Author Archives: Scott Anderson

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About Scott Anderson

Formerly an Anglican priest (ordained 1975) received into the Catholic Church in February 2012, and ordained to the Diaconate on 27th July 2013. I took early retirement, and divide my time between London and northern France. I am deeply committed to the Ordinariate as a gift of the Holy Spirit in the search for unity. Like many Ordinariate members I feel a personal gratitude to Pope Emeritus Benedict, together with loyalty to our Holy Father, Pope Francis. My blog tries to make a small contribution to the growth of the Ordinariate by asking questions (and proposing some answers) about the 'Anglican Patrimony'. I have always been fascinated by the whole issue of growth and decline, and therefore concerned for appropriate means of evangelisation in western Europe. I believe that the Holy Spirit is constantly renewing the People of God and that we must be open to him. On Saturday 19th October 2013, I was ordained to the Priesthood at Most Precious Blood, Borough, by the Most Revd Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark, for the service of the Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham. I continued to serve the Ordinariate group and Parish at Most Precious Blood until the end of 2014. Subsequently, I helped in the care of the Ordinariate Groups at Hemel Hempstead and Croydon, and in the Archdiocese of Southwark, until the beginning of September 2015. With the agreement of my Ordinary, , the Bishop of Amiens appointed me Administrator of the Parish of Notre Dame des Etangs (Pont Remy) in Picardie, France. After nine years as parish priest, with wonderful and supportive parishioners, I decided that the time had come to retire and return to the UK. A nasty accident four years ago and contracting COVID has left me physically rather feeble! I shall be ever grateful for the years in France, a wonderful ending to the years of parish ministry. So here I am back in the UK, taking a long rest, setting up home, coping with all the new Safeguarding procedures - and wondering what next.

New Christians: the heart of the Ordinariate venture

Part of the Anglican Patrimony at Most Precious Blood, Borough, seems to be coffee after the Sung Mass on Sunday: and quite a lot of people stay to it. It’s a great opportunity to get to know people. I was … Continue reading

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Wrestling Jacob

  I have only sung this hymn of Charles Wesley’s once, to a lovely 18th century tune called ‘David’s Harp’. You will find both words and tune in the old English Hymnal at number 378. It is a fine and … Continue reading

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Catholic Renewal

                    Where are the tongues of fire talking of God and his love? When do men speak of the “commandments” of God, not as a duty to be painfully observed, but … Continue reading

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Pope Francis on the Ordinariates

                “I am grateful, too, for the sincere efforts the Church of England has made to understand the reasons that led my Predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, to provide a canonical structure able to … Continue reading

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Corpus Christi

  We said that breaking the bread is an act of communion, an act of uniting through sharing. Thus, in the act itself, the intimate nature  of the Eucharist is already indicated: it is agape, it is love made corporeal. … Continue reading

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The future of Anglo-Catholicism

A nobleman went into a far country to receive kingly power… but his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’    Luke 19:12,14. Fr Philip North has better … Continue reading

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Small groups: a model for growth through the Ordinariate

‘Groups of Anglicans’ – that’s what ‘Anglicanorum Coetibus’ means. So ‘groups’ is an important word for us; it’s part of who we are as Catholics in the Ordinariate. As Anglicans we had lots of groups! Lent groups, home groups, Group … Continue reading

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Models for Mission in the Ordinariate

Last year I wrote an article for the ‘Catholic Herald’ in which I suggested that the insights of the Church Planting Movement might be useful for the newly established Ordinariate.  In particular I imagined that an Ordinariate group of lay … Continue reading

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A society which has lost its memory

On my recent visit to Rome I took to read ‘The Towers of Trebizond’ by Rose Macaulay. Two themes are intertwined: the hilarious world of an Anglo-Catholic mission to Turkey led by Father High Chantry-Pigg and Aunt Dot on her … Continue reading

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The Ordinariate and the search for unity

I wrote this article  in January for the Magazine of my local Catholic Parish. One of the parishioners told me that it had helped her to understand what the Ordinariate was all about. On 2nd February 2012 I was received … Continue reading

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