In America, the sister Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter is rapidly establishing itself as an active and growing part of the Church.
Where timidity continues to be a soft but tangible barrier to ordinariate growth in England and Wales, US bishops and dioceses (and indeed the Ordinariate itself) have adopted a “Give it a go” approach.
The results have been encouraging. In many places communities of former Anglicans have been welcomed into the life of the wider Church as long-lost kin, not by lifting clergy and lay faithful from their distinctive habitat into the life of dioceses and diocesan parishes, but by creating new, small, intentional, dedicated communities, where the Christian life can be lived in its fullness, albeit with a distinctive Anglican character. The best examples of this are found where groups have been given principal use of a church building, or where a redundant building has been made available to them full time, in a manageable way or with material help.
