UK Ordinariate to hold day conference on mission and evangelisation

Inspired by the Year of Faith, which opened this week, the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is hosting a one day conference on mission and evangelisation for members and supports of Pope Benedict’s vision for the reunion of Anglicans with the See of Peter.

The conference, which will take place at the church of St Patrick, Soho Square - itself described as ‘a beacon of hope’ for the New Evangelisation - will have keynote presentations from experienced ‘practitioners’, and the opportunity for discussion, questions, and answers.

Fr Allan Hawkins, Parish Priest of St Mary the Virgin in Arlington, Texas, is a former Anglican clergyman who was received into the Catholic Church and ordained under the Pastoral Provision of Blessed John Paul II. Since the advent of the Pastoral Provision, Fr Hawkins has grown and developed a Catholic parish community within the Anglican liturgical and spiritual tradition. Earlier this year it was announced that the parish will transfer to the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter.

Fr Paul Richardson is a priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster. He was formerly Assistant Bishop of Newcastle in the Church of England, previously working in Norway, and as a missionary in Nambaiyfa, Papua New Guinea. He was Principal of Newton Theological College, Popondetta, Dean of Port Moresby, and subsequently Bishop of Aipo Rongo, Papua New Guinea, and later Bishop of Wangaratta in Australia.

A spokesman for the Ordinariate said, “This is an exciting opportunity for us and our supporters to begin to think in a strategic way about the development of our mission. We are integrated into the Catholic Church by virtue of our communion, but the Year of Faith presents us with an opportunity to think about the ways in which we can contribute - as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham - to the work of the New Evangelisation, claiming back these lands for Mary’s Dowry’.

The conference takes place on Friday 9 November 2012 from 11.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. All are welcome to attend. No charge is made, but a donation of £10 is requested, plus a further donation to help cover the cost of lunch, which will be provided. To register your interest, please email media@ordinariate.org.uk.

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For those of you, my readers, who are not up to crossing the pond, the Anglican Use Society's Annual Conference is November 8-10 in Kansas City. Register for the AUS conference here.