THE P
RTAL
Four years on ...
Joanna Bogle , one of the founders of LOGS , tells all
So we gathered for our fourth birthday : the Ladies
Ordinariate Group . The evening had not begun well for me : after a busy day , I rushed into a shop and chose a lovely chocolate cake and some other goodies ... then when I got to the till I found I didn ’ t have my wallet .
October 2016 Page 4
Auntie
Joanna
Gulp . Panic . Massive fruitless search of handbag . Telephone call to library where wallet had last been used .
Relief at discovering that it had been found and handed over to relevant authority and could be collected ... but not alas until the next day ...
Cakeless , I hurried home and picked up a couple of bottles instead . Thanks to the wonderful LOGS team , including our kind hostess for the evening , there were lots of delicious things to eat and drink .
We gathered with goodwill around the table , to talk about LOGS , to mull over the year and to plan for things for the months ahead .
It has in some ways been a solemn year , with its share of illnesses and bereavements . Our thoughts went to people unable to be with us , to various absent friends …
It has also been a year of quietly useful work : the “ Our Father ” project in which children at primary schools are invited to write out the Lord ’ s Prayer and answer some simple questions about it , drew entries from a good number of schools .
The LOGS London team packed and posted prizes to some 30-40 schools across Greater London , and Hayley Tomlinson and team in Pembury tackled the same number in Kent .
We agreed that we ’ d run it all again in 2017 , with a new plan for the prizes . Instead of ordering various books from Christian bookshops and publishers , we ’ ll produce a simple , attractive prayer book suitable for children at primary schools , with prayers that every
child should know . Watch this space for further details . writes
We discussed our now traditional carol-singing at London Bridge station . The station has had a massive overhaul and rebuilding project , and the result is an awe-inspiring giant of a place – where to set ourselves for our modest musical efforts ?
We agreed to go ahead anyway , and negotiate with the railway authorities as usual , find out where the Christmas Tree will be placed , and see what works out best …
And there ’ s the Catholic Women of the Year Luncheon : important for Ordinariate members this year , because our own Sister Jane Louise is among the four ladies who are being honoured . We ’ ll be there to celebrate with her .
Anyone is welcome to buy a ticket and come along too : funds raised go to charity and this is a rather splendid annual event which has been a part of Catholic life for nearly 50 years and has built up a grand tradition . Information from Patti Fordyce at pattifordyce @ hotmail . com .
And so out into the warm late-summer night , and I walked across Westminster Bridge with the Thames swirling away below . Further up-river a model of old London , created in wood on a barge , had been set alight before great crowds of onlookers to commemorate the 350 th anniversary of the Great Fire .
History passing . I suppose we are all making our own tiny bits of history day by day .