THE
P RTAL
September 2018
Page 7
Ordinariate Lay Conference
“Going to church does not make you a
Christian any more than sitting in an hen
house will make you a Chicken!”
Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane were at the Conference
I t was
way back at the September 2016 meeting of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham’s
Pastoral Council that the decision was taken to look at the possibility of holding a Lay Conference. Members
were tasked with looking at various venues, times and days. At the next meeting an Organising Committee of
Stephen Slack, Margaret Tilley and Ronald Crane were appointed. They co-opted Margaret’s husband David,
and Ronald’s security officer Jackie Ottaway, to make a five person group.
A number of venues were considered before it was
decided to go with Worth Abbey. The location was
easy to find and for travel, the price was right, and
the facilities were extremely good with all en-suite
rooms. Much needed to be done, but the first thing
we did was to advertise the venue and dates: Tuesday
7 th to Thursday 9 th August 2018. This gave prospective
attenders twenty one months in order for them to be
able to clear their diaries and come.
attending had a leaflet setting out the dates, venue and
purpose of the Conference.
“Being Ordinariate” it proclaimed, with the added
“What are we for? What do we do? Where are we
going? And: Why Join the Ordinariate?” This leaflet
created an amount of interest and we were encouraged.
To fulfil our intentions we needed high quality
speakers who would set the scene, impart information,
We felt that each Ordinariate group should be and stimulate discussion. We were mindful of the trap
represented by two delegates. The group would pay for that many gatherings fall into, of arranging groups
its ow n delegates, unless – of course – the delegates that – in the words of Geoffrey Kirk – are no more
wanted to pay for themselves.
than “pooled ignorance”!
So far so good. But what was to be the purpose of the
In the end we settled on our own The Revd Fr Ed
conference? By the time of the Ordinariate Pilgrimage Tomlinson with his expertise of the history of the
to Walsingham in June 2017, we made sure everyone Catholic Church and Faith in England: Dr James Kelly