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.

Know your constituency: just who are you evangelising?

Some years ago a young man in my congregation used the term ‘Hot Muslims’ for some of his friends. Seeing my puzzlement he explained that they were young people who were dissatisfied with the formulaic Islam of their parents. They … Continue reading

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The setting of the Liturgy

In the 1930’s the Kelham Fathers built the Great Chapel for their monastery and theological college near Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire. The architect was Charles Clayton Thompson, and to my knowledge he built no other churches. Yet it is one of … Continue reading

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Alpha for Catholics – be just a bit cautious

Just after Christmas a good friend and member of the Ordinariate wrote this to me: ” We have started Alpha training again, I am not convinced that this is the way to bring lapsed Catholics back to church. I have … Continue reading

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Back to Church at Christmas: opportunities for evangelisation

There is  a story told of an Anglican priest who surveyed the substantial congregation which had turned up for the Evening Service on Harvest Sunday (it was some years ago when they still did).  Marching up to the tabernacle and … Continue reading

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Our Church Schools are worth fighting for

Why does a section of our society – including some politicians and some teachers – get so angry about Church Schools? Last Saturday’s Question Time had one of the panel asserting that we are a secular society and there is … Continue reading

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Remembering the English liturgy at Thaxted

In my teenage years in the 1960’s I would go to stay from time to time with my aunt and uncle and cousins who lived on the London edge of Essex. On Sundays we would often visit  churches which I had heard … Continue reading

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The music of Advent

  Compared with the carols and hymns of Christmas, the music of Advent is less well known. Yet it is among the loveliest – and most singable – of the Church’s year.  As part of the restrained liturgy of this … Continue reading

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It’s time to work out what love really means

It is difficult to avoid the issue of child abuse, the reports, analyses, recriminations, apologies.  But then, why should we want to avoid them? Embarrassment, shame, yes – but above all, a sense of powerlessness in the face of something … Continue reading

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Sadly no longer with us

I was at St Joseph’s, Weymouth, for All Souls’ Day, and I am indebted to Fr Stephen Geddes, the parish priest of Weymouth, for this reminiscence. He recalled that in the ‘old days’ the one of the three masses was … Continue reading

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Our Lady St Mary

In the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England (1662) the place of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the scheme of Redemption is commemorated in the Collect and Preface of Christmas. There are Propers for the feasts of … Continue reading

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