News from the Forward in Faith Regions
May 1997
York Minster’s Biggest Ever Service Upwards of 5,000 members of Forward in Faith and other traditionalist Anglicans from the North of England will be travelling to York Minster on Saturday, 17th May by car, coach and train for what is likely to be the biggest service ever held there. The Bishop of Beverley, the Right Reverend John Gaisford, will be the Chief Celebrant and Preacher at a Festival Eucharist at 12.00 noon, the theme of which will be Fan the Flames – a Celebration of Pentecost. Comments Bishop John: “the Eucharist will be a glorious act of worship expressing our faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit in our integrity of the Northern Province. It will be a source of inspiration and encouragement to those of us who hold with the traditional teaching of our Church and will be a dynamic expression of our corporate faith”. All members of Forward in Faith in the North of England will want to be certain of being present and – if they want a seat – had better make sure that they get there early! If our experience of two years ago is anything to go by, it is going to be packed – for which, Laus Deo!
Forward in Faith in Ripon Cathedral For the first time, Forward in Faith in the diocese of Ripon has been allowed to celebrate Mass in its Cathedral Church – a great cause for celebration! Short notice, I know, but be sure to fill the Chapel of the Resurrection in Ripon Cathedral, at 2.30 pm on Saturday, 12th April, to bursting point!
Forward in Faith in Peterborough Cathedral – CHANGE OF DATE Further to last month’s note about the Forward in Faith celebration in Peterborough Cathedral, scheduled for 20th September, we have to announce that the date has had to be changed. It will now take place at 11.30 am on Saturday, 18th October. Bishop Edwin Barnes points out that this delay of one month means that Forward in Faith members, supporters and sympathisers now have even more notice and he expects them to ensure that this lovely – and enormous – Cathedral is packed to the doors! Our London readers in particular might care to reflect that from King’s Cross to Peterborough is a journey of just 45 minutes and that their brother and sisters in the diocese of Peterborough will warmly welcome their support and of course the support of all who can join with them and Bishop Edwin that day.
Are you reading this in Wales? Because if you are, the chances are that you are doing so as a member of Forward in Faith’s illustrious sister organisation, Credo Cymru, each of whom has been receiving a complimentary copy of New Directions each month since last November. Last month, together with your copy of New Directions, you would have received a letter from your Chairman, Joan Buckingham, offering you the opportunity of subscribing to New Directions each month through Credo Cymru; so far, many of you have responded and replies are still arriving at Faith House daily. But if you haven’t yet replied and if you want to be sure of receiving an uninterrupted supply of New Directions, you must ensure that you get your form back to Faith House by Monday, 28th April at the very latest. So . . . if you are reading this in Wales – and if you want read next month’s issue and you haven’t yet responded – stop reading for just a minute, dig out the form and deal with it now!
Vocations galore in Oxford! What have Forward in Faith, the Bishop of Chichester, the Additional Curates Society, the Bishop of Sheffield, the Society of the Holy Cross and the Parish of S.Mary, Swanley got in common? Or how about the Catholic League, the Bishop of Newcastle, the Guild of All Souls and the Parish of S.Peter, Streatham? Or the Abbot and Brothers of Elmore, the Guild of Servants of the Sanctuary, the Parish & Mothers Union of S.John, New Hinksey, the Prayer Book Society and the Anglo Catholic Ordination Candidates Fund?
What all these have in common is the fact that they all gave financial support to a marvellous Vocations Conference held at S.Stephen’s House, Oxford last month. Some fifty (yes, 50!) men – some young and some not quite so young! – gathered for forty-eight hours of prayer and reflection organised by a group of S.Stephen’s House Ordinands. Among those present at the Conference was Forward in Faith’s Chairman, Bishop John Broadhurst, along with the Bishops of Richborough and Horsham, Fr John Brownsell, Forward in Faith’s Co-ordinator for Ordinands, Fr Stephen Leach of the Additional Curates Society, Fr David Houlding SSC, Vicar of All Hallows, Gospel Oak and Fr Martin Warner of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. Also much in evidence were Fr Jeremy Sheehy, Principal of S.Stephen’s House and Forward in Faith Council member, and Fr Andrew Burnham, a regular New Directions contributor who, as a recent correspondent pointed out on our Letters page, seems to hold down any number of jobs – but who on this occasion was probably being the Vice-Principal of S.Stephen’s House! The response (so good that some enquirers had to be turned away for lack of space!) exceeded the organisers’ wildest expectations. “It shows that at a time when vocations in the Church of England are declining that there are men out there who feel called the priesthood, ” commented one. “These men just need reassurance and encouragement that they have a future in the Church of their birth.”