the time, date
and place of the consultation.
This is an important venture, so we need to engage
with it responsibly, honesty and seriously.