I found this quite a moving article about one of the most remarkable writers of the last century:
http://acatholicthinker.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/the-mean-grace-of-flannery-oconnor/comment-page-1/#comment-263
The Communion of Saints
I hope there's room for me.
Thursday, 24 October 2013
Sunday, 15 September 2013
What now for Credo Cymru?
After the vote by General Synod of the Church in Wales to ordain women to the Episcopate, I have been left wondering what effect that might have upon some friends of mine who are members of (or sympathetic to) Credo Cymru (Forward in Faith in Wales) who have expressed dismay at this decision.
In July 2010, Forward in Faith in England had predicted that "thousands" of its members may join the Catholic Church through the provisions of the Ordinariate (http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2010/07/14/synod-vote-pushes-anglo-catholics-towards-ordinariate/) but that failed to happen.
Whilst I am not sure about the exact figures for those who, as clergy and laity, joined the Church, either by going directly to the local RC parish of via the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, it did not include many more than 100 clergy and, at most, a couple of thousand laity (I include those who did not join the Personal Ordinariate in this number).
Whilst I know there is still a hope to maintain a dignified position in the Church of England, I would be surprised if there was not soon a move by more clergy and laity, mostly in the direction of the RC Church.
Part of the problem, I surmise from my reading of what many have written and from conversations I have had, would be the deep emotional connection to the Church of England and its special place in the Establishment and close connection to a much loved monarch.
That is not the same in Wales. A long disestablished Church, it does not occupy the same position in society as the C of E. It has a heavily liberal House of Bishops, no 'flying bishops' (since the retirement of Bishop David Thomas in 2008) to provide for those who could not accept the ordination of women, and has not agonised over making provisions for those who struggle with the idea of women bishops in the manner of the C of E General Synod.
I do not doubt the deep emotional connection to the Anglican Church that so many have but I do wonder at what point their oft-stated intentions to become Roman Catholics will come to pass?
From a theological point of view, the pass on the Ordination of women to the Episcopate was sold when it was agreed to admit women to the Diaconate so I have always been a bit confused about the ongoing debate but have accepted that it was an issue for others and their sense of belonging within their own church community.
I will continue to pray for my friends as I know they are really struggling and I wish them the best. I wonder whether things are going to change soon though.
In July 2010, Forward in Faith in England had predicted that "thousands" of its members may join the Catholic Church through the provisions of the Ordinariate (http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2010/07/14/synod-vote-pushes-anglo-catholics-towards-ordinariate/) but that failed to happen.
Whilst I am not sure about the exact figures for those who, as clergy and laity, joined the Church, either by going directly to the local RC parish of via the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, it did not include many more than 100 clergy and, at most, a couple of thousand laity (I include those who did not join the Personal Ordinariate in this number).
Whilst I know there is still a hope to maintain a dignified position in the Church of England, I would be surprised if there was not soon a move by more clergy and laity, mostly in the direction of the RC Church.
Part of the problem, I surmise from my reading of what many have written and from conversations I have had, would be the deep emotional connection to the Church of England and its special place in the Establishment and close connection to a much loved monarch.
That is not the same in Wales. A long disestablished Church, it does not occupy the same position in society as the C of E. It has a heavily liberal House of Bishops, no 'flying bishops' (since the retirement of Bishop David Thomas in 2008) to provide for those who could not accept the ordination of women, and has not agonised over making provisions for those who struggle with the idea of women bishops in the manner of the C of E General Synod.
I do not doubt the deep emotional connection to the Anglican Church that so many have but I do wonder at what point their oft-stated intentions to become Roman Catholics will come to pass?
From a theological point of view, the pass on the Ordination of women to the Episcopate was sold when it was agreed to admit women to the Diaconate so I have always been a bit confused about the ongoing debate but have accepted that it was an issue for others and their sense of belonging within their own church community.
I will continue to pray for my friends as I know they are really struggling and I wish them the best. I wonder whether things are going to change soon though.
Monday, 9 September 2013
Ordinariate priests who began life as Roman Catholics.
I have been interested in the sometimes raised question about people returning to the Roman Catholic Church through the Personal Ordinariates. In the case of parishioners, they are mostly described as being 'reconciled' whilst other members of their parish/community who have joined are described as being 'received' . There are any number of people who left the Catholic Church and became Anglican/Espicopalian either due to 'marrying out', unhappiness with Church doctrine, divorce and remarriage, etc. In some cases, it is more that people left with their parents and did not make any conscious decision to change between one church and an other. Interestingly, Katherine Jefferts-Schori, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopalian Church (TEC)in the USA, is one of the latter.
What I have found interesting is where this is the case for those who were formerly Anglican/Episcopalian priests and have now been ordained into the Catholic Church via the Ordinariate structure. The 'norm' has been that if a person leaves the Roman Catholic Church, joins another denomination and is then ordained within it, a return to the Catholic Church would be as a layman; this is certainly true in the case of those who were ordained within the Roman Catholic Church and then left to become ministers of another church.
The exceptions to this rule would be if a person was baptised within the Catholic Church but then not really raised within it who found their own path of faith within, say, the Church of England. They may fairly easily then be admitted as ordinands within the RC Church. On the whole, this seems to now extend to those who leave the RC Church as teenagers and then return, via the Ordinariate.
Among this group, one would number Monsignor John Broadhurst, former Bishop of Fulham (C of E), now an Assistant to the Ordinary in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. A founding Chairman of the mainly Anglo-Catholic Forward in Faith (FiF) group, Msgr Broadhurst began life as a Roman Catholic but then was raised as an Anglican whilst still quite young.
Another is Fr Andrew Starkie who leads the Manchester Ordinariate Group (OLW), who appears to have been raised and educated as a Roman Catholic but drifted away in early adulthood, became an C of E priest and is now back in the RC Church as an Ordinariate priest. In his case, from what one gathers, the rest of his family remained Roman Catholics. This suggests that leaving as as adult is not necessarily a bar to Ordination as a Roman Catholic priest as long as it was in early adulthood.
Also in England, we have Fr Ivan Aquilina, baptised a Catholic in Malta, but who appears to have been mainly raised as an Anglican by his mother. Again, now a priest of the OLW.
On the whole, this seems fairly clear, but there is a question when it comes to one or two other cases in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter (COSP) in the USA and Canada.
Recently, two former Anglican/Episcopalian priests were ordained for the Archdiocese for Military Services as members of COSP. One, Fr Richard Rojas, talks about how being ordained as a Catholic priest was a return to serve in "my Mother Church." I do not know at what age he left the Catholic Church but he appears to be one of several priests of COSP who had started life as Roman Catholics and, either through the decision of parents, later disillusionment or some such, were ordained into TEC or another Anglican jurisdiction. The other of the Military Chaplains ordained recently delights in the name of Fr Joseph Francis Viera which suggests some kind of RC background, but that might be a red herring.
The priests of COSP whom I know to have been, at some stage, members of the Roman Catholic Church, are Fr Patrick Allen, Fr Belen Gonzalez y Perez, Fr Chori Jonathin Seraiah, Fr Richard Rojas and Fr Edward Meeks. Obviously not an exhaustive list, but they have interesting stories.
Fr Allen's family left the Catholic Church to attend a Presbytarian Church when he was a 12 year old boy. Attracted by the Anglo-Catholic tradition, he became an Epicopalian priest in 2001, eventually rejoining the Catholic Church and being ordained as a COSP priest on July 7th, 2013.
Fr Belen Gonzalez y Perez became attracted to Pentecostal-style worship in his teens, was ordained as a Lutheran Pastor in 2002, going on to be licensed in TEC in 2008 and then ordained for COSP on 20th, November 2012.
Fr Seraiah has been baptised in the Catholic Church but his parents had left when he was a small child and he has seen the rest of his life as a journey back to the RC Church.
For me, the most fascinating story is that of Fr Edward Meeks who was a former Seminarian, leaving quite sometime before he would have been considered for ordination. Along with his wife and two children, he was active in the local Catholic parish and, through the Church agencies, adopted a child. At the same time, he and his wife were greatly involved in Charismatic Renewal and, for one reason or another, joined the Assemblies of God. Eventually ordained within the Charismatic Episcopal Church, he founded Christ the King parish, Towson, Maryland, in 1996. The whole story can be found in this account by his wife, Jan, entitled "You can go home again":
http://www.ctktowson.org/prayer-resources?category=Coming Home to the Church
I would never have imagined that Fr Meeks would be ordained, a fear shared by the Meeks, but he was and remains the pastor of Christ the King parish.
We could all probably relate accounts of former Catholics not receiving permission to be ordained through the Ordinariate process, including some remarkable cases of personal sacrifice, and will no doubt have some mixed feelings about the whole situation. Some may see a circumvention of the rules on celibacy, others might see a threat to the tradition of celibacy in the Catholic Church posed by married priests within the Church. I have shared some of the concerns about this and, as a celibate man striving to live by the direction of the church, I value the example of celibate priests and religious. What I cannot ignore is the remarkable example of grace that is being shown to those who are returning to the Church of their childhood, often bringing many others with them.
It may be that these examples will lead to a change in the Church's rule on the ordination of married men to the wider priesthood, some will welcome that, others may not. What is crucial is that the Church explains the reasoning behind the decisions as many people feel that the Church has lost many priests over the years due to the requirement of celibacy and then, as a priest recently said to me, "How is it that someone who went to the same school as me, received the same sacraments as I did and then left the Church, can now return as part of the provisions for Anglicans, even though he was not formed within that church?" He did not ask the question due to malice, just out of sense of what he saw as unfairness.
I am a great supporter of the Ordinariate process and believe it is a great blessing for the Church. I also delight in the return of those who, for whatever reason, left the Church, including those now priests. I do not try to divine the intentions of the Holy Spirit, just accepting them as God's will. I do offer a prayer that, just as the door has been opened generously for these priests, it might continue to do so in other cases of those who are in the Ordinariates, not least for Fr William Patrick Hannigan in Australia.
What I have found interesting is where this is the case for those who were formerly Anglican/Episcopalian priests and have now been ordained into the Catholic Church via the Ordinariate structure. The 'norm' has been that if a person leaves the Roman Catholic Church, joins another denomination and is then ordained within it, a return to the Catholic Church would be as a layman; this is certainly true in the case of those who were ordained within the Roman Catholic Church and then left to become ministers of another church.
The exceptions to this rule would be if a person was baptised within the Catholic Church but then not really raised within it who found their own path of faith within, say, the Church of England. They may fairly easily then be admitted as ordinands within the RC Church. On the whole, this seems to now extend to those who leave the RC Church as teenagers and then return, via the Ordinariate.
Among this group, one would number Monsignor John Broadhurst, former Bishop of Fulham (C of E), now an Assistant to the Ordinary in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. A founding Chairman of the mainly Anglo-Catholic Forward in Faith (FiF) group, Msgr Broadhurst began life as a Roman Catholic but then was raised as an Anglican whilst still quite young.
Another is Fr Andrew Starkie who leads the Manchester Ordinariate Group (OLW), who appears to have been raised and educated as a Roman Catholic but drifted away in early adulthood, became an C of E priest and is now back in the RC Church as an Ordinariate priest. In his case, from what one gathers, the rest of his family remained Roman Catholics. This suggests that leaving as as adult is not necessarily a bar to Ordination as a Roman Catholic priest as long as it was in early adulthood.
Also in England, we have Fr Ivan Aquilina, baptised a Catholic in Malta, but who appears to have been mainly raised as an Anglican by his mother. Again, now a priest of the OLW.
On the whole, this seems fairly clear, but there is a question when it comes to one or two other cases in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter (COSP) in the USA and Canada.
Recently, two former Anglican/Episcopalian priests were ordained for the Archdiocese for Military Services as members of COSP. One, Fr Richard Rojas, talks about how being ordained as a Catholic priest was a return to serve in "my Mother Church." I do not know at what age he left the Catholic Church but he appears to be one of several priests of COSP who had started life as Roman Catholics and, either through the decision of parents, later disillusionment or some such, were ordained into TEC or another Anglican jurisdiction. The other of the Military Chaplains ordained recently delights in the name of Fr Joseph Francis Viera which suggests some kind of RC background, but that might be a red herring.
The priests of COSP whom I know to have been, at some stage, members of the Roman Catholic Church, are Fr Patrick Allen, Fr Belen Gonzalez y Perez, Fr Chori Jonathin Seraiah, Fr Richard Rojas and Fr Edward Meeks. Obviously not an exhaustive list, but they have interesting stories.
Fr Allen's family left the Catholic Church to attend a Presbytarian Church when he was a 12 year old boy. Attracted by the Anglo-Catholic tradition, he became an Epicopalian priest in 2001, eventually rejoining the Catholic Church and being ordained as a COSP priest on July 7th, 2013.
Fr Belen Gonzalez y Perez became attracted to Pentecostal-style worship in his teens, was ordained as a Lutheran Pastor in 2002, going on to be licensed in TEC in 2008 and then ordained for COSP on 20th, November 2012.
Fr Seraiah has been baptised in the Catholic Church but his parents had left when he was a small child and he has seen the rest of his life as a journey back to the RC Church.
For me, the most fascinating story is that of Fr Edward Meeks who was a former Seminarian, leaving quite sometime before he would have been considered for ordination. Along with his wife and two children, he was active in the local Catholic parish and, through the Church agencies, adopted a child. At the same time, he and his wife were greatly involved in Charismatic Renewal and, for one reason or another, joined the Assemblies of God. Eventually ordained within the Charismatic Episcopal Church, he founded Christ the King parish, Towson, Maryland, in 1996. The whole story can be found in this account by his wife, Jan, entitled "You can go home again":
http://www.ctktowson.org/prayer-resources?category=Coming Home to the Church
I would never have imagined that Fr Meeks would be ordained, a fear shared by the Meeks, but he was and remains the pastor of Christ the King parish.
We could all probably relate accounts of former Catholics not receiving permission to be ordained through the Ordinariate process, including some remarkable cases of personal sacrifice, and will no doubt have some mixed feelings about the whole situation. Some may see a circumvention of the rules on celibacy, others might see a threat to the tradition of celibacy in the Catholic Church posed by married priests within the Church. I have shared some of the concerns about this and, as a celibate man striving to live by the direction of the church, I value the example of celibate priests and religious. What I cannot ignore is the remarkable example of grace that is being shown to those who are returning to the Church of their childhood, often bringing many others with them.
It may be that these examples will lead to a change in the Church's rule on the ordination of married men to the wider priesthood, some will welcome that, others may not. What is crucial is that the Church explains the reasoning behind the decisions as many people feel that the Church has lost many priests over the years due to the requirement of celibacy and then, as a priest recently said to me, "How is it that someone who went to the same school as me, received the same sacraments as I did and then left the Church, can now return as part of the provisions for Anglicans, even though he was not formed within that church?" He did not ask the question due to malice, just out of sense of what he saw as unfairness.
I am a great supporter of the Ordinariate process and believe it is a great blessing for the Church. I also delight in the return of those who, for whatever reason, left the Church, including those now priests. I do not try to divine the intentions of the Holy Spirit, just accepting them as God's will. I do offer a prayer that, just as the door has been opened generously for these priests, it might continue to do so in other cases of those who are in the Ordinariates, not least for Fr William Patrick Hannigan in Australia.
Sunday, 8 September 2013
Simple and powerful, Pope Francis as a Pastor.
Got to be honest, this made me shade a tear:
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/09/06/single-mother-says-her-heart-is-filled-with-joy-after-call-from-pope-francis/
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/09/06/single-mother-says-her-heart-is-filled-with-joy-after-call-from-pope-francis/
Saturday, 20 July 2013
Professor Dawkins, the really bright pub bore.
Just watching Head to Head on Al Jazeera, presented by the remarkable journalist, Mehdi Hasan. He is giving a real pummelling to Richard Dawkins. It's amazing how, when presented with evidence that doesn't fit with his worldview, then the good professor just dismisses or ignores it. He will even lapse into the kind of self-justification that he would never allow in those who have religious belief.
So, when presented with research evidence that the major reasons for terrorism are geopolitical and nationalistic, he claims to have other evidence that it is to mainly do with wanting to go to a martyr's heaven but, despite dealing with this issue all of the time, he is not able to present the evidence beyond saying "I have read elsewhere...".
When he is put on the backfoot, he becomes snidey and nasty and is willing to make the most unbelievable statements to protect his hypothesis. For instance, he even disagreed with the proposition that atheism was an important part of the communist regimes of Stalin and Mao Zedong, even agreeing with the dumbfounded Mr Hasan's suggestion that Karl Marx's reference to religion as an "opiate of the masses" was just a "throwaway line".
I don't know why people are so impressed with the venerable professor, he seems like an elevated pub bore to me.
Also, to those who don't take Al Jazeera seriously as a media outlet, you really need to catch up with it sometime.
So, when presented with research evidence that the major reasons for terrorism are geopolitical and nationalistic, he claims to have other evidence that it is to mainly do with wanting to go to a martyr's heaven but, despite dealing with this issue all of the time, he is not able to present the evidence beyond saying "I have read elsewhere...".
When he is put on the backfoot, he becomes snidey and nasty and is willing to make the most unbelievable statements to protect his hypothesis. For instance, he even disagreed with the proposition that atheism was an important part of the communist regimes of Stalin and Mao Zedong, even agreeing with the dumbfounded Mr Hasan's suggestion that Karl Marx's reference to religion as an "opiate of the masses" was just a "throwaway line".
I don't know why people are so impressed with the venerable professor, he seems like an elevated pub bore to me.
Also, to those who don't take Al Jazeera seriously as a media outlet, you really need to catch up with it sometime.
Sunday, 14 July 2013
The Orthodox confirm their Orthodox Worship - where now for the Western Rite of the Orthodox Church?
Over the past few years, whilst divisions have grown among members of the Anglican Communion, several parishes have looked to the Orthodox Church to find a home. Something I found unlikely given the difference in rites and there has been controversy among the Orthodox about this.
An answer seemed to be provided in the Orthodox Church providing an oversight which allowed a Western Rite, in this case an Anglican one. One tended to hear of the Anglican rituals being slowly eroded by local Orthodox bishops and now the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia have promulgated this decree:
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=17793
I am not sure how this effects those of the Western Rite overseen by the Antiochean and Romanian Orthodox but it has effects for all those of the ROCOR, which include the three Western Rite parishes here in the UK.
I am guessing that the now deposed Bishop Jerome, who had oversight of this Vicariate since 18th May, 2011, has been seen to be making things to easy for former Anglican priests to become priests of the ROCOR and lax in the implementation of Eastern Divine Liturgy.
An answer seemed to be provided in the Orthodox Church providing an oversight which allowed a Western Rite, in this case an Anglican one. One tended to hear of the Anglican rituals being slowly eroded by local Orthodox bishops and now the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia have promulgated this decree:
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=17793
I am not sure how this effects those of the Western Rite overseen by the Antiochean and Romanian Orthodox but it has effects for all those of the ROCOR, which include the three Western Rite parishes here in the UK.
I am guessing that the now deposed Bishop Jerome, who had oversight of this Vicariate since 18th May, 2011, has been seen to be making things to easy for former Anglican priests to become priests of the ROCOR and lax in the implementation of Eastern Divine Liturgy.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Call me what you like, but never a liberal.
My byline of CatholicLeft continues to ruffle a few feathers of those across the North Atlantic, mostly I think, because of the state of political positions taken there. So, I feel a bit of clarification is needed.
Sadly, utilitarianism is now coming to be seen as synonymous with radicalism across the political spectrum.
I consider the issues of abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage and the like to be examples of the individual being placed above the community, where 'what I want' is more important than anything else and this is truly damaging. This infects the whole of the political spectrum, increasingly throughout Europe too.
I am a communitarian and hold views on issues of taxation, criminal justice, healthcare provision, welfare support, housing, defence, privitisation of industries, immigration, et al, that put me firmly on the traditional left of politics. All of these views are deeply fed by my religious beliefs as much as are my opposition to those matters already addressed.
It is healthy to have Christians in all parties to fight and strive to be heard for the needs of all. The Democratic Party in the USA has been hugely damaged by its sidelining of the traditional working class Christian (particularly Catholic) voice. It means that it can win Presidential elections (as the Republicans keep shooting themselves in the foot with the choice of candidates and extreme positions in election platforms) but not, outside of extraordinary years, the elections to the House of Representatives. It baffles many of us this side of the Pond, that coal miners vote for Republicans, but that is fault of the Democratic Party becoming more aligned to 'liberal' causes that the needs of the working man and woman.
For what it is worth, the worst thing you could call me is a liberal.
Sadly, utilitarianism is now coming to be seen as synonymous with radicalism across the political spectrum.
I consider the issues of abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage and the like to be examples of the individual being placed above the community, where 'what I want' is more important than anything else and this is truly damaging. This infects the whole of the political spectrum, increasingly throughout Europe too.
I am a communitarian and hold views on issues of taxation, criminal justice, healthcare provision, welfare support, housing, defence, privitisation of industries, immigration, et al, that put me firmly on the traditional left of politics. All of these views are deeply fed by my religious beliefs as much as are my opposition to those matters already addressed.
It is healthy to have Christians in all parties to fight and strive to be heard for the needs of all. The Democratic Party in the USA has been hugely damaged by its sidelining of the traditional working class Christian (particularly Catholic) voice. It means that it can win Presidential elections (as the Republicans keep shooting themselves in the foot with the choice of candidates and extreme positions in election platforms) but not, outside of extraordinary years, the elections to the House of Representatives. It baffles many of us this side of the Pond, that coal miners vote for Republicans, but that is fault of the Democratic Party becoming more aligned to 'liberal' causes that the needs of the working man and woman.
For what it is worth, the worst thing you could call me is a liberal.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Clergy of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross
Ordinary: Reverend Monsignor Harry Entwistle
Parish Priest of St. Ninian and St. Chad, Perth, Western Australia. Principal Church of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross (formerly a Bishop of the ACCA).
Clergy:
Fr. Gordon Barnier, Parish of St. Clare, St. Francis Xavier Church, Cairns, Queensland (ordained April 26th 2013) (former Diocese of Torres Strait-TAC).
Fr. Owen Buckton, Parish of Our Lady of Walsingham, St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Rockhampton, Queensland (ordained February 1st, 2012) (former ACCA).
Fr. Ken Clark, Gippsland Ordinariate Group, Victoria (to be ordained priest on October 19th, 2013) (former TAC).
Fr. Lyall Cowell, Holy Cross Church, North Brisbane, Queensland (ordained October 18th, 2012) (former ACA).
Fr. Neil Fryer, Melbourne (ordained September 8th, 2012) (former ACA).
Fr. James Grant (ordained September 8th, 2012) (former ACA). Not sure where he is but, as a priest heavily involved in Church outreach to business in Melbourne, I suspect he is still in this area.
Fr. Stephen Gronow, Parish of St. Stephen, St. Stephen College Chapel, Upper Coomera, Gold Coast, Queensland.
Fr. Stephen Hill, serving at St. Ninian and St. Chad, King and Martyr, Perth, Western Australia (ordained March 1st, 2013) (former ACCA).
Fr. Tony Iball, St. Benedict’s, Brisbane, Queensland (ordained October 18th, 2012) (former ACCA).
Fr. Andrew Kinmont, Parish of St. Stephen, St. Stephen College Chapel, Upper Coomera, Gold Coast, Queensland (ordained April 5th 2013) (former ACCA).
Fr. Christopher Seton, Holy Cross Catholic Church, Melbourne, Victoria (ordained September 8th, 2012) (former ACA, formerly All Saints, Kooyong).
Fr. Ron Wallis, Parish of Our Lady of Walsingham, St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Rockhampton, Queensland (ordained April 5th 2013) (former ACA).
Fr. Richard Waddell, to begin studying Canon Law in Rome with intention of becoming canonist for the Ordinariate (to be ordained priest on September 8th, 2013)(former ACA).
Fr. Warren Wade, Holy Cross Parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Sydney, New South Wales (ordained September 12th, 2012) (former ACCA).
Fr. Ramsay Williams, Melbourne (ordained September 8th, 2012) (former ACA).
Fr. Edward Wilson, serving at St. Ninian and St. Chad, Perth, Western Australia
Legend:
ACCA: Anglican Catholic Church of Australia.
TAC: Traditional Anglican Communion (of which ACCA is a part).
ACA: Anglican Church of Australia.
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter Parish Directory (unofficial).
I thought it might be worth attempting to report on the make up of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter (COSP), in terms of its membership, clergy and prospects in both the USA and Canada.
Since the first indications of interest in joining the Ordinariate as published on the Google Map, I have been fascinated to see how the COSP would pan out, so I have laid out below those groups/parishes that could be seen to be part of the COSP even if the formal process of their membership has not actually taken place.
On another post, I will list those who expressed an interest but did not, of do not appear to have, continue on the process of joining COSP. I will also look at those on the way to membership. I have avoided the different titles of Vicar, Rector, Parish Administrator, et al, and will normally use the catch-all of Pastor (or former Pastor) for ease of reference.
I have been fairly narrow in my definition so have not included some of the groups which joined with the Incarnation Church as I can find no present evidence of their ongoing activity but will include them in the above mentioned blogpost. I, of course, invite correction.
Formerly an Anglican Use Parish under the Pastoral Provision, now the Principal Church for the Ordinariate. Its clergy are:
Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson, Ordinary; Father Charles Hough IV, Rector. Father Laurence Gipson, Priest-in-Residence; Deacon James Barnett and Deacon John Denson, Pastoral Assistants. Reverend Mr Barnett was ordained as the first Deacon in the Anglican Use in May, 1987.
Founded in 1982 after the reception of former Episcopalian priests James Moore and James Ramsay, with only a dozen or so parishioners, the parish was dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham. Fathers Moore and Ramsay were ordained on April 7th, 1984 whilst the parish was formally erected on the same day. Land was eventually purchased and, after remarkable grace through donations, including one of $1 million, the serious building of the church was begun.. The Shrine, along with other necessary building work, was dedicated by Cardinal DiNardo in May of 2011.
An anonymous donor purchased 5 acres of land, valued at $5 million, adjacent to Our Lady of Walsingham church and donated it for the building of a Chancery. It has a parish membership of around 300, although the bulletin regularly records over 500 people at Mass.
The Society of St Gregory the Great, Mobile, Alabama. Pastor: Father Matthew A. Venuti
Founded by Fr Venuti, the Society brings together those of an Episcopalian background in the Mobile area who are seeking to form a community in COSP. They gather for the celebration of Mass at 11.00am each Sunday in St Joan of Arc Church. Fr Venuti was ordained for COSP on 2nd June, 2012.
Church of the Holy Nativity, Payson, Arizona. Pastor: Father Lowell E Andrews
The Church of the Holy Nativity was part of the ACA Diocese of the West. The parish petitioned to join the Catholic Church under the provisions of Anglican Coetibus on 29th September, 2010. The parish was received on 18th December 2012 and its rector was ordained as a Catholic priest at the same Mass. It is a parish of the Ordinariate.
Around 30 people were received (although it could be that the parish is bigger than this).
St Augustine of Canterbury, Oceanside, California. Pastor: Father George Ortiz-Guzman.
An ACA Diocese of the West parish, it was reported that 38 members of St Augustine of Canterbury (of 50) were received on July 3rd, 2012, whilst 12 others were still in discernment. Administrator, Fr George Ortiz-Guzman was ordained on 23rd June 2013. St Augustine of Canterbury worship at 12.45pm each Sunday at St Margaret’s Catholic Church, Oceanside, California.
Blessed John Henry Newman Society of Orange County, California. Pastor: Father Andrew Bartus
The Blessed John Henry Newman Society was made up of people of ACA, TEC and other backgrounds. Fr Bartus was formerly in the TEC and, for a short time, in the ACA.
On July 3rd, 2012, Andrew Bartus was ordained a priest for the Ordinariate (he had been received with his wife on 12th April) at the same Mass that the 30+ members of the Society were received into the Church .
Now known as Blessed John Henry Newman Catholic Church, the community originally met for Sunday Mass at 3pm in St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Santa Ana, but now meet in St Luke's Room at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Fullerton to respond to their growing numbers. They celebrate a Low Mass at 10.30 am and a Sung Mass at 1.00pm.
The Incarnation Catholic Church, Orlando Florida. Pastor: Father William (Doc) Holiday
Previously the Cathedral of the ACA Diocese of the Eastern United States (ACA-DEUS), then of the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family for those mainly ACA parishes/communities seeking to join the COSP, it was the seat of Bishop Louis Campese. Bishop Campese shepherded his community into the Roman Catholic Church on September 16th, 2013. 140 people were confirmed on that day, some from other missions in Florida, and Bishop Campese, Fr William Holliday and Fr Scott Whitmore were among those ACA clergy received that day. Fr Holliday went on to be ordained as a priest and is now the Pastor of the Parish. Scott Whitmore had already announced his intention to not seek to be ordained for the COSP and is now active in the parish as a Lector and Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.
Poignantly, Bishop Campese has not gone on to be ordained as a Catholic priest but remains the Parish Administrator, as well a Lector and Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist. I don't know the story behind this and do not care to speculate but I know that he is deeply admired by all those who have been following the parish's journey into the COSP, not least for his commitment, pastoral care, single-mindedness and lack of personal ambition. There have been many sacrifices by those on the path to unity and the former Bishop Campese is a sign of just how much one sacrifices.
St James's Mission, St Augustine, Florida.
This was an unusual member of the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family, as it was led by a man who had been a Roman Catholic layman for a number of years, having resigned as an Episcopal priest on the Feast of the Epiphany in 2006. Fr Nick Marziani (for it is he) affiliated with the Pro-Diocese as a way to bring Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church. St James's Mission now meets in the St Augustine House of Prayer for a Vigil Mass at 4.30pm each Saturday with Fr Marziani (ordained for the COSP on June 17th, 2012) as the Pastor. I understand it to be a small, but growing, community.
Our Lady of the Angels, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Former Pastor: Canon G. Richmond Bridge
A fair sized parish by ACA standards (an independent group reported it as at one time having 50 members), Our Lady of the Angels affiliated themselves to the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family under Bishop Campese. It is recorded that the parish joined the Catholic Church at the same time as Incarnation Church. I was a bit uncertain about included this community in this post but, given its size, I thought I should. I cannot say whether their vicar, Canon G. Richmond Bridge, joined with them or how many did join the Church and the Ordinariate. I do not know whether those received worship together or at local Roman Catholic Churches.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Anglican Use Community of Savannah, Georgia. Pastor: Father Lucien D Lindsey
Founded in May 2011, the previously titled Anglican Use Society became known as the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Anglican Use Community of Savannah, the Low Country. Former Bishop Rt Rev Lou Lindsey was Bishop to the Armed Forces for the Episcopal Missionary Church.
The group meets at Our Lady of Confidence Carmelite Monastery, Savannah, Georgia.
Fr Lindsey was Ordained as a priest for COSP on 11th December, 2013.
St Joseph of Arimithea Anglican Use Society, Indiana, Indianapolis. Former Pastor: Father Luke Reese
This was a community under the care of the ACA for 5 years. 18 members of the society were received into the Roman Catholic Church on 7th April, 2012. They are in the process of preparing more people for reception into COSP. Luke Reese is part of the formation programme for priesthood within COSP.
Update: the community now has 30 members with lots of childern besides. They meet for AU Mass on Sunday mornings at 8am in the Holy Rosary Parish Church, joined by another 20-30 people (Catholics and the curious). They are very much a part of Holy Rosary Parish.
Luke Reese will begin studies this Autumn and is expected to take three years to complete them; meanwhile, he is active in the parish.
Mount Calvary Church, Baltimore, Maryland. Pastor: Father Jason Catania
A centre of Anglo-Catholicism (in its early Tractarian form) since the Parish’s foundation in 1842, Mount Calvary has been on a long journey to unity with the Roman catholic Church. Many former parishioners, including former clergy, have joined the Catholic Church over the years, including in recent years . The All Saint’s Sisters (closely connected to the parish) joined the Catholic Church in 2009.
On January 22nd, 2012, the parish was received into the Catholic Church by the Ordinary, Msgr Steenson. Reportedly, 42 people were either received into, or reconciled with, the Catholic Church.
The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland reached an agreement with the parish to take allow it to keep the parish property.
The Rector, Jason Catania, was ordained as a Catholic Priest and is now the Parish Administrator. Fathers David Reamsmyder and Anthony Vidal, formerly Episcopalian curates at Mount Calvary, are recorded as Associates in the parish. Fr Reamsnyder is appointed Parish Administrator of St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Michigan, in the Diocese of Lansing whilst Fr Vidal is registered as part of the Assisting Clergy in Sacred Heart Catholic Parish, Glyndon, Maryland.
St Luke Episcopal Church, Bladensburg, Maryland. Pastor: Father Mark Lewis
A parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, St Luke’s was received into the Catholic Church (and subsequently the Ordinariate) on 9th October, 2011. The Episcopal Diocese allowed the community to retain its Church for a couple of years but there is now discussion about a future home for St Luke’s and making provision for the Ordinariate communities of North Virginia and Washington DC.
Fr Lewis was ordained as a priest in the Ordinariate on 24th June, 2012.
68 parishioners were received (including 10 reconciling with the Roman Catholic Church).
Fr Lewis was ordained for the COSP on 23rd June 2012.
St John Fisher Ordinariate Community, North Virginia Mission of St Luke’s, Bladensburg. Pastor: Father Randolph Sly.
A small community (about a dozen) based at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church, Potomac Falls, Virginia. Fr Sly, a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC), entered the Catholic Church in 2006. Ordained for COSP on 23rd June, 2012, Fr Sly is an Associate Editor of Catholic Online. CEC is an independent Anglican denomination.
St Timothy’s Episcopal Church, Catonsville, Maryland. Vicar: Father Terry Sweeney
The parish overwhelmingly voted to join COSP on 13th February, 2012, being received by Monsignor Steenson during the Easter Vigil on 31st March, 2013. Fr Sweeney is part of the formation programme for ordination within COSP. Somewhere over 40 were received, or reconciled.
The community had to vacate the church property on 30th June, 2013 (as the Episcopal Diocese wishes to maintain a presence in Catonsville) and are presesently meeting at St Mark's Catholic Church in Catonsville. They are looking at a permanent home in either St. William of York Catholic Church buildings or at Mount de Sales Academy, a Catholic girls' school in the town.
Christ the King Church, Towson, Maryland. Pastor: Father Edward Meeks
The former ACA parish (founded in 1996 as part of the Charismatic Episcopal Church) was received into the Ordinariate on 24th June, 2012. Their Pastor, Fr Ed Meeks was ordained the previous Saturday.
The parish has over 130 attendees, the vast majority of whom were received (88 confirmed, others too young for Confirmation, others reconciled). Three other clergy were recorded as joining with this parish, namely, Revv Ray Strawser, Mark Bradley and Lawrence Reinholt. I have no idea what the situation is with these three gentlemen in terms of whether or not they have sought, or been granted, formation to become priests of COSP.
The parish used to be the centre of academic training for the ACA and was certainly a jewel in the crown.
(Sacred Heart Mission, Mount Airey, Maryland: Former Pastor: Father Dennis Hewitt
A Mission of the ACA , made up of former members of TEC who left in 1994, they were previously affiliated with the Charismatic Episcopal Church and then joined ACA in 2007.
The community of 17 people were received into the Catholic Church under the Ordinariate on 23rd September, 2012. Initially a Mission of Christ The King Ordinariate parish in Towson, Sacred Heart has folded as a group with most members attending the local Catholic parish or attending Ordinariate communities elsewhere in Maryland. The Reverend Hewitt is not entering the Catholic priesthood but is an active part of the Catholic community.)
St Gregory the Great Ordinarite Community, Beverly, Massachusetts. Pastor: Father Jurgen W. Liias.
Father Liias is one of those who have come from the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), having been the founding pastor of Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church after he left the Episcopal Church (TEC) in October of 2009. He brought 250 people with him and another 150 joined.
After the publication of Anglicanorum coetibus, Fr Liias felt called to the Ordinariate and communion with the See of Peter. He was received into the Church on 15th August, 2013. He was ordained a Priest for COSP on 20th April 2013 and leads a community of around 20 people.
St Bede the Venerable, St John’s Abbey, Minnesota
The Society of St Bede the Venerable, Collegeville, Minnesota are now an Anglican Use Society in the Ordinariate. They are a small group sponsored by St Jon’s Abbey in Collegeville and have a Chaplain in Fr Nathaneal OSB who stated on Fr Z’s blog that “members come from the northern Minnesota, the Twin Cities and as far as Wisconsin to pray Saturday Evensong and Sunday Mass every other month”. They received and confirmed a new member on April 14th, 2013. Little acorns and all that.
Anglican Ordinariate Society at Immaculate Conception Church, Springfield, Missouri.Offically established on 5th August, 2013, when several members were formally received into the COSP, the group's roots go back to 2010 when a parishioner of Immaculate Conception parish (I think it was Mr Shane Schaetzel) initiated the idea with the blessing of the local RC bishop. A regular prayer meeting began to meet at the church from 12th June, 2012. The group is attended by Roman Catholics who were formerly Anglican/Episcopalian, Anglicans considering joining the Church through the COSP as well as people of Baptist and Assembly of God backgrounds who are also considering the move. "Cradle Catholics" are also part of the group.
I do not know the size of the group but it obviously is actively seeking to evangelise.
Our Lady of Hope Society, Kansas, Missouri.Formed as an Anglican Use Society in in 2008 when a small group of Anglicans were received into the Church at Pentecost. Celebrating its Fifth ‘birthday’ on 29th June 2013, it has regular Anglican Use Masses and the number of members has grown. It’s Masses (4pm on Saturday afternoons) take place in St. Therese the Little Flower Catholic Church, Kansas City, MO.
It became a formal part of the Ordinariate on January 25th, 2014, when Monsignor Steenson received the 20 or so applications from former Episcopalian, now diocesan (Kansas City-St. Joseph), priest Fr Ernie Davis, who leads the community.
Fellowship of St Alban, Rochester, New York.
Pastor: Father John Cornelius Formed from former Episcopalians and received on 24th October, 2012, The Fellowship of St. Alban is lead br Fr John Cornelius, who was Ordained to Priesthood for service in COSP on 26th June 2013. The group, which initially began with the Reception of 7 people (6 on the day and one, I believe, later), meets for Mass as the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Henrietta.
Community of Saint Anselm, Greenville, North Carolina. Pastor: Father Jon Chalmers
A small community formed on 10th June, 2012, by Father Chalmers (ordained for COSP on 3rd June, 2012), Saint Anselm's meets for worship at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Greenville, each Sunday at 6pm.
Our Lady of Good Counsel Anglican Church, Jacksonville, North Carolina. Pastoral Administrator: Fr. William Waun
A mission of ACA-DEUS, the community was received into the Catholic Church as a member of the Ordinariate on 18th November, 2012. 15 people were reportedly received. Dr Waun was ordained as a Priest of the COSP on November 22nd, 2014.
St Barnabas Church, Omaha, Nebraska. Rector: Fr Rob Scheiblhofer
Founded as a parish in 1869, St Barnabas disaffiliated from the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska in 2007, joining the ACA Diocese of the Missouri Valley (DMV). The parish has been in quiet negotiation with the Episcopal Diocese to bring to a mutually satisfactory end the litigation brought against the parish by the Diocese in 2007. An agreement has now been reached with the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska, a private settlement reached and St Barnabas has been allowed to retain her Church property. The parish is being received into the Roman Catholic Church on 10th July, 2013 (today, the day after I originally posted, just to show that news is out of date immediately), numbering around 50 members. Fr Scheiblhofer was ordained to the priesthood for COSP on 10th August, 2013.
Church of St Michael the Archangel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pastor: Father David Ousley Formed from the Episcopal Church of St James the Less, which disaffiliated from TEC in 1999, joining the ACA, but lost their church in 2007 after litigation by the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.
25 members of the community were received into the Catholic Church on 2nd April 2012. Fr Ousley was ordained for the Ordinariate on 16th June, 2012.
Sunday Mass is celebrated for the parish at 9am in Holy Cross Catholic Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Fellowship of the Blessed John Henry Newman, Philadelpia, Pennsylvania. Pastoral care currently provided by Fr. David Ousley of St. Michael's, Philadelphia (see the above post).
Formed from the former Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopalian parish in Rosemount, Philadelphia, the Fellowship had been in a process of 'consideration' for the past couple of years under the leadership of Bishop David Moyer, who was a priest of the Diocese of Pennsylvania (TEC), whilst also being a Bishop of the Anglican Church in America. For that particular history, please read around. Whilst Bishop Moyer received his Nulla from Rome, the local Catholic Bishop, probably due to the legal issues outstanding between Bishop Moyer and others at the time, refused to issue the required Votum to allow his ordination to go ahead. This led to the congregation, in a couple of different locations, setting up the Fellowship under Bishop Moyer's pastoral care. Bishop Moyer announced that he would be retirng as pastor at Easter of 2014 and seeking to be received into the Catholic Church as a layman (whilst still hoping to eventuaally receive the Bishop's Votum); he encouraged his congregation to do likewise. On November 2nd, 2014, 19 members of the Fellowship were Confirmed in the Catholic Church as members of COSP - I would guess that others are still considering their next steps and some may have been formerly Roman Catholics who were reconciled. There had been 75 members of the Fellowship at one point, so one can only specualte about the numbers received.
The Sunday Mass is celebrated in Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Wayne, Philadelphia, at 6pm.
St Thomas More Society - now St Thomas More Catholic Parish, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Pastor: Father Eric Bergman.
The Society (now parish) was formed in January, 2005, when Rev Bergman and half of his parishioners from the Episcopal Parish of the Good Shepherd were received into the Roman Catholic Church under the care of Msgr. William Feldcamp at St. Clare Catholic Church. The Society celebrated Mass of the Anglican use under the Pastoral Provision, led by Fr Bergman after his Ordination for the Diocese of Scranton in April 2007.
Fr. Bergman became the first priest incardinated in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in May 2012, concurrently with the St. Thomas More Society's erection as St. Thomas More Catholic Parish. In August of 2012, the congregation, Pastor, and his family moved to a new permanent home,
the St. Joseph Church campus, at the corner of North Main Avenue and Theodore Streets.Masses are celebrated each Sunday with High Mass at 10:00 am and a Low Mass is celebrated at 7:00 pm.
The parish numbers are recorded in the Times-Tribune newspaper (10th May, 2012) as being 150 and with the same paper reporting the number of pending confirmations of new parishioners as ‘high’ in its 7th 2013 edition.
Corpus Christi Catholic Community, Charleston, South Carolina. Pastor: Father Patrick S. Allen
This community grew out of a small number of families that left the Church of Holy Communion Episcopal Parish, Charleston, along with one of the priests, Fr. Patrick Allen. 23 people were received into, or reconciled with, the Catholic Church on 1st June, 2013 (the Feast of Corpus Christi, appropriately), whilst Fr. Allen was ordained to the priesthood on 7th July, 2013. The Community's inaugural Mass is on 1st September, 2013, at 11.30am at St Mary of the Annunciation Church, Charleston.
Fort Worth Area Ordinariate Group, Texas: Pastor: Father Tim Perkins.
The group entered the Church as the St Peter the Rock Ordinariate Catholic Community; I am placing this group under ACNA as they were a part of the ACNA-affiliated Diocese of Fort Worth.
Fr Perkins was ordained as an Ordinariate priest on June 30th, 2012, having been received with his 30+ strong community in September 2011. All former members of TEC.
Fr Perkins, as of April 1st of 2013, is the pastor of St Mary the Virgin parish, Arlington (see below) and, with the two groups being close together they have pretty much been united at St Mary’s, with some services still continuing in the former chapel used by St Peter’s.
St Gilbert Church, Boerne, Texas. Pastor: Father Mark Cannaday.
Fr Cannaday was ordained for COSP on 30th June, 2012. I do not know how large his community is but he offers Mass on Wednesday mornings at 10 am in St Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, Boerne.
St John Vianney Catholic Church, Cleburne, Granbury, Texas. Pastor: Canon Charles Hough III
Canon Hough has been the Canon to the Ordinary (similar to a Vicar-General is a Catholic Diocese) of the Diocese of Fort Worth (ACNA) and had been seeking to bring unity between both his diocese and the RC Diocese of Fort Worth.
He left the Episcopal Diocese in September 2011 and, with over 30 parishioners, was received into the Catholic Church and then COSP. He was, alongside his son (Charles Hough IV) ordained a priest of COSP on 30th June 2012. Fr Hough is the Vicar for Clergy for COSP.
St Mary the Virgin Catholic Parish, Arlington, Texas. Pastor: Father Timothy Perkins. Pastor Emeritus: Father Allan Hawkins.
St Mary the Virgin was the first Episcopal (Anglican) parish in the world to be received corporately (including its property) into Roman Catholic Church when it was received in 1994. It was an Anglican Use parish under the Pastoral Provision in the Diocese of Fort Worth.
It has just become part of the Ordinariate on the retirement of the former Pastor, Fr Allan Hawkins, who had been the vicar of the parish when part of the Episcopal Church. It has a parish membership of over 400.
Fr Perkins of the St Peter the Rock Community, Arlington (see above), was appointed as Parish Priest on 1st April. Whilst some services still take place in the chapel used by St Pater’s, the communities have pretty much become united.
St Timothy Episcopalian Church, Arlington, Forth Worth, Texas. Pastor: Father Christopher Stainbrook
60 members of St Timothy
’s entered the Roman Catholic Church on 27th May, 2012. Another 15 members were still in preparation for Reception. Fr Stainbrook was ordained as a priest in the Ordinariate 30th June, 2012, and is now St Timothy Catholic Church’s pastor.The community have Sunday Mass at 2pm St Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, Fort Worth.
St John Fisher Ordinariate Community, Virginia. Mission of St Luke’s, Bladensburg. Pastor: Father Randolph Sly.
A small community (about a dozen) based at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church, Potomac Falls, Virginia. Fr Sly, a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC), entered the Catholic Church in 2006. Ordained for COSP on 23rd June, 2012, Fr Sly is an Associate Editor of Catholic Online. CEC is an independent Anglican denomination.
St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Calgary, Alberta. Pastor: Fr Lee Kenyon
A parish of the Diocese of Calgary from 1905 to 2011, the majority of St John
’s parishioners voted to leave the Anglican Church in December of 2011 and were received into the Roman Catholic Church as the first Anglican Use Parish in Canada. On 7th January, 2013, the parish was formally erected as a Mission Parish in the Deanery of St John the Baptist in COSP. The Deanery (formed on 7th December, 2012) covers the whole of Canada and Fr Kenyon is the appointed Dean.The Anglican Diocese of Calgary kindly agreed to allow the parish to continue to use the Church and its property.
Fr Kenyon was ordained, along with honorary parish assistant, Fr John Wright, on 30th June, 2012. Fr Wright is on loan to the RC Diocese of Calgary. Whilst 71 people were received, I understand Mass attendance now stands around the 150 in number with encouraging numbers being received. Fr Lawrence Gibson was ordained priest on 11th June, 2013 and assists in the parish. Fr Gibson was most recently the pastor of Grace Anglican Church of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). 8 former parishioners of Grace Anglican Church have either been received or are actively considering reception.
St Thomas More Anglican Use Sodality (Toronto Anglican Use Society), Toronto, Ontario. Pastor: Fr. John Hodgins
Formed by Anglicans, former Anglicans and Catholics in response to the proposal to form Personal Ordinariates for Anglican communities to enter the Catholic Church, the group was formally renamed as the St Thomas More Anglican Use Sodality after a June 16th meeting. With more than 24 formal members, the sodality is canonically a “public association of the faithful”, a first step to formation as a parish. I believe the first group were received on December 18th, 2011 with several others received since, including from a Mennonite and United Church of Canada background (with thanks to Peregrinus). Mass is celebrated at Sacré-Coeur Catholic Church at 1.45pm, as it has been since 6th May, 2012.
Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman, Victoria, British Columbia. Pastor: Monsignor Peter Wilkinson
Formed in December, 2001, in response to the proposal to create Personal Ordinariates for former Anglicans, the Fellowship’s 22 members were received into the Church on 15th April, 2012. Now a Mission Parish of COSP. Former Metropolitan of the ACCC, Peter Wilkinson was ordained for COSP on 8th December, 2012 and raised to the rank of Prelate of Honour (Monsignor), the announcement made on 2nd February, 2013. He is now Parish Priest. The Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist, where Msgr Wilkinson and his community had formerly worshipped, chose to remain in the ACCC. Former ACC clergy, Michael Birch and Don Malins, were ordained for COSP on June 14th, 2013 and assist in the parish. Fr Birch was Dean Kenyon’s predecessor as vicar of St John’s, Calgary. Also received were former ACCC priests Sean Henry, Ralph Braunstien and Peter Switzer. Peter Switzer was ordained as a priest for COSP on June 14th, 2013 but I am not sure where he is now based.
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Ottawa, Ontario: Pastor: Father Carl Reid.
Formerly St John the Evangelist Parish, this parish of ACCC was received into the Catholic Church on 15th April, 2012 and former bishop Reid was ordained a priest for COSP on 26th January, 2013. About 30 members were received into the Catholic Church. Now known as the Sodality of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The parish brought its Church building with it.
St Edmund, King and Martyr, Waterloo, Ontario. Former Pastor: Fr Raymond Ball
Formed as a mission of the ACCC in the Autumn of 1996, the parish of St Edmund was received into the RC Church on 1st January, 2012. 11 people were received at the time. Each Sunday, they celebrate Anglican Use Mass in the Lady Chapel of St Patrick’s Church, Cambridge, Ontario. Local diocesan priest Fr William Foote acts as their chaplain.I do not know what the situation of Raymond Ball now is but Mr Gary Freeman appears to be the main organiser.
Now known as the Sodality of St Edmund of Canterbury, the Sodality was formally received into COSP by Monsignor Steenson on 29th May, 2013.
Update: Mr Ball was received as a layman and is not seeking Holy Orders in the Roman Catholic Church (thank you to Mr Freeman for this).
Parish of the Holy Nativity, Barrhaven, Ontario. Pastor: Father B Kipling Cooper
A small parish community which entered the Catholic Church with the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, its members presently worship with that Sodality.
St Barnabas, Spencerville, Ontario: Pastor: Father Doug Hayman.
A small parish community which entered the Catholic Church with the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, its members presently worship with that Sodality.
Our Lady of Walsingham (formerly St Peter and Paul Anglican Church), Vancouver. Administrator: Father Michael Shier
Received into the Catholic Church on 30th June, 2012, the group now referred to as the Vancouver Ordinariate Group, was then 14 strong. Only in June, 2013, was an Anglican Use Mass first celebrated in Vancouver by the visiting Dean, Fr Lee Kenyon.
Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman, Edmonton, Alberta. Former Pastor: Father David Skelton
Formerly of Our Lady and St Michael Parish, Fr Skelton led a small group into the Catholic Church (7, I think). They are sacramentally cared for by Diocesan priest, Fr David McLeod, at St Andrew’s, Edmonton. The group recently met with Msgr Steenson at the post-ordination buffet (Fr Gibson’s ordination). I understand that David Skelton is in formation for COSP. I believe another former ACCC clergyman, Fr Bryan Donegan was also received (or reconciled).
Sodality of the Good Shepherd (formerly the Good Shepherd Anglican Church), Oshawa, Ontario. Pastor: Fr. James Tilley.
The community was received into the Roman Catholic Church on 23rd April, 2012. About a dozen in all with their former priests, James Tilley and David Garrett,. Fr Tilley is now ordained and leads this community. I do not know thw situation for Mr Garrett, who may be in formation. They have their own Church.
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory's Christ the King Parish, Ontario. Former Pastor: Father Gerard Trinque
The community was received into the Catholic Church on 22nd April, 2012; 13 were formally received but a handful more may have been reconciled (former RC’s returning). Anglican Use Mass is offered for the community by diocesan priest, Fr Richard Whalen. I do not know what is the position of their former priest, Gerard Trinque, although I understand he was received into the Catholic Church.
Our Lady of the Sign Community (formerly St Michael’s Anglican Church), Fredericton, New Brunswick. Former Pastor: Canon Richard Harris
On June 24th, 2013, former Canon Harris was one of a dozen members of St Michael’s received into the Catholic Church. The community now worship with the local Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church and the former Canon Harris awaits a decision on whether he will be ordained for COSP.
The ACCC parish of Christ the King, Calgary, was dissolved in 2012 and their Rector, Father Colin O’Rourke was received with 5 others at St John’s, Calgary, on Palm Sunday of 2012. Several of the Christ the King former parishioners had already joined St John’s, Calgary, in 2011 and entered the Church with the parish.
Father Tony Ward and Father Ernest Skublics, formerly of the ACCC parish of All Saints. Calgary, Father Ward and his family in January of 2012, Father Skublics reconciled with the Church at the Easter Vigil of 2012. Only one other parishioner of All Saints had joined at the Vigil.
Rev Dr Charles Warner, rector of Holy Cross Parish, Sydney Forks, Nova Scotia, also joined the Catholic Church. I do not know of the present circumstances for him or his former parish. (Update - Dr Warner has apparently left the Catholic Church and is not involved with the ACCC either. We keep him in our prayers).
Father Chris Le Page, rector of St Thomas More Church, Charlottetown, Nova Scotia joined the Catholic Church. I do not know of the present circumstances for him or his former parish.
Since the first indications of interest in joining the Ordinariate as published on the Google Map, I have been fascinated to see how the COSP would pan out, so I have laid out below those groups/parishes that could be seen to be part of the COSP even if the formal process of their membership has not actually taken place.
On another post, I will list those who expressed an interest but did not, of do not appear to have, continue on the process of joining COSP. I will also look at those on the way to membership. I have avoided the different titles of Vicar, Rector, Parish Administrator, et al, and will normally use the catch-all of Pastor (or former Pastor) for ease of reference.
I have been fairly narrow in my definition so have not included some of the groups which joined with the Incarnation Church as I can find no present evidence of their ongoing activity but will include them in the above mentioned blogpost. I, of course, invite correction.
USA
Principal Church of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter:
Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church and Shrine, Houston, Texas
Formerly an Anglican Use Parish under the Pastoral Provision, now the Principal Church for the Ordinariate. Its clergy are:
Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson, Ordinary; Father Charles Hough IV, Rector. Father Laurence Gipson, Priest-in-Residence; Deacon James Barnett and Deacon John Denson, Pastoral Assistants. Reverend Mr Barnett was ordained as the first Deacon in the Anglican Use in May, 1987.
Founded in 1982 after the reception of former Episcopalian priests James Moore and James Ramsay, with only a dozen or so parishioners, the parish was dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham. Fathers Moore and Ramsay were ordained on April 7th, 1984 whilst the parish was formally erected on the same day. Land was eventually purchased and, after remarkable grace through donations, including one of $1 million, the serious building of the church was begun.. The Shrine, along with other necessary building work, was dedicated by Cardinal DiNardo in May of 2011.
An anonymous donor purchased 5 acres of land, valued at $5 million, adjacent to Our Lady of Walsingham church and donated it for the building of a Chancery. It has a parish membership of around 300, although the bulletin regularly records over 500 people at Mass.
The Society of St Gregory the Great, Mobile, Alabama. Pastor: Father Matthew A. Venuti
Founded by Fr Venuti, the Society brings together those of an Episcopalian background in the Mobile area who are seeking to form a community in COSP. They gather for the celebration of Mass at 11.00am each Sunday in St Joan of Arc Church. Fr Venuti was ordained for COSP on 2nd June, 2012.
Church of the Holy Nativity, Payson, Arizona. Pastor: Father Lowell E Andrews
The Church of the Holy Nativity was part of the ACA Diocese of the West. The parish petitioned to join the Catholic Church under the provisions of Anglican Coetibus on 29th September, 2010. The parish was received on 18th December 2012 and its rector was ordained as a Catholic priest at the same Mass. It is a parish of the Ordinariate.
Around 30 people were received (although it could be that the parish is bigger than this).
St Augustine of Canterbury, Oceanside, California. Pastor: Father George Ortiz-Guzman.
An ACA Diocese of the West parish, it was reported that 38 members of St Augustine of Canterbury (of 50) were received on July 3rd, 2012, whilst 12 others were still in discernment. Administrator, Fr George Ortiz-Guzman was ordained on 23rd June 2013. St Augustine of Canterbury worship at 12.45pm each Sunday at St Margaret’s Catholic Church, Oceanside, California.
Blessed John Henry Newman Society of Orange County, California. Pastor: Father Andrew Bartus
The Blessed John Henry Newman Society was made up of people of ACA, TEC and other backgrounds. Fr Bartus was formerly in the TEC and, for a short time, in the ACA.
On July 3rd, 2012, Andrew Bartus was ordained a priest for the Ordinariate (he had been received with his wife on 12th April) at the same Mass that the 30+ members of the Society were received into the Church .
Now known as Blessed John Henry Newman Catholic Church, the community originally met for Sunday Mass at 3pm in St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Santa Ana, but now meet in St Luke's Room at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Fullerton to respond to their growing numbers. They celebrate a Low Mass at 10.30 am and a Sung Mass at 1.00pm.
The Incarnation Catholic Church, Orlando Florida. Pastor: Father William (Doc) Holiday
Previously the Cathedral of the ACA Diocese of the Eastern United States (ACA-DEUS), then of the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family for those mainly ACA parishes/communities seeking to join the COSP, it was the seat of Bishop Louis Campese. Bishop Campese shepherded his community into the Roman Catholic Church on September 16th, 2013. 140 people were confirmed on that day, some from other missions in Florida, and Bishop Campese, Fr William Holliday and Fr Scott Whitmore were among those ACA clergy received that day. Fr Holliday went on to be ordained as a priest and is now the Pastor of the Parish. Scott Whitmore had already announced his intention to not seek to be ordained for the COSP and is now active in the parish as a Lector and Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.
Poignantly, Bishop Campese has not gone on to be ordained as a Catholic priest but remains the Parish Administrator, as well a Lector and Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist. I don't know the story behind this and do not care to speculate but I know that he is deeply admired by all those who have been following the parish's journey into the COSP, not least for his commitment, pastoral care, single-mindedness and lack of personal ambition. There have been many sacrifices by those on the path to unity and the former Bishop Campese is a sign of just how much one sacrifices.
St James's Mission, St Augustine, Florida.
This was an unusual member of the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family, as it was led by a man who had been a Roman Catholic layman for a number of years, having resigned as an Episcopal priest on the Feast of the Epiphany in 2006. Fr Nick Marziani (for it is he) affiliated with the Pro-Diocese as a way to bring Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church. St James's Mission now meets in the St Augustine House of Prayer for a Vigil Mass at 4.30pm each Saturday with Fr Marziani (ordained for the COSP on June 17th, 2012) as the Pastor. I understand it to be a small, but growing, community.
Our Lady of the Angels, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Former Pastor: Canon G. Richmond Bridge
A fair sized parish by ACA standards (an independent group reported it as at one time having 50 members), Our Lady of the Angels affiliated themselves to the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family under Bishop Campese. It is recorded that the parish joined the Catholic Church at the same time as Incarnation Church. I was a bit uncertain about included this community in this post but, given its size, I thought I should. I cannot say whether their vicar, Canon G. Richmond Bridge, joined with them or how many did join the Church and the Ordinariate. I do not know whether those received worship together or at local Roman Catholic Churches.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Anglican Use Community of Savannah, Georgia. Pastor: Father Lucien D Lindsey
Founded in May 2011, the previously titled Anglican Use Society became known as the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Anglican Use Community of Savannah, the Low Country. Former Bishop Rt Rev Lou Lindsey was Bishop to the Armed Forces for the Episcopal Missionary Church.
The group meets at Our Lady of Confidence Carmelite Monastery, Savannah, Georgia.
Fr Lindsey was Ordained as a priest for COSP on 11th December, 2013.
St Joseph of Arimithea Anglican Use Society, Indiana, Indianapolis. Former Pastor: Father Luke Reese
This was a community under the care of the ACA for 5 years. 18 members of the society were received into the Roman Catholic Church on 7th April, 2012. They are in the process of preparing more people for reception into COSP. Luke Reese is part of the formation programme for priesthood within COSP.
Update: the community now has 30 members with lots of childern besides. They meet for AU Mass on Sunday mornings at 8am in the Holy Rosary Parish Church, joined by another 20-30 people (Catholics and the curious). They are very much a part of Holy Rosary Parish.
Luke Reese will begin studies this Autumn and is expected to take three years to complete them; meanwhile, he is active in the parish.
Mount Calvary Church, Baltimore, Maryland. Pastor: Father Jason Catania
A centre of Anglo-Catholicism (in its early Tractarian form) since the Parish’s foundation in 1842, Mount Calvary has been on a long journey to unity with the Roman catholic Church. Many former parishioners, including former clergy, have joined the Catholic Church over the years, including in recent years . The All Saint’s Sisters (closely connected to the parish) joined the Catholic Church in 2009.
On January 22nd, 2012, the parish was received into the Catholic Church by the Ordinary, Msgr Steenson. Reportedly, 42 people were either received into, or reconciled with, the Catholic Church.
The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland reached an agreement with the parish to take allow it to keep the parish property.
The Rector, Jason Catania, was ordained as a Catholic Priest and is now the Parish Administrator. Fathers David Reamsmyder and Anthony Vidal, formerly Episcopalian curates at Mount Calvary, are recorded as Associates in the parish. Fr Reamsnyder is appointed Parish Administrator of St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Michigan, in the Diocese of Lansing whilst Fr Vidal is registered as part of the Assisting Clergy in Sacred Heart Catholic Parish, Glyndon, Maryland.
St Luke Episcopal Church, Bladensburg, Maryland. Pastor: Father Mark Lewis
A parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, St Luke’s was received into the Catholic Church (and subsequently the Ordinariate) on 9th October, 2011. The Episcopal Diocese allowed the community to retain its Church for a couple of years but there is now discussion about a future home for St Luke’s and making provision for the Ordinariate communities of North Virginia and Washington DC.
Fr Lewis was ordained as a priest in the Ordinariate on 24th June, 2012.
68 parishioners were received (including 10 reconciling with the Roman Catholic Church).
Fr Lewis was ordained for the COSP on 23rd June 2012.
St John Fisher Ordinariate Community, North Virginia Mission of St Luke’s, Bladensburg. Pastor: Father Randolph Sly.
A small community (about a dozen) based at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church, Potomac Falls, Virginia. Fr Sly, a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC), entered the Catholic Church in 2006. Ordained for COSP on 23rd June, 2012, Fr Sly is an Associate Editor of Catholic Online. CEC is an independent Anglican denomination.
St Timothy’s Episcopal Church, Catonsville, Maryland. Vicar: Father Terry Sweeney
The parish overwhelmingly voted to join COSP on 13th February, 2012, being received by Monsignor Steenson during the Easter Vigil on 31st March, 2013. Fr Sweeney is part of the formation programme for ordination within COSP. Somewhere over 40 were received, or reconciled.
The community had to vacate the church property on 30th June, 2013 (as the Episcopal Diocese wishes to maintain a presence in Catonsville) and are presesently meeting at St Mark's Catholic Church in Catonsville. They are looking at a permanent home in either St. William of York Catholic Church buildings or at Mount de Sales Academy, a Catholic girls' school in the town.
Christ the King Church, Towson, Maryland. Pastor: Father Edward Meeks
The former ACA parish (founded in 1996 as part of the Charismatic Episcopal Church) was received into the Ordinariate on 24th June, 2012. Their Pastor, Fr Ed Meeks was ordained the previous Saturday.
The parish has over 130 attendees, the vast majority of whom were received (88 confirmed, others too young for Confirmation, others reconciled). Three other clergy were recorded as joining with this parish, namely, Revv Ray Strawser, Mark Bradley and Lawrence Reinholt. I have no idea what the situation is with these three gentlemen in terms of whether or not they have sought, or been granted, formation to become priests of COSP.
The parish used to be the centre of academic training for the ACA and was certainly a jewel in the crown.
(Sacred Heart Mission, Mount Airey, Maryland: Former Pastor: Father Dennis Hewitt
A Mission of the ACA , made up of former members of TEC who left in 1994, they were previously affiliated with the Charismatic Episcopal Church and then joined ACA in 2007.
The community of 17 people were received into the Catholic Church under the Ordinariate on 23rd September, 2012. Initially a Mission of Christ The King Ordinariate parish in Towson, Sacred Heart has folded as a group with most members attending the local Catholic parish or attending Ordinariate communities elsewhere in Maryland. The Reverend Hewitt is not entering the Catholic priesthood but is an active part of the Catholic community.)
St Gregory the Great Ordinarite Community, Beverly, Massachusetts. Pastor: Father Jurgen W. Liias.
Father Liias is one of those who have come from the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), having been the founding pastor of Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church after he left the Episcopal Church (TEC) in October of 2009. He brought 250 people with him and another 150 joined.
After the publication of Anglicanorum coetibus, Fr Liias felt called to the Ordinariate and communion with the See of Peter. He was received into the Church on 15th August, 2013. He was ordained a Priest for COSP on 20th April 2013 and leads a community of around 20 people.
St Bede the Venerable, St John’s Abbey, Minnesota
The Society of St Bede the Venerable, Collegeville, Minnesota are now an Anglican Use Society in the Ordinariate. They are a small group sponsored by St Jon’s Abbey in Collegeville and have a Chaplain in Fr Nathaneal OSB who stated on Fr Z’s blog that “members come from the northern Minnesota, the Twin Cities and as far as Wisconsin to pray Saturday Evensong and Sunday Mass every other month”. They received and confirmed a new member on April 14th, 2013. Little acorns and all that.
Anglican Ordinariate Society at Immaculate Conception Church, Springfield, Missouri.Offically established on 5th August, 2013, when several members were formally received into the COSP, the group's roots go back to 2010 when a parishioner of Immaculate Conception parish (I think it was Mr Shane Schaetzel) initiated the idea with the blessing of the local RC bishop. A regular prayer meeting began to meet at the church from 12th June, 2012. The group is attended by Roman Catholics who were formerly Anglican/Episcopalian, Anglicans considering joining the Church through the COSP as well as people of Baptist and Assembly of God backgrounds who are also considering the move. "Cradle Catholics" are also part of the group.
I do not know the size of the group but it obviously is actively seeking to evangelise.
Our Lady of Hope Society, Kansas, Missouri.Formed as an Anglican Use Society in in 2008 when a small group of Anglicans were received into the Church at Pentecost. Celebrating its Fifth ‘birthday’ on 29th June 2013, it has regular Anglican Use Masses and the number of members has grown. It’s Masses (4pm on Saturday afternoons) take place in St. Therese the Little Flower Catholic Church, Kansas City, MO.
It became a formal part of the Ordinariate on January 25th, 2014, when Monsignor Steenson received the 20 or so applications from former Episcopalian, now diocesan (Kansas City-St. Joseph), priest Fr Ernie Davis, who leads the community.
Fellowship of St Alban, Rochester, New York.
Pastor: Father John Cornelius Formed from former Episcopalians and received on 24th October, 2012, The Fellowship of St. Alban is lead br Fr John Cornelius, who was Ordained to Priesthood for service in COSP on 26th June 2013. The group, which initially began with the Reception of 7 people (6 on the day and one, I believe, later), meets for Mass as the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Henrietta.
Community of Saint Anselm, Greenville, North Carolina. Pastor: Father Jon Chalmers
A small community formed on 10th June, 2012, by Father Chalmers (ordained for COSP on 3rd June, 2012), Saint Anselm's meets for worship at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Greenville, each Sunday at 6pm.
Our Lady of Good Counsel Anglican Church, Jacksonville, North Carolina. Pastoral Administrator: Fr. William Waun
A mission of ACA-DEUS, the community was received into the Catholic Church as a member of the Ordinariate on 18th November, 2012. 15 people were reportedly received. Dr Waun was ordained as a Priest of the COSP on November 22nd, 2014.
St Barnabas Church, Omaha, Nebraska. Rector: Fr Rob Scheiblhofer
Founded as a parish in 1869, St Barnabas disaffiliated from the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska in 2007, joining the ACA Diocese of the Missouri Valley (DMV). The parish has been in quiet negotiation with the Episcopal Diocese to bring to a mutually satisfactory end the litigation brought against the parish by the Diocese in 2007. An agreement has now been reached with the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska, a private settlement reached and St Barnabas has been allowed to retain her Church property. The parish is being received into the Roman Catholic Church on 10th July, 2013 (today, the day after I originally posted, just to show that news is out of date immediately), numbering around 50 members. Fr Scheiblhofer was ordained to the priesthood for COSP on 10th August, 2013.
Church of St Michael the Archangel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pastor: Father David Ousley Formed from the Episcopal Church of St James the Less, which disaffiliated from TEC in 1999, joining the ACA, but lost their church in 2007 after litigation by the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.
25 members of the community were received into the Catholic Church on 2nd April 2012. Fr Ousley was ordained for the Ordinariate on 16th June, 2012.
Sunday Mass is celebrated for the parish at 9am in Holy Cross Catholic Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Fellowship of the Blessed John Henry Newman, Philadelpia, Pennsylvania. Pastoral care currently provided by Fr. David Ousley of St. Michael's, Philadelphia (see the above post).
Formed from the former Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopalian parish in Rosemount, Philadelphia, the Fellowship had been in a process of 'consideration' for the past couple of years under the leadership of Bishop David Moyer, who was a priest of the Diocese of Pennsylvania (TEC), whilst also being a Bishop of the Anglican Church in America. For that particular history, please read around. Whilst Bishop Moyer received his Nulla from Rome, the local Catholic Bishop, probably due to the legal issues outstanding between Bishop Moyer and others at the time, refused to issue the required Votum to allow his ordination to go ahead. This led to the congregation, in a couple of different locations, setting up the Fellowship under Bishop Moyer's pastoral care. Bishop Moyer announced that he would be retirng as pastor at Easter of 2014 and seeking to be received into the Catholic Church as a layman (whilst still hoping to eventuaally receive the Bishop's Votum); he encouraged his congregation to do likewise. On November 2nd, 2014, 19 members of the Fellowship were Confirmed in the Catholic Church as members of COSP - I would guess that others are still considering their next steps and some may have been formerly Roman Catholics who were reconciled. There had been 75 members of the Fellowship at one point, so one can only specualte about the numbers received.
The Sunday Mass is celebrated in Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Wayne, Philadelphia, at 6pm.
St Thomas More Society - now St Thomas More Catholic Parish, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Pastor: Father Eric Bergman.
The Society (now parish) was formed in January, 2005, when Rev Bergman and half of his parishioners from the Episcopal Parish of the Good Shepherd were received into the Roman Catholic Church under the care of Msgr. William Feldcamp at St. Clare Catholic Church. The Society celebrated Mass of the Anglican use under the Pastoral Provision, led by Fr Bergman after his Ordination for the Diocese of Scranton in April 2007.
Fr. Bergman became the first priest incardinated in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in May 2012, concurrently with the St. Thomas More Society's erection as St. Thomas More Catholic Parish. In August of 2012, the congregation, Pastor, and his family moved to a new permanent home,
the St. Joseph Church campus, at the corner of North Main Avenue and Theodore Streets.Masses are celebrated each Sunday with High Mass at 10:00 am and a Low Mass is celebrated at 7:00 pm.
The parish numbers are recorded in the Times-Tribune newspaper (10th May, 2012) as being 150 and with the same paper reporting the number of pending confirmations of new parishioners as ‘high’ in its 7th 2013 edition.
Corpus Christi Catholic Community, Charleston, South Carolina. Pastor: Father Patrick S. Allen
This community grew out of a small number of families that left the Church of Holy Communion Episcopal Parish, Charleston, along with one of the priests, Fr. Patrick Allen. 23 people were received into, or reconciled with, the Catholic Church on 1st June, 2013 (the Feast of Corpus Christi, appropriately), whilst Fr. Allen was ordained to the priesthood on 7th July, 2013. The Community's inaugural Mass is on 1st September, 2013, at 11.30am at St Mary of the Annunciation Church, Charleston.
Fort Worth Area Ordinariate Group, Texas: Pastor: Father Tim Perkins.
The group entered the Church as the St Peter the Rock Ordinariate Catholic Community; I am placing this group under ACNA as they were a part of the ACNA-affiliated Diocese of Fort Worth.
Fr Perkins was ordained as an Ordinariate priest on June 30th, 2012, having been received with his 30+ strong community in September 2011. All former members of TEC.
Fr Perkins, as of April 1st of 2013, is the pastor of St Mary the Virgin parish, Arlington (see below) and, with the two groups being close together they have pretty much been united at St Mary’s, with some services still continuing in the former chapel used by St Peter’s.
St Gilbert Church, Boerne, Texas. Pastor: Father Mark Cannaday.
Fr Cannaday was ordained for COSP on 30th June, 2012. I do not know how large his community is but he offers Mass on Wednesday mornings at 10 am in St Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, Boerne.
St John Vianney Catholic Church, Cleburne, Granbury, Texas. Pastor: Canon Charles Hough III
Canon Hough has been the Canon to the Ordinary (similar to a Vicar-General is a Catholic Diocese) of the Diocese of Fort Worth (ACNA) and had been seeking to bring unity between both his diocese and the RC Diocese of Fort Worth.
He left the Episcopal Diocese in September 2011 and, with over 30 parishioners, was received into the Catholic Church and then COSP. He was, alongside his son (Charles Hough IV) ordained a priest of COSP on 30th June 2012. Fr Hough is the Vicar for Clergy for COSP.
St Mary the Virgin Catholic Parish, Arlington, Texas. Pastor: Father Timothy Perkins. Pastor Emeritus: Father Allan Hawkins.
St Mary the Virgin was the first Episcopal (Anglican) parish in the world to be received corporately (including its property) into Roman Catholic Church when it was received in 1994. It was an Anglican Use parish under the Pastoral Provision in the Diocese of Fort Worth.
It has just become part of the Ordinariate on the retirement of the former Pastor, Fr Allan Hawkins, who had been the vicar of the parish when part of the Episcopal Church. It has a parish membership of over 400.
Fr Perkins of the St Peter the Rock Community, Arlington (see above), was appointed as Parish Priest on 1st April. Whilst some services still take place in the chapel used by St Pater’s, the communities have pretty much become united.
St Timothy Episcopalian Church, Arlington, Forth Worth, Texas. Pastor: Father Christopher Stainbrook
60 members of St Timothy
’s entered the Roman Catholic Church on 27th May, 2012. Another 15 members were still in preparation for Reception. Fr Stainbrook was ordained as a priest in the Ordinariate 30th June, 2012, and is now St Timothy Catholic Church’s pastor.The community have Sunday Mass at 2pm St Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, Fort Worth.
St John Fisher Ordinariate Community, Virginia. Mission of St Luke’s, Bladensburg. Pastor: Father Randolph Sly.
A small community (about a dozen) based at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church, Potomac Falls, Virginia. Fr Sly, a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC), entered the Catholic Church in 2006. Ordained for COSP on 23rd June, 2012, Fr Sly is an Associate Editor of Catholic Online. CEC is an independent Anglican denomination.
Canada (Deanery of St John the Baptist)
St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Calgary, Alberta. Pastor: Fr Lee Kenyon
A parish of the Diocese of Calgary from 1905 to 2011, the majority of St John
’s parishioners voted to leave the Anglican Church in December of 2011 and were received into the Roman Catholic Church as the first Anglican Use Parish in Canada. On 7th January, 2013, the parish was formally erected as a Mission Parish in the Deanery of St John the Baptist in COSP. The Deanery (formed on 7th December, 2012) covers the whole of Canada and Fr Kenyon is the appointed Dean.The Anglican Diocese of Calgary kindly agreed to allow the parish to continue to use the Church and its property.
Fr Kenyon was ordained, along with honorary parish assistant, Fr John Wright, on 30th June, 2012. Fr Wright is on loan to the RC Diocese of Calgary. Whilst 71 people were received, I understand Mass attendance now stands around the 150 in number with encouraging numbers being received. Fr Lawrence Gibson was ordained priest on 11th June, 2013 and assists in the parish. Fr Gibson was most recently the pastor of Grace Anglican Church of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). 8 former parishioners of Grace Anglican Church have either been received or are actively considering reception.
St Thomas More Anglican Use Sodality (Toronto Anglican Use Society), Toronto, Ontario. Pastor: Fr. John Hodgins
Formed by Anglicans, former Anglicans and Catholics in response to the proposal to form Personal Ordinariates for Anglican communities to enter the Catholic Church, the group was formally renamed as the St Thomas More Anglican Use Sodality after a June 16th meeting. With more than 24 formal members, the sodality is canonically a “public association of the faithful”, a first step to formation as a parish. I believe the first group were received on December 18th, 2011 with several others received since, including from a Mennonite and United Church of Canada background (with thanks to Peregrinus). Mass is celebrated at Sacré-Coeur Catholic Church at 1.45pm, as it has been since 6th May, 2012.
Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman, Victoria, British Columbia. Pastor: Monsignor Peter Wilkinson
Formed in December, 2001, in response to the proposal to create Personal Ordinariates for former Anglicans, the Fellowship’s 22 members were received into the Church on 15th April, 2012. Now a Mission Parish of COSP. Former Metropolitan of the ACCC, Peter Wilkinson was ordained for COSP on 8th December, 2012 and raised to the rank of Prelate of Honour (Monsignor), the announcement made on 2nd February, 2013. He is now Parish Priest. The Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist, where Msgr Wilkinson and his community had formerly worshipped, chose to remain in the ACCC. Former ACC clergy, Michael Birch and Don Malins, were ordained for COSP on June 14th, 2013 and assist in the parish. Fr Birch was Dean Kenyon’s predecessor as vicar of St John’s, Calgary. Also received were former ACCC priests Sean Henry, Ralph Braunstien and Peter Switzer. Peter Switzer was ordained as a priest for COSP on June 14th, 2013 but I am not sure where he is now based.
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Ottawa, Ontario: Pastor: Father Carl Reid.
Formerly St John the Evangelist Parish, this parish of ACCC was received into the Catholic Church on 15th April, 2012 and former bishop Reid was ordained a priest for COSP on 26th January, 2013. About 30 members were received into the Catholic Church. Now known as the Sodality of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The parish brought its Church building with it.
St Edmund, King and Martyr, Waterloo, Ontario. Former Pastor: Fr Raymond Ball
Formed as a mission of the ACCC in the Autumn of 1996, the parish of St Edmund was received into the RC Church on 1st January, 2012. 11 people were received at the time. Each Sunday, they celebrate Anglican Use Mass in the Lady Chapel of St Patrick’s Church, Cambridge, Ontario. Local diocesan priest Fr William Foote acts as their chaplain.I do not know what the situation of Raymond Ball now is but Mr Gary Freeman appears to be the main organiser.
Now known as the Sodality of St Edmund of Canterbury, the Sodality was formally received into COSP by Monsignor Steenson on 29th May, 2013.
Update: Mr Ball was received as a layman and is not seeking Holy Orders in the Roman Catholic Church (thank you to Mr Freeman for this).
Parish of the Holy Nativity, Barrhaven, Ontario. Pastor: Father B Kipling Cooper
A small parish community which entered the Catholic Church with the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, its members presently worship with that Sodality.
St Barnabas, Spencerville, Ontario: Pastor: Father Doug Hayman.
A small parish community which entered the Catholic Church with the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, its members presently worship with that Sodality.
Our Lady of Walsingham (formerly St Peter and Paul Anglican Church), Vancouver. Administrator: Father Michael Shier
Received into the Catholic Church on 30th June, 2012, the group now referred to as the Vancouver Ordinariate Group, was then 14 strong. Only in June, 2013, was an Anglican Use Mass first celebrated in Vancouver by the visiting Dean, Fr Lee Kenyon.
Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman, Edmonton, Alberta. Former Pastor: Father David Skelton
Formerly of Our Lady and St Michael Parish, Fr Skelton led a small group into the Catholic Church (7, I think). They are sacramentally cared for by Diocesan priest, Fr David McLeod, at St Andrew’s, Edmonton. The group recently met with Msgr Steenson at the post-ordination buffet (Fr Gibson’s ordination). I understand that David Skelton is in formation for COSP. I believe another former ACCC clergyman, Fr Bryan Donegan was also received (or reconciled).
Sodality of the Good Shepherd (formerly the Good Shepherd Anglican Church), Oshawa, Ontario. Pastor: Fr. James Tilley.
The community was received into the Roman Catholic Church on 23rd April, 2012. About a dozen in all with their former priests, James Tilley and David Garrett,. Fr Tilley is now ordained and leads this community. I do not know thw situation for Mr Garrett, who may be in formation. They have their own Church.
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory's Christ the King Parish, Ontario. Former Pastor: Father Gerard Trinque
The community was received into the Catholic Church on 22nd April, 2012; 13 were formally received but a handful more may have been reconciled (former RC’s returning). Anglican Use Mass is offered for the community by diocesan priest, Fr Richard Whalen. I do not know what is the position of their former priest, Gerard Trinque, although I understand he was received into the Catholic Church.
Our Lady of the Sign Community (formerly St Michael’s Anglican Church), Fredericton, New Brunswick. Former Pastor: Canon Richard Harris
On June 24th, 2013, former Canon Harris was one of a dozen members of St Michael’s received into the Catholic Church. The community now worship with the local Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church and the former Canon Harris awaits a decision on whether he will be ordained for COSP.
The ACCC parish of Christ the King, Calgary, was dissolved in 2012 and their Rector, Father Colin O’Rourke was received with 5 others at St John’s, Calgary, on Palm Sunday of 2012. Several of the Christ the King former parishioners had already joined St John’s, Calgary, in 2011 and entered the Church with the parish.
Father Tony Ward and Father Ernest Skublics, formerly of the ACCC parish of All Saints. Calgary, Father Ward and his family in January of 2012, Father Skublics reconciled with the Church at the Easter Vigil of 2012. Only one other parishioner of All Saints had joined at the Vigil.
Rev Dr Charles Warner, rector of Holy Cross Parish, Sydney Forks, Nova Scotia, also joined the Catholic Church. I do not know of the present circumstances for him or his former parish. (Update - Dr Warner has apparently left the Catholic Church and is not involved with the ACCC either. We keep him in our prayers).
Father Chris Le Page, rector of St Thomas More Church, Charlottetown, Nova Scotia joined the Catholic Church. I do not know of the present circumstances for him or his former parish.
Clergy of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter
Ordinary: Reverend Monsignor Jeffrey Neil Steenson
Vicar General:
Very. Reverend Fr. Scott Hurd (Priest of Archdiocese of Washington)
Vice Chancellor: Fr. Jon Chalmers
Vicar for Finance: Rev. Msgr. Lawrence Gipson
Governing Council:
Appointed:
Fr. Eric Bergman
Fr. William (Doc) Holiday
Fr. Charles Hough IV
Fr. Mark Lewis
Fr. Edward Meeks
Rev. Msgr. Peter Wilkinson
Ex officio:
Fr. Jon Chalmers
Very. Rev. Fr. Charles Hough III
Very. Rev. Fr. Scott Hurd
Very. Rev. Fr. Lee Kenyon
USA
Fr. Lowell E. Andrews - Holy Nativity, Payson, Arizona.
Fr. Andrew Bartus - Blessed John Henry Newman Society of Orange County, California.
Fr. Eric Bergman - St. Thomas More Church, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Fr. W. Scott Blick, Associate Priest, St Cyril of Jerusalem Catholic Church, Houston, Texas.
Fr. Ken Bolin - Military Chaplain, Archdiocese of Military Services.
Fr. Mark Cannaday - St. Gilbert Church, Boerne, Texas.
Fr. William C. Cantrell - VA Medical Centre Chaplaincy, Durham, North Carolina.
Fr. Jon Chalmers - Community of St. Anselm, Greenville, South Carolina. Vice Chancellor.
Fr. John Cornelius, Fellowship of St. Alban, Rochester, New York.
Fr. Jonathan Duncan - St. John Vianney Community, Cleburne/Granbury, Texas.
Rev. Msgr. Laurence Gipson - Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston, Texas. Vicar for Finance.
Fr. Belen Gonzalez y Perez - Chaplaincy at Long Island College Hospital, New York City.
Fr. William (Doc) Holiday - Incarnation Catholic Church, Orlando, Florida.
Very Rev. Fr. Charles Hough III - Rector of Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston, Texas. Vicar for Clergy.
Fr. Charles Hough IV - St. John Vianney Community, Cleburne/Granbury, Texas.
Fr. Mark Lewis - St. Luke’s, Bladensburg, Maryland.
Fr. Jurgen Liias - St. Gregory the Great Ordinariate Community, Beverly, Massachusetts.
Fr. Lucien Lindsey - Our Lady of Mount Carmel Community, Savannah, Georgia. St. Mary on The Hill, Atlanta, Georgia.
Fr. Nicholas Marziani - St. James, St Augustine, Florida.
Fr. Edward Meeks - Christ the King, Towson, Maryland.
Fr. George Ortiz-Guzman - St. Augustine of Canterbury, Oceanside, California.
Fr. David Ousley, St. Michael the Archangel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Fr. Timothy Perkins - St. Mary of the Virgin, Arlington, Texas.
Fr. Brian Ray, Military Chaplain, Archdiocese of Military Services, USA.
Fr. David Reamsnyder - St. Anthony of Padua, Hillsdale, Michigan.
Fr. Richard Rojas, Military Chaplain, based in Guam.
Fr. Rob Scheiblhofer - St. Barbabas, Omaha, Nebraska.
Fr. Steven Sellers, former Dean of Gethsemane (Episcopal Cathedral), Fargo, North Dakota - no appointment as yet.
Fr. Albert Scharbach - Priest Administrator of Mount Calvary Church, Baltimore, Maryland
Fr. Chori Jonathin Seraiah - Diocesan work.
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook, St. Timothy, Forth Worth, Texas.
Fr. Randolph Sly - St. John Fisher Ordinariate Community, Potomac Falls, Virginia.
Fr. Pedro Toledo - St. Augustine of Hippo Ordnariate Community, Miami, Florida
Fr. Matthew A. Venuti, The Society of St. Gregory the Great, Mobile, Alabama.
Fr. J. Anthony Vidal - Mount Calvary Church, Baltimore, Maryland.
Fr Joseph Francis Viera - Military Chaplain, Archdiocese of the Military Services, based in Germany.
Fr. William Waun - Pastoral Admistrator, Our LAdy of Good COunsel, Jacksonville, North Carolina.
Fr. Joshua Whitfield - Communities of Prayer, Dallas, Texas.
Fr. John Worgul - Christ the King, Towson, Maryland.
Deacon James Barnett - Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston, Texas. To be Ordained Priest at a date yet to be announced.
Deacon Mark Baker - Our Lady of Walsingham. Houston, Texas.
Deacon John Denson - Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston, Texas.
Deacon Melvin (Bud) Reick - Christ the King, Towson, Maryland.
Canada
Deanery of St John the Baptist
Fr. Michael Birch - Fellowship of St. John Henry Newman, St. Columba's Church, Victoria, British Columbia.
Fr. Jason Catania - Sodality of St. Edmund, King and Martyr, Kitchener, Ontario.
Fr. Kipling Cooper - Sodality of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ottawa, Ontario and serving the .
Fr. Jonathan Gibson - St. John the Evangelist Church, Calgary, Alberta.
Fr. Doug Hayman - Sodality of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ottawa, Ontario and serving the Chapel of St Barnabas, Apostle and Martyr, Johnstown, Ontario.
Fr. John Hodgins - Community of St. Thomas More, Toronto, Ontario
Fr. Don Malins - Fellowship of St. John Henry Newman, St. Columba's Church, Victoria, British Columbia.
Fr. Carl Reid - Sodality of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ottawa, Ontario.
Fr. Michael Shier - Fellowship of Our Lady of Walsingham in Maple Ridge, Vancouver, British Columbia
Fr. Peter Switzer - assists at Holy Family Notre Dame Catholic Church, Port Alberni, British Columbia.
Fr. James Tilley - forming a community (Sodality of the Good Shepherd) in Oshawa, Ontario.
Rev. Msgr. Peter Wilkinson - Fellowship of St. John Henry Newman, St. Columba’s Church, Victoria, British Columbia.
Fr. John Wright (on loan to Calgary Diocese).
Parishes that had shown an interest in joining the COSP, yet haven't. Where are they now?
Several parishes/groups of different jurisdictions expressed an interest in, or support for, the Personal Ordinariate proposed for the USA and Canada. I thought it might be interesting to look at the Google Map of February 2011 and see what has happened to those groups not presently formally aligned (or soon to be)with the now existing Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter (COSP) and why that might be. I have not included any of the parishes of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church, none of which have entered the COSP.
As ever, information and corrections are welcome.
All Saints Sisters of the Poor, Catonsville, Maryland.
The All Saints Sisters of the Poor were received into the Roman Catholic Church on 3rd September, 2009. By decree of the Vatican, they became an official Institute of Consecrated Life, a Priory ‘sui iuris’ of diocesan right. On All Saints Day (1st November), 2011, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, they made public vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience and celebrated this decree of erection. 10 sisters were originally received and 8 made public vows two years later. Age and the passing of time may have something to do with this.
Whilst an Anglican Priory, they had been closely associated with Mount Calvary Church, Baltimore, now a parish of COSP. I would assume that they will be receiving Sacramental care from one of the COSP priests in the area and, with the recent reception of St Timothy’s Church, Catonsville, will be closely linked to them in future.
They are not presently associated with COSP in any formal but, given that there are two religious orders linked to the UK Ordinariate, there is no reason why they couldn’t choose to be in the years ahead.
St Mark’s Anglican Church, Rogers, Arkansas. Pastor: Rev Bobby Hall, SSM
Reported in Arkansas Catholic (27th August, 2011) to be on the way to joining the Ordinariate. Formerly in TAC, website presently states it is an Independent Anglican Mission unaffiliated to Canterbury or TEC. Not sure of numbers, stood at 17 in the report.
A comment on the Anglo-Catholic Blog on August 29th, 2012, suggests Fr Hall may not have been accepted for ordination, - I may have misread this.
Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas. Pastor: Fr Christopher G. Phillips, assisted by Fr Jeffrey Moore.
The first Anglican Use parish under the Pastoral Provision in the USA, and the largest, Our Lady of the Atonement has decided, at this time, not to seek membership of the Ordinariate but to remain part of the local diocese.
The Congregation of St Athanasius, Boston, Massachusetts. Chaplain: Reverend Richard S. Bradford.
This congregation began with members of the Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, in the Dorchester neighbourhood of Boston, Massachusetts. All Saints has been a parish of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America for over one hundred years. In January, 1996, several dozen members of All Saints, together with their rector, elected to withdraw from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion in order to seek admission corporately into the Roman Catholic Church under the special terms of the “Pastoral Provision”.
After a period of preparation, the transition was completed with great rejoicing when, on September 28, 1997, twenty-nine members of the congregation were received into full communion at the direction of his Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law, Archbishop of Boston. The Cardinal then formally erected the Congregation of Saint Athanasius as an Anglican Use chaplaincy in the archdiocese.
Masses are celebrated each Sunday at 11.30am in St Lawrence Catholic Church, Boston and most Saturdays at 9 AM at St. Theresa's, West Roxbury.
St Anselm of Canterbury Catholic Mission, Corpus Christi, Texas. Based at the Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center.
An Anglican Use mission founded in the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 1994, with pastoral oversight provided by the Society of Our Lady of Holy Trinity. In 2001, it was reported that they were awaiting the erection of the Ordinariate. I do not know what the present position is.
Catholic Anglican Use Laity (CAUL) used to meet at St. Francis of Assisi Church, La Quinta, California, with AU mass offered by Fr Jack Barker (former Episcopalian priest), who is the Pastor of St Martha Catholic Church, Murrieta, California in the Diocese of San Bernadino. I know Fr Barker is a well respected figure among those Anglican Use/Ordinariate world but have no other info about the CAUL at this time.
Holy Cross Anglican Church, Honolulu, Hawaii. Pastor: Reverend Lawrence B Wheeler.
A small mission of the Anglican Church in America (Traditional Anglican Communion), it petitioned
to be received into the Roman Catholic Church under the provisions of Anglican Coetibus on 19th September, 2010.
Fr Wheeler has reportedly withdrawn his application to join the Roman Catholic Church.
Our Lady of Martyr’s Anglican Use Society, Nashville, Tennessee.
Founded in 2010, and with services sometimes provided by Fr Prentice Dean (a former Episcopalian priest ordained for the Diocese of Tennessee in February 2010), I have no real idea whether it still exists as a group. Fr Dean is Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and St Michael in Robertson County, Tennessee.
St Columba’s Traditional Anglican Church, Fernley, Nevada. Rector: Fr William Bauer TFSC PhD Assistant: Fr Raymond Cullen
A member of the Episcopal Missionary Church, St Columba’s parish has been struck by appalling misfortune in the past year with an act of arson gutting the church building in October of 2012. Thanks be to God, the City of Fernley has agreed to the building of a new church (agreed on June 13th 2013) and the Insurance money will cover it.
As for the interest in joining the Ordinariate, I believe Fr Bauer is/was part of the Ordinariate formation programme, but have no idea where the process for him and the parish presently stands.
Christ Church of the Resurrection, San Diego, California. Rector: Fr Joseph B. Mai
An ACA Diocese of the West parish, Christ Church of the Resurrection is a majority Vietnamese-American parish which left TEC and only joined the ACA in 2010. Stated to have a 120 strong membership in 2010 (although the ACA website claimed 300). A Fr George Ortiz-Guzman is asaid to have been involved at one-time, whether he is the same priest as the Pastor of the St Augustine of Canterbury Ordinariate parish, I do not know. The parish has not joined COSP and, as far as I am aware, is not on the road to.
Christ Church of the Resurrection is no longer registered as part of the ACA Diocese of the West.
Anglican Use Catholics at St Bede’s, Holland, Pennsylvania.
A group founded to attract those interested in the Anglican Use, it began celebrating Evensong at St Bede’s Catholic Church in October of 2010. I do not have any information as to whether this ever really got off the ground.
Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Priory, Raymond, Maine. Prior: Rev Prior Kevin La Marre OSB
A small semi-monastic community founded in 1993, the Priory is part of the ACA Diocese of the North East. Its website shows that it values close Roman Catholic links but no progress to joining the Ordinariate has been reported or seems likely.
St Aiden’s Anglican Church, Des Moines, Iowa. Rector: Fr Chori Jonathin Seraiah
A parish of the ACA-DMV(and the home parish of Archbishop Louis Falk, former primate of the ACA), St Aiden’s seemed set to become a part of the Ordinariate until a last minute change of mind, possibly not unconnected to the decision of Archbishop Falk to decide to not join the Catholic Church. Fr Seraiah was already in the process of undergoing formation and preparation for ordination for the Ordinariate.
Whilst the parish has remained in the ACA, Fr Seraiah is now a priest of the Ordinariate working in his local diocese.
Christ Our Saviour Anglican Church, Denison, Texas. Pastor: Fr Randall Fogle, Pastor Emeritus: Fr Clayton
Part of the ACA-DMV, The parish was very involved in formation to be received into the Catholic Church and both the present and former pastors have applied for acceptance for reception into the Ordinariate formation process. I do not know what the present situation is, but the parish is no longer part of the ACA-DMV.
It seems that parishes with their own property are, in some cases, taking longer to enter and this might be part of the issue. The parish has a Facebook page which still seems to point towards progress towards reception into the Ordinariate.
St Mary of the Angels, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Rector: Fr Christopher Kelley
On three occasions, the parishioners of this ACA-Diocese of the West parish voted overwhelmingly to join the Ordinariate. Each time, this was challenged by a minority of parishioners and, with legal involvement from Bishop Marsh, Presiding Bishop of ACA. My only comment would be that the ACA House of Bishops required those parishes which had sort to leave the ACA and join the Catholic Church by joining the Patrimony of the Primate (as St Mary’s had) to formally re-apply for admission to the ACA. St Mary’s made clear it had no wish to do this, as its votes showed. The ACA appointed a different rector who removed the vestry and then made the application. Very sad.
Church of the Savior of the World and His Blessed Mother Mission, Irving, Texas. Pastor: Fr Ben Pardo
In December, 2010, it was reported that the Mission, a member of the ACA, had voted unanimously to enter the Ordinariate. It is an outreach mission to Hispanics of recent foundation.
I have no idea what is happening here but know that it is no longer registered as part of the ACA-DMV.
St Peter Damien Parish, Indianapolis.
This was somehow connected to Fr Luke Reece of St Joseph of Arimathea Society, Indiana, now a Catholic Priest in the Ordinariate.
St Columba’s Anglican Church, Lancaster, California. Vicar: Fr Angus B Bower
An ACA-DW parish that did state its intention to join the Roman Catholic Church through the Ordinariate but remains a member of the ACA.
Bl. John Henry Newman Personal Ordinariate Community of Monroe, Louisiana.
This community was provisionally founded on November 5th, 2011 under the administration of Thomas Kennedy. I believe it met at St Matthew Catholic Church in Monroe.
I can find out nothing on the group recently.
St Therese Anglican Church, Easton, Pennsylvania. Vicar: Reverend Harold Minor
Whilst it is called St Therese on the Ordinariate Map, it seems to refer to St Theresa’s Anglican Church, Easton, which remains a parish of the ACA-DEUS.
Trinity Anglican Mission, Franklin, North Carolina. Pastor: Deacon Douglas Strack
This mission was included as one of the missions under the care of the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family led by Bishop Louis Campese as a preparation for reception into the Ordinariate. Now known as St Stephen’s Anglican Church (actually on the ACA-DEUS website as Stephens’s, but this is appalling English), it remains part of ACA, as does Rev Strack.
St Augustine of England Church, Baltimore Area, Maryland. Vicar: Fr J Anthony Vidal
I have been slightly confused in checking this one as St Augustine of England was a parish of the ACA-DEUS which joined with Bishop Campese in the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family preparing to join the Catholic Church via the Ordinariate. Fr Vidal was on the Council of Advice for the Pro-Diocese.
A Fr Vidal connected to Mount Calvary Church, Baltimore (see above), was ordained for the Ordinariate but he is described as being a former Episcopal priest - of course, this does not mean he did not join the ACA at some point. I am then assuming it is the same man as he is listed in the Archdiocese of Baltimore as a non-diocesan priest and his email address is still staugustineanglican.org.
I assume any of his parishioners who joined with him attend Mount Calvary or a local Catholic parish.
He is Associate Pastor at Mount Calvary and one of the Assisting Clergy at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Glyndon, Maryland.
St Mark’s Church, Benton, Kentucky. Vicar: Fr Donald True.
This community began when they split with TEC in 2003 and received support and oversight from the Episcopal Missionary Church (EMC). In December 2005, with Fr True as their new interim Rector, they voted to join the Anglican Province of Christ the King (APCK). In September of 2007, the congregation voted to affiliate with the ACA.
The parish was included in the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family under Bishop Campese but seemed to lose interest in the Ordinariate early on as the website showed they had voted to rejoin the EMC in 2012. They still appear on ACA-DEUS website but are in the EMC now. Fr True appears to have retired.
St Luke’s Mission, The Villages, Florida. Vicar: Fr Dean Steward
St Luke’s was part of the ACA-DEUS and joined the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family under Bishop Campese . The community was received into the Catholic Church and Ordinariate with the Incarnation Parish in Orlando (see above).
Fr Steward was received into the Catholic Church and was, at the time, reported to be in charge of the Holy Cross Mission, Ocala, Florida which was received with Incarnation Church.
I am not sure if these missions still exist or what the position of Dean Steward is.
Christ Church, Florida. Vicar: Fr Dean Steward (see above)
I have no present knowledge of the existence, or otherwise, of this mission.
Notre Dame du Mount Carmel Church, Margate, Florida. Vicar: Fr Geemps St. Julien
This parish has a history in the continuing Anglican movement having been part of Holy Catholic Church (Anglican Rite) in 2009, at some point it joined the ACA. It joined with the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family under Bishop Campese.
I do not know if Fr St. Julien was also received as nobody has passed on the information when I created my post on former TAC clergy in the Roman Catholic Church.
Sacred Heart Franciscans, New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
This group appeared to revolve around the late Brother Francis Augustine who passed away in April of 2012. He was closely connected with Our Lady of the Angels Chapel (see above).
All Saints' Traditional Anglican Church, Calgary Alberta: Rector. Fr Ernest Skublics.
The Parish remains part of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC), Fr Skublics was reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil with one other parishioner. Fr Tony Ward, also connected with All Saints', was received with his family in January of 2012. Some parishioners had already left to join with St John the Evangelist, Calvary (former Anglican Church of Canada parish) previously.
Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist, Victoria, British Columbia. Rector: Bishop Peter Wilkinson
Whilst Bishop Wilkinson and a considerable number of his parishioners and other clergy joined the Catholic Church, others decided not to. Now Monsignor Wilkinson is the Pastor of the Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman in Victoria and three of his fellow clergy have also been ordained. The Cathedral remains the Cathedral Church of the ACCC with former Dean, Fr Shane Jansen, now the Metropolitan and Bishop Ordinary and Rector of this parish.
St Barnabas Parish, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, remained with the ACCC.
St Athanasius, Montreal, Quebec, remained with the ACCC.
St Francis Mission, Amhurst, Nova Scotia, remained with the ACCC.
St Aiden’s Pro-Cathedral, Halifax, Nova Scotia, remained with the ACCC.
St George’s-by-the-Sea, Ecum Secum, Moses River, Nova Scotia, remained with the ACCC.
St Stephen, Protomartyr, Newfoundland, remained with the ACCC.
St Michael and All Angels, Grand Le Pierre, Newfoundland, remained with the ACCC.
St Augustine of Canterbury, Newfoundland, seems to have disappeared as a parish of the ACCC, but the former Deacon there, Robert Short, was ordained a priest in the ACCC and appointed to Saint Michael and All Angels (see above).
The New Brunswick missions of Chapel of the Sign and Chapel of the Annunciation have disappeared from the ACCA website.
St Patrick’s Church, Vancouver, British Columbia, is no longer on the ACCA website.
The Chapel of Our Lady and St Martin, British Columbia, is no longer on the ACCA website.
Holy Trinity, Medicine Hat, Alberta, remains a parish of the ACCA.
St Michael and All Angels, Abbotsford, British Columbia, remains a parish of the ACCA.
Christ Church Mission, British Columbia, is no longer on the ACCA website.
Our Lady and St Michael, Edmonton, Alberta, remains a parish of the ACCA.
Holy Redeemer Mission, Edmonton, Alberta, is no longer on the ACCA website.
As ever, information and corrections are welcome.
USA
All Saints Sisters of the Poor, Catonsville, Maryland.
The All Saints Sisters of the Poor were received into the Roman Catholic Church on 3rd September, 2009. By decree of the Vatican, they became an official Institute of Consecrated Life, a Priory ‘sui iuris’ of diocesan right. On All Saints Day (1st November), 2011, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, they made public vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience and celebrated this decree of erection. 10 sisters were originally received and 8 made public vows two years later. Age and the passing of time may have something to do with this.
Whilst an Anglican Priory, they had been closely associated with Mount Calvary Church, Baltimore, now a parish of COSP. I would assume that they will be receiving Sacramental care from one of the COSP priests in the area and, with the recent reception of St Timothy’s Church, Catonsville, will be closely linked to them in future.
They are not presently associated with COSP in any formal but, given that there are two religious orders linked to the UK Ordinariate, there is no reason why they couldn’t choose to be in the years ahead.
St Mark’s Anglican Church, Rogers, Arkansas. Pastor: Rev Bobby Hall, SSM
Reported in Arkansas Catholic (27th August, 2011) to be on the way to joining the Ordinariate. Formerly in TAC, website presently states it is an Independent Anglican Mission unaffiliated to Canterbury or TEC. Not sure of numbers, stood at 17 in the report.
A comment on the Anglo-Catholic Blog on August 29th, 2012, suggests Fr Hall may not have been accepted for ordination, - I may have misread this.
Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas. Pastor: Fr Christopher G. Phillips, assisted by Fr Jeffrey Moore.
The first Anglican Use parish under the Pastoral Provision in the USA, and the largest, Our Lady of the Atonement has decided, at this time, not to seek membership of the Ordinariate but to remain part of the local diocese.
The Congregation of St Athanasius, Boston, Massachusetts. Chaplain: Reverend Richard S. Bradford.
This congregation began with members of the Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, in the Dorchester neighbourhood of Boston, Massachusetts. All Saints has been a parish of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America for over one hundred years. In January, 1996, several dozen members of All Saints, together with their rector, elected to withdraw from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion in order to seek admission corporately into the Roman Catholic Church under the special terms of the “Pastoral Provision”.
After a period of preparation, the transition was completed with great rejoicing when, on September 28, 1997, twenty-nine members of the congregation were received into full communion at the direction of his Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law, Archbishop of Boston. The Cardinal then formally erected the Congregation of Saint Athanasius as an Anglican Use chaplaincy in the archdiocese.
Masses are celebrated each Sunday at 11.30am in St Lawrence Catholic Church, Boston and most Saturdays at 9 AM at St. Theresa's, West Roxbury.
St Anselm of Canterbury Catholic Mission, Corpus Christi, Texas. Based at the Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center.
An Anglican Use mission founded in the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 1994, with pastoral oversight provided by the Society of Our Lady of Holy Trinity. In 2001, it was reported that they were awaiting the erection of the Ordinariate. I do not know what the present position is.
Catholic Anglican Use Laity (CAUL) used to meet at St. Francis of Assisi Church, La Quinta, California, with AU mass offered by Fr Jack Barker (former Episcopalian priest), who is the Pastor of St Martha Catholic Church, Murrieta, California in the Diocese of San Bernadino. I know Fr Barker is a well respected figure among those Anglican Use/Ordinariate world but have no other info about the CAUL at this time.
Holy Cross Anglican Church, Honolulu, Hawaii. Pastor: Reverend Lawrence B Wheeler.
A small mission of the Anglican Church in America (Traditional Anglican Communion), it petitioned
to be received into the Roman Catholic Church under the provisions of Anglican Coetibus on 19th September, 2010.
Fr Wheeler has reportedly withdrawn his application to join the Roman Catholic Church.
Our Lady of Martyr’s Anglican Use Society, Nashville, Tennessee.
Founded in 2010, and with services sometimes provided by Fr Prentice Dean (a former Episcopalian priest ordained for the Diocese of Tennessee in February 2010), I have no real idea whether it still exists as a group. Fr Dean is Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and St Michael in Robertson County, Tennessee.
St Columba’s Traditional Anglican Church, Fernley, Nevada. Rector: Fr William Bauer TFSC PhD Assistant: Fr Raymond Cullen
A member of the Episcopal Missionary Church, St Columba’s parish has been struck by appalling misfortune in the past year with an act of arson gutting the church building in October of 2012. Thanks be to God, the City of Fernley has agreed to the building of a new church (agreed on June 13th 2013) and the Insurance money will cover it.
As for the interest in joining the Ordinariate, I believe Fr Bauer is/was part of the Ordinariate formation programme, but have no idea where the process for him and the parish presently stands.
Christ Church of the Resurrection, San Diego, California. Rector: Fr Joseph B. Mai
An ACA Diocese of the West parish, Christ Church of the Resurrection is a majority Vietnamese-American parish which left TEC and only joined the ACA in 2010. Stated to have a 120 strong membership in 2010 (although the ACA website claimed 300). A Fr George Ortiz-Guzman is asaid to have been involved at one-time, whether he is the same priest as the Pastor of the St Augustine of Canterbury Ordinariate parish, I do not know. The parish has not joined COSP and, as far as I am aware, is not on the road to.
Christ Church of the Resurrection is no longer registered as part of the ACA Diocese of the West.
Anglican Use Catholics at St Bede’s, Holland, Pennsylvania.
A group founded to attract those interested in the Anglican Use, it began celebrating Evensong at St Bede’s Catholic Church in October of 2010. I do not have any information as to whether this ever really got off the ground.
Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Priory, Raymond, Maine. Prior: Rev Prior Kevin La Marre OSB
A small semi-monastic community founded in 1993, the Priory is part of the ACA Diocese of the North East. Its website shows that it values close Roman Catholic links but no progress to joining the Ordinariate has been reported or seems likely.
St Aiden’s Anglican Church, Des Moines, Iowa. Rector: Fr Chori Jonathin Seraiah
A parish of the ACA-DMV(and the home parish of Archbishop Louis Falk, former primate of the ACA), St Aiden’s seemed set to become a part of the Ordinariate until a last minute change of mind, possibly not unconnected to the decision of Archbishop Falk to decide to not join the Catholic Church. Fr Seraiah was already in the process of undergoing formation and preparation for ordination for the Ordinariate.
Whilst the parish has remained in the ACA, Fr Seraiah is now a priest of the Ordinariate working in his local diocese.
Christ Our Saviour Anglican Church, Denison, Texas. Pastor: Fr Randall Fogle, Pastor Emeritus: Fr Clayton
Part of the ACA-DMV, The parish was very involved in formation to be received into the Catholic Church and both the present and former pastors have applied for acceptance for reception into the Ordinariate formation process. I do not know what the present situation is, but the parish is no longer part of the ACA-DMV.
It seems that parishes with their own property are, in some cases, taking longer to enter and this might be part of the issue. The parish has a Facebook page which still seems to point towards progress towards reception into the Ordinariate.
St Mary of the Angels, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Rector: Fr Christopher Kelley
On three occasions, the parishioners of this ACA-Diocese of the West parish voted overwhelmingly to join the Ordinariate. Each time, this was challenged by a minority of parishioners and, with legal involvement from Bishop Marsh, Presiding Bishop of ACA. My only comment would be that the ACA House of Bishops required those parishes which had sort to leave the ACA and join the Catholic Church by joining the Patrimony of the Primate (as St Mary’s had) to formally re-apply for admission to the ACA. St Mary’s made clear it had no wish to do this, as its votes showed. The ACA appointed a different rector who removed the vestry and then made the application. Very sad.
Church of the Savior of the World and His Blessed Mother Mission, Irving, Texas. Pastor: Fr Ben Pardo
In December, 2010, it was reported that the Mission, a member of the ACA, had voted unanimously to enter the Ordinariate. It is an outreach mission to Hispanics of recent foundation.
I have no idea what is happening here but know that it is no longer registered as part of the ACA-DMV.
St Peter Damien Parish, Indianapolis.
This was somehow connected to Fr Luke Reece of St Joseph of Arimathea Society, Indiana, now a Catholic Priest in the Ordinariate.
St Columba’s Anglican Church, Lancaster, California. Vicar: Fr Angus B Bower
An ACA-DW parish that did state its intention to join the Roman Catholic Church through the Ordinariate but remains a member of the ACA.
Bl. John Henry Newman Personal Ordinariate Community of Monroe, Louisiana.
This community was provisionally founded on November 5th, 2011 under the administration of Thomas Kennedy. I believe it met at St Matthew Catholic Church in Monroe.
I can find out nothing on the group recently.
St Therese Anglican Church, Easton, Pennsylvania. Vicar: Reverend Harold Minor
Whilst it is called St Therese on the Ordinariate Map, it seems to refer to St Theresa’s Anglican Church, Easton, which remains a parish of the ACA-DEUS.
Trinity Anglican Mission, Franklin, North Carolina. Pastor: Deacon Douglas Strack
This mission was included as one of the missions under the care of the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family led by Bishop Louis Campese as a preparation for reception into the Ordinariate. Now known as St Stephen’s Anglican Church (actually on the ACA-DEUS website as Stephens’s, but this is appalling English), it remains part of ACA, as does Rev Strack.
St Augustine of England Church, Baltimore Area, Maryland. Vicar: Fr J Anthony Vidal
I have been slightly confused in checking this one as St Augustine of England was a parish of the ACA-DEUS which joined with Bishop Campese in the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family preparing to join the Catholic Church via the Ordinariate. Fr Vidal was on the Council of Advice for the Pro-Diocese.
A Fr Vidal connected to Mount Calvary Church, Baltimore (see above), was ordained for the Ordinariate but he is described as being a former Episcopal priest - of course, this does not mean he did not join the ACA at some point. I am then assuming it is the same man as he is listed in the Archdiocese of Baltimore as a non-diocesan priest and his email address is still staugustineanglican.org.
I assume any of his parishioners who joined with him attend Mount Calvary or a local Catholic parish.
He is Associate Pastor at Mount Calvary and one of the Assisting Clergy at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Glyndon, Maryland.
St Mark’s Church, Benton, Kentucky. Vicar: Fr Donald True.
This community began when they split with TEC in 2003 and received support and oversight from the Episcopal Missionary Church (EMC). In December 2005, with Fr True as their new interim Rector, they voted to join the Anglican Province of Christ the King (APCK). In September of 2007, the congregation voted to affiliate with the ACA.
The parish was included in the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family under Bishop Campese but seemed to lose interest in the Ordinariate early on as the website showed they had voted to rejoin the EMC in 2012. They still appear on ACA-DEUS website but are in the EMC now. Fr True appears to have retired.
St Luke’s Mission, The Villages, Florida. Vicar: Fr Dean Steward
St Luke’s was part of the ACA-DEUS and joined the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family under Bishop Campese . The community was received into the Catholic Church and Ordinariate with the Incarnation Parish in Orlando (see above).
Fr Steward was received into the Catholic Church and was, at the time, reported to be in charge of the Holy Cross Mission, Ocala, Florida which was received with Incarnation Church.
I am not sure if these missions still exist or what the position of Dean Steward is.
Christ Church, Florida. Vicar: Fr Dean Steward (see above)
I have no present knowledge of the existence, or otherwise, of this mission.
Notre Dame du Mount Carmel Church, Margate, Florida. Vicar: Fr Geemps St. Julien
This parish has a history in the continuing Anglican movement having been part of Holy Catholic Church (Anglican Rite) in 2009, at some point it joined the ACA. It joined with the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family under Bishop Campese.
I do not know if Fr St. Julien was also received as nobody has passed on the information when I created my post on former TAC clergy in the Roman Catholic Church.
Sacred Heart Franciscans, New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
This group appeared to revolve around the late Brother Francis Augustine who passed away in April of 2012. He was closely connected with Our Lady of the Angels Chapel (see above).
Canada
All Saints' Traditional Anglican Church, Calgary Alberta: Rector. Fr Ernest Skublics.
The Parish remains part of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC), Fr Skublics was reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil with one other parishioner. Fr Tony Ward, also connected with All Saints', was received with his family in January of 2012. Some parishioners had already left to join with St John the Evangelist, Calvary (former Anglican Church of Canada parish) previously.
Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist, Victoria, British Columbia. Rector: Bishop Peter Wilkinson
Whilst Bishop Wilkinson and a considerable number of his parishioners and other clergy joined the Catholic Church, others decided not to. Now Monsignor Wilkinson is the Pastor of the Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman in Victoria and three of his fellow clergy have also been ordained. The Cathedral remains the Cathedral Church of the ACCC with former Dean, Fr Shane Jansen, now the Metropolitan and Bishop Ordinary and Rector of this parish.
St Barnabas Parish, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, remained with the ACCC.
St Athanasius, Montreal, Quebec, remained with the ACCC.
St Francis Mission, Amhurst, Nova Scotia, remained with the ACCC.
St Aiden’s Pro-Cathedral, Halifax, Nova Scotia, remained with the ACCC.
St George’s-by-the-Sea, Ecum Secum, Moses River, Nova Scotia, remained with the ACCC.
St Stephen, Protomartyr, Newfoundland, remained with the ACCC.
St Michael and All Angels, Grand Le Pierre, Newfoundland, remained with the ACCC.
St Augustine of Canterbury, Newfoundland, seems to have disappeared as a parish of the ACCC, but the former Deacon there, Robert Short, was ordained a priest in the ACCC and appointed to Saint Michael and All Angels (see above).
The New Brunswick missions of Chapel of the Sign and Chapel of the Annunciation have disappeared from the ACCA website.
St Patrick’s Church, Vancouver, British Columbia, is no longer on the ACCA website.
The Chapel of Our Lady and St Martin, British Columbia, is no longer on the ACCA website.
Holy Trinity, Medicine Hat, Alberta, remains a parish of the ACCA.
St Michael and All Angels, Abbotsford, British Columbia, remains a parish of the ACCA.
Christ Church Mission, British Columbia, is no longer on the ACCA website.
Our Lady and St Michael, Edmonton, Alberta, remains a parish of the ACCA.
Holy Redeemer Mission, Edmonton, Alberta, is no longer on the ACCA website.
Friday, 10 May 2013
Thank you Sir Alex.
It has taken me a couple of days to get over the shock of Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement - I know, kind of pathetic. He has brought me such joy over the many years and I wish him the very best.
I do not gamble but have been predicting David Moyes to take over for the past three years so am happy enough about that.
For Man United fans everywhere:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1ykMNtzMT8
I do not gamble but have been predicting David Moyes to take over for the past three years so am happy enough about that.
For Man United fans everywhere:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1ykMNtzMT8
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Cornwall Council elections: Restormel
Restormal was a borough council of Cornwall which disappeared with the creation of the Cornwall Council unitary authority on 1st April, 2009. It offices were based in the town of St Austell and the area it covered was the middle of Cornwall, the 'knee' of the peninsula. It was originally formed on 1st April, 1974, from the St. Austell Rural District, Newquay Urban District and St Austell with Fowey borough.
With the creation of the unitary authority, 4 new civil parishes were created: St Austell Town Council, St Austell Bay civil parish, Carlyon civil parish and Pentewan Valley civil parish.
A major concern during this election is the proposed building of an incinerator in St Dennis in the China Clay Area.
St Austell
The largest town in Cornwall with a population of 30,800 (2010 estimate). 10 miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of Devon. St Austell civil parish is entirely urban in character. The China Clay industry, once dominant as the St Austell employer, now employs only 2,000 people, but its annual output is higher than ever before. The St Austell Brewery, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2001, supplies cask ale to pubs in Cornwall and the rest of the UK, and its beers are marvellous, I have undertaken studies of the subject.
St Austell Bethel
This division was won by a tiny majority of 18 votes in 2009 by the Liberal Democrat's Graham Walker over the Conservative candidate, Bob Davidson. Both are back but this time Councillor Walker, also a town councillor, is standing as an Independent. He resigned from the party on 21st May, 2012, citing his immense disappointment in national politics. Town councillor Mr Davidson, a former district councillor for Bethel, will be hoping that this will help him to win this time.
For the Liberal Democrats, local constituency party chairman Malcolm Brown will be trying to return the seat to the party fold. A town councillor, Mr Brown won the Bethel by election on the 6th December, 2012. He took 41.5% of the vote over the Tory share of 27.5% and, whilst the majority was only 90, on a low turnout, that was acceptable, and was a gain from the Tories.
Another person with a lot to be happy about from that by election is Brendan Parkinson, the Labour & Co-op candidate in this division, who managed to achieve a Labour vote share of 21%, their best in this area for a long time. Whilst he shouldn't get too excited, that is a vast improvement on the 4.9% achieved in 2009 and, in actual votes cast, they more than doubled from a shocking 64 on a large turnout to 135 on a small one. St Austell is an area where Labour should hope to do well and if constituency party secretary Mr Parkinson can match his vote share then he will be delighted - the lack of a Mebyon Kernow-PC candidate may help him, or the Liberal Democrats. Mr Parkinson stood in the old St Austell North division in 2005 and, with the help of the General Election turnout, managed 18.6% of the vote. He must hope to do at least that. A sports enthusiast, Mr Parkinson was presented with a cheque for £1,000 by Cllr Walker in February of 2012 for St Austell Cricket Club, where he is chairman. I guess that is all the councillor will want to be making a gift of .The Independent didn't do well in that by election, but I doubt this will concern Cllr Walker too much.
UKIP's Ian Proctor, an Oxford Psychology and Philosophy graduate who is principal of Cornwall Language Services, the other candidate from 2009, who will be hoping that UKIP growth across the country will increase his vote enough to get him through a divided field; his 14.8% from last time should increase.
This is quite a tough one to call.Cllr Walker, Mr Davidson and Mr Brown all have strong chances to win here. Mr Davidson will probably be most effected by the UKIP vote and the battle for the Lib Dem vote between Cllr Walker and Mr Brown, as well as Labour's hope of taking votes from the Lib Dems and the play all will be making for those who voted MK-PC last time, makes this look like a fascinating seat. Cllr Walker won with 35.1% of the vote in 2009, I think somebody could win with less than that this time.
Prediction: No idea.
St Austell, Gover
In 2009, Conservative Jenny Stewart just managed to take this seat from the Liberal Democrat's Sandra Heyward by 53 votes and, this time, former Gover district councillor Heyward is hoping to go one step further. This political rivalry has history as Councillor Stewart originally gained her the Gover ward from Ms Heyward in the 2007 district elections with Ms Stewart being squeezed out of election by 48 votes (59 behind Cllr Stewart in what was a two-seat ward). Originally elected in 2003, Ms Stewart topped the poll but even then there were only 39 votes between first and third, so she is used to tight races, normally losing out. Originally an Independent, she has decided to stand as an Independent again but without there being a Liberal Democrat in the race. A town councillor and former mayor, she is a well-known figure and must hope that the unpopularity of the Conservatives will allow her to take the division.
Labour's candidate is Ann Phillips, who will be hoping to reverse the shocking collapse in the Labour vote in this division in recent years. In 2009, Labour could only to get 72 electors (6.2%) to vote for them, and they will be determined to reverse this decline and avoid another squeeze between the other two. It is hard to imagine that Labour wouldn't improve from the depths of unpopularity of 4 years ago, but the history of party weakness in this area goes back further.
The media-savvy Cllr Stewart (also a town councillor) will be happy if Labour can pick up protest votes, not least because it is unlikely that her vote share will remain as high as in 2009; the worry for her is that Ms Heyward will take the strong Lib Dem vote and, as an Independent, pick up any Tories wishing to make a 'non-party' protest. Getting the vote out will be the aim for all three candidates and Labour will be keen to avoid the "Labour can't win here" campaign doing for them.
It is a hard one to call but, even given the signs of Labour recovery and the likelihood of Ms Phillips picking up a healthy vote share for Labour from some of those who have voted Lib Dem for a long time, I think Ms Heyward could just take this seat, but it could well be a squeaker - again.
Prediction: Independent gain - just.
St Austell Poltair
Continuing the amazing story of St Austell 'squeakers', the Conservative Steve Double won this seat in 2009 by 68 votes and with 35.9% vote share, only 90 ahead of the third placed candidate.
Part of the reason for this was that the Liberal Democrat and Independent candidates were both sitting councillors in the old two-seat district ward, with the Liberal Democrat also being a sitting County Councillor. Councillor Double, town councillor and deputy mayor of St Austell, was obviously so surprised to win his seat that he decided to aim higher and has been selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for the St Austell and Newquay constituency.
He has decided not to stand for re-election to the County Council, which might seem a mistake but, given the possible loss of the seat this time, it is probably canny and means he will be more in the area in the run-up to the 2015 general election than in County Hall in Truro.
Defending the seat for the Conservatives is Adam Harris, volunteer and chairman of St Austell Community Kitchen (STACK), a charity providing hot meals to the homeless. STACK has won awards for their work and it is good to see such work being recognised and rewarded.
Hoping to wrest the seat back for the Liberal Democrats is Cornwall Councillor Jackie Bull, who has left her much safer Bugle division to face a more difficult challenge, albeit one in which she should be the favourite. The last mayor of the old district council, Cllr Bull works 20 hours a week as a case worker for local MP, Stephen Gilbert. She also runs the charity, ECC/Imerys Pensioners' Holiday Group.
Labour and Co-op's Andrea Lanxon returns as the only candidate who stood in 2009, when she saw the Labour vote fall to 8.5% (91 votes), the best in the area. Ms Lanxon stood for the old district ward in 2003, taking a creditable 20.5% of the vote and she will hope to be able to repeat that kind of vote shre this time. Whilst I do not doubt that Labour's vote will improve, it may not be helped by the entrance to the race of Mebyon Kernow-PC candidate, Derek Collins. Bethel town councillor Mr Collins was a long-time member of the Liberal Democrats who resigned in protest at the party's national coalition with the Conservatives. I can find no recent history of MK voting in this area of St Austell and it remains to be seen how he will do, but I would guess that Cllr Bull will be less than delighted to have to face another challenger from the centre-left (and a former Lib Dem) who might attract anti-government protest votes.
It is hard to predict and nobody knows where the large Independent vote will go (if it turns out) this time. I would be surprised if Cllr Bull doesn't gain this seat but, given the challenge to her vote from Labour and MK-PC and the appeal of a popular and socially-concerned Tory candidate defending the seat, it is a really fascinating battle.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat gain (maybe)
St Austell Bay
This division lies southeast of the town of St Austell and stretches along the coast from Charlestown in the north to Black Head in the south. It includes the communities of Charlestown and is a village and port on the south coast of Cornwall, in the parish of St Austell Bay. It is situated approximately 2 miles south east of St Austell town centre - tall ships, lots of filming), Duporth (now a defunct holiday village), Porthpean and Trenarren (a hamlet northeast of Pentewan). This boundary changes here brought parts of the parish formerly in Megavissey division into this division to preserve a sense of unity in this new (2009) civil parish.
The (unaltered) division had a byelection in November, 2009, following the resignation, due to ill-health, of Councillor Richard Stewart. This resulted in a big turnaround with the gain of the seat by John Oxenham for the Liberal Democrats by only 15 votes from the Conservative candidate, Bob Davidson (now the candidate in St Austell, Bethel). This was achieved with a swing of 13.5% and a great result for the Liberal Democrats. The Labour candidate, the returning Maggi Pitches (I preferred the previous Margaret Mary. I am old-fashioned), was squeezed to 4.6% of the vote in a classic Liberal Democrat victory.
On the face of it then, it is surprising to discover that not only is Councillor Oxenham not standing again for this division, but there is no Lib Dem candidate.
Hoping to take advantage of this and retake the division for the Conservatives is their candidate, local financial adviser Tom French, a St Austell town councillor. He is being challenged by Independent candidate, Ann Langley, who has campaigned about the state of the building site on nearby Carlyon Bay and its effect on tourism in the area. She will be hoping to take advantage of the lack of a Liberal Democrat candidate this time and with Conservative unpopularity nationally, but the actions of the Independents in County Hall, in local coalition with the Tories, may hinder her.
For Labour, as I mentioned above, Maggi Pitches is back and will hope to be able to turn unhappiness with the governments, local and national, to her advantage. The lack of a Lib Dem candidate should, one would think, help Labour here, but Ms Pitches will be determined to establish herself as a strong candidate to prevent another "beat the Tory" squeeze. Labour have polled well here in the past and must hope to do so again.
Prediction: Conservative (re-)gain
Penwithick and Boscoppa
Penwithick or Penwithick Stents is a village 2.5 miles north of St Austell, in the civil parish of Treverbyn in the 'clay country' area of china clay quarrying. There are plans to build a new settlement Baal & West Carclaze south of the village as part of the St Austell and Clay Country Eco-town. This would include 1,800 to 2,500 homes. The plan was given outline approval in July 2009.
Boscoppa is a settlement northeast of St Austell. Originally Boscoppa was a separate village but is now a suburb of St Austell and is west of the recently-built A391 bypass road. The village lies in a former mining area.
Won by Liberal Democrat, Christopher Rowe in 2009 with a 78 majority over the Conservatives, and 110 over Mebyon Kernow's Matthew Luke, this is a highly marginal division. Councillor Rowe is back to defend and his main challenger is probably the returning Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall candidate.
The Conservatives have nominated Jamie Hanlon but, with no Labour candidate this time and the unpopularity of the national coalition parties, I could see Mr Luke coming through the middle to take this.
Prediction: Mebyon-Kernow-Party of Cornwall gain
Fowey and Tywardreath
This division includes Fowey, a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the Fowey in south Cornwall At the time of the 2001 census, it had a population of 2,273. Still busy with trawlers and yachts, tourism is also an important source of income. Also in this division is Tywardreath is a small hilltop village in southern Cornwall, 3 miles north west of Fowey, it has 7 masonic lodges, it is in the civil parish of Tywardreath and Par.
Some obvious boundary changes here with Fowey now being joined (as in district wards in the past) with Tywardreath. The Liberal Democrat Councillor David Hughes, elected for the old Tywardreath division, is 'defending' this seat but I am not sure exactly how it would have turned out in 2009. As a ward, it either elected councillors unopposed or split the vote almost equally between Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents. The former Fowey division elected Conservative Sally Bain with a 36 majority over an Independent candidate. On balance, it looks like a better bet that the Liberal Democrats who would have won this seat last time, but given that people vote for different candidates in different ways in these parts, it can't be certain.
In 2007, Cllr Hughes was elected to the old district 3-member ward, 31 votes behind Cllr Bain, who is not standing here this time. He sits on the Tywardreath and Par parish council.
Born in Tywardreath and schooled in Fowey, local man Adrian Wildish is standing for the Conservatives. Formerly serving in the Royal Navy (from age 16), he now works in Plymouth in Military Communications. Very involved locally, he serves on several committees in the area. His wife chairs Tywardreath and Par parish council.
Standing for Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall, is Fiona Carlyon. She has recently demonstrated against the "Bedroom Tax" and actively challenges Councillor Hughes from the left of the political spectrum. There is no recent history I can find of MK-PC electoral activity in this area but, in the absence of a Labour candidate and the unpopularity of the national coalition government, Ms Carlyon may well take votes from Cllr Hughes. History points to a close fight here and it may well be the same this time.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold/gain.
Mevagissey
Mevagissey is a village, fishing port and civil parish, The village is situated approximately five miles south of St Austell. The village nestles in a small valley and faces east to Mevagissey Bay. The inner and outer harbours are busy with a mixture of pleasure vessels and working fishing boats, the remains of a once major industry. However, tourism has supplanted fishing as the dominant industry in recent years.)
Another of the remarkably close run results in the St Austell area was here in the old Mevagissey division, where Conservative Denise Mutton took the seat with a majority of 51 over the Liberal Democrats. Councillor Mutton is not defending this seat so it is an open competition. Always close, Cllr Mutton's majority last time is the highest she has ever achieved when she was the district councillor for the ward of Mevagissey.
Councillor Mutton's replacement for the Conservatives is James Mustoe, who will be hoping he does better than when he lost the St Austell town council by election in Bethel ward (see above). A former civil servant, he works as Office Manager for Sarah Newton, Conservative MP for Falmouth and Truro.
Hoping to take the seat for the Liberal Democrats is Dr Ella Westland, a parish councillor on St Goran parish council. She heads the Community Energy Group of Transition St. Goran working on a wind energy scheme that will be the first community-owned project.
For the Greens, Katherine Moseley, will be hoping to improve on their 10% share in 2009.
Labour had an awful result (as across Cornwall) in 2009, taking only 4% of the vote, so their candidate, Michael Bunney, will hope to return to a decent vote share, well into double figures I would have thought. From Gorran, he is a history teacher and Head of House at the historical (and now Specialist Sports College) King's School, Ottery, St Mary in Devon. He was also runner up for the National Teacher Award south west finals.
The big unknown is the share of the vote that UKIP's Michael Williams will achieve. Described by UKIP as "young and thrusting", Mr Williams was selected for the division in December of 2011, so it'll be interesting to see how hard he has worked since then and what it will achieve. If UKIP do well, it may well tip the balance in Dr Westland's favour, but she will not be too happy to see Labour and the Greens again battling for the centre-left vote, and probably with more success this year.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat gain
Mount Charles
Part of St Austell, this division was another close run thing with only 66 votes between first and third. The Liberal Democrat Shirley Polmounter had a majority of 18 over the Independent, Gary King, in 2009.
Both Councillor Polmounter and Mr King are standing again, but now Councillor Polmounter, who was previously a district councillor for Mount Charles, as both and Independent and then a Liberal Democrat, is standing as an Independent again.
For the Conservatives, town councillor Anne Double is running, the wife of Poltair Cornwall Councillor (and Conservative PPC for the St Austell and Newquay constituency) Steve Double, she gained her town council seat in the Mount Charles ward in a byelection with a comfortable victory over the Independent candidate in second place. Worryingly for the Liberal Democrats, it was the Labour candidate who snatched 3rd place, not even having run a candidate in 2009. The Liberal Democrats came fourth with 13.8% of the vote.
The situation that caused the byelection was not an easy one for the Liberal Democrats and probably explains much of their decline.
Director of local charity Scrapstore, Mr King, who just missed out in 2009, is standing as an Independent again. Whilst describing himself as a moderate, Mr King is clearly on the centre-left left of the political spectrum, stating in his profile: "People before Profit and Practical Policies before Party Politics."
He will be hoping that his opposition to both the national and county hall administrations will pay off this time. He was fairly soundly beaten by Mrs Double in the byelection but a bigger turnout, as well as establishing himself as the main candidate to beat the Tories would help him.
The Liberal Democrats are fielding Eileen Rix who will be hoping that the Liberal Democrat voters will stick with her and that the Independent voters will split between Cllr Polmounter and Mr Rix, to allow her through to win. This will be hindered by Labour's Paul Roberts, who will think his pushing the Lib Dems into fourth place in the town council byelection will allow him to push for a much improved Labour vote this time, especially with the seeming implosion of the local Liberal Democrats. His aim must be to get close to 20% of the vote.
For Cllr Polmounter, who resigned from the Liberal Democrats last month, this will be a tough campaign but she has shown her ability to win as an Independent in the past. Having said that, this is going to be a very tough fight between Mrs Double, Mr King and Cllr Polmounter and, with a reinvigorated Labour party, this seat could be won on a very low share of the vote.
Prediction: Too close to call, but the Lib Dems will lose it and Labour won't win it. Mr King as slight favourite.
Bugle
Bugle itself is a village in central Cornwall. It is in the parish of Treverbyn and is situated about five miles north of St Austell on the A391 road. There are plans to build a new neighbourhood on the site of the Goonbarrow Refinery west of the village as part of the St Austell and Clay Country Eco-town. This would include 450-550 homes. With the boundary changes, Luxulyan parish was brought entirely into this division. The village lies four miles northeast of St Austell and six miles south of Bodmin The population of the parish was 1,371 in the 2001 census. A report published in February of this year showd rates of child deprivation in the (Luxuylan and) Bugle ward are the highest in mid and south east Cornwall with more than a quarter — 27 per cent — of children living in poverty.
The 2009 Bugle Division was won by the Liberal Democrat's candidate, Jackie Bull, now transferred to be candidate in the Poltair division of St Austell. A changed division, it was then a safe win for the Liberal Democrats with the Conservatives in second place with less than half of the Lib Dem vote, just ahead of Mebyon Kernow.
This time, the Liberal Democrat candidate is Simon Rix who campaigns against the Council's decision to implement Council Tax cuts effecting the poorest households, but will face accusations of being part of a party which supports the government which has enforced these types of cuts nationally.
For the Conservatives, Rachel Beadle will be carrying what will probably be a forlorn banner; their candidate in Roche division in 2009, where she finished a distant third, the make up of this area is not good for the Tories which, even in a good year for them in 2009, still had them a long way off the pace.
The challengers to Mr Rix are this time more likely to come from the other candidates. Standing for Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall is Jerry Jeffries, a first time candidate who is teacher in the Cornish Language Partnership (Maga). MK have done well in this area in the past, with Matthew Luke having been elected as a district councillor in Treverbyn ward in 2007. Mr Jeffries will be disappointed not to eat into the Lib dem vote and come at least a good second, with over thirty percent of the vote, I think it'll be difficult for him though as he is not the only horse in the field here.
For Labour and Co-op, perennial candidate and town councillor David Doyle is standing again. It is in areas like this that Labour's commitment to social change and improving the lot of the poorest should have the highest resonance, but the Lib Dems have, as in most of Cornwall, side-lined Labour over the years. He will surely improve on Labour's disastrous 5.8% last time when the party was at its lowest, the question is whether he can get the vote back to the 18.5% he achieved in 2005 (when the county and General Elections were on the same day). An active member of the South West Co-operative party, Mr Doyle's political commitment to the area cannot be doubted but it has to be said that Labour must do well here.
Making up the field is Independent candidate, Steve Hopper, who will be trying to revive the independent vote base that previously had some strength in the area.
This should be a shoo-in for Mr Rix and the Liberal Democrats but I get the feeling that he will see a big cut in his vote share and majority and it will not be the Tories benefiting.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold
Par and St Blazey Gate
Par is a town and fishing port with a harbour on the south coast of Cornwall, pop: 1,400, 3 1/2 miles east of St Austell. Until 2007, china clay was still dried in, and shipped, from Par. There are plans to re-develop the docks as part of the St Austell and Clay Country Eco-town. This would include a new marina and 500-700 homes. St Blazey Gate is a small settlement is St Blazey civil parish, which grew up around a tollgate (hence the name).
Standing for the Liberal Democrats is St Blaise town councillor, Douglas Scrafton, who chairs the Par Bay Big Local group which was given £1 million over ten years to spend on local community projects. He has high local visibility and will be hoping to be able to harness that in his campaign.
For the Conservatives, Richard Pears, a local parish councillor, is hoping to represent the Division in County Hall.
Independent candidate, Alison Watkins was planning to stand in the St Austell, Bethel town council by election last December, but withdrew. She owns Nature Kitchen Spice Shop and Deli in the town.
She initiated St Austell's first annual Spring Fayre and is working on many other events.
I have little local knowledge of the campaign in this area but, given recent history, it should be a Liberal Democrat seat.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold.
Roche
Roche is a civil parish and village in mid-Cornwall. The village gets its name from a granite outcrop east of the village. The whle of the Parish is now included in the Division.
Easily gained by Independent John Wood from the Liberal Democrats in 2009, Councillor Wood returns to defend this division. A former district councillor, Mr Wood has a long history of representing this area. He leads the Independent Group at County Hall and is the Member Champion (whatever that is) for Eco-Towns. Former County Councillor Brian Higman (1999 - 2009) returns to try and regain this seat, but this time as a Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall candidate, having parted company with the Liberal Democrats in 2010. Surprisingly (well, maybe not when you see how politics seems to work in Cornwall), the Liberal Democrats are not putting up a candidate this year. This should make for an interesting campaign, not least as it appears to be the first time that MK-PC has run a candidate here.
The Conservative candidate, Derek Walker, should just be happy to improve on the fairly dismal record his party has here.
With no other candidates, it should be a two-horse race and, given unhappiness with the Conservative/Independent coalition in County Hall, former district councillor and Mayor of Restormel borough (1994-1995) Mr Higman will be hoping to return to Truro. Councillor Wood will hope that the novelty of MK-PC standing might be a turn-off for many and that both his history of service and a squeeze on the Conservatives will allow him to hold on. It seems that the Lib Dems may have stood aside for Mr Higman as part of a 'decapitation' strategy and it might just pay off.
Prediction: Independent hold - but with a much reduced majority and with MK-PC second.
St Blazey
Based on the St Blaise Civil Parish, the town was once dominated by the local mining industries and their associated transport infrastructure. Historically copper and tin were mined in and around the parish, whilst more recently china clay has been the principal commodity mined. "The Par & St Blazey Consols" or "South Prideaux Wood" was a small tin mine just north of the town and Par Consols Mine lies to the south west
The Eden Project lies within this division and tourism is very important. Boundary changes bring in Tywardreath Highway, Kilhallon, Penpillick and Porcupine. A recent report found the level of child poverty in this division to be 25%.
The Liberal Democrat, Roy Taylor, comfortably held this seat in 2009 with almost double the Conservatives share of the vote. A former district councillor, Councillor Taylor was first elected to the old County Council in 1985 for Bodmin until he, having moved to Par (where he and his wife run a B&B), was elected to the Restormal Council in 1996.
The Conservative candidate is Peter Sinclair whom I think was once the St Austell and Newquay Conservative Constituency Party Chairman. I think that he is unlikely to gain the seat but will be keen to hold on to a decent second place. Challenging him here will be Labour's Stuart Wheeler who will be hoping to to overhaul the Conservatives for a decent second place. In 2009, Labour managed a decent vote with 16.4% gained byLord Voldemort, Tom Riddle (I know, too obvious). In 2005, Mr Riddle achieved over 25% of the vote and Labour would see this seat as one that they should be able to win, certainly in the long-term. They will need a lot of Liberal Democrat voters to break for Mr Wheeler if that is to be achieved but he certainly has a good chance to take advantage of the national Coalition's more unpopular benefit changes and Cllr Taylor may well feel uncomfortable about that. Mr Wheeler is Treasurer and Campaigns' Organiser for the local constituency Labour Party.
Liam Bellamy is running as an Independent candidate, he returned to St Austell four years ago after 20 years working overseas. Since then he has worked as a teacher and in the meat industry, experiencing the economic downturn first hand.
Liam coaches several rugby teams including boys and girls teams at St Austell RFC as well as being on its Executive Committee. I am not sure how well he will do, although an Independent candidate managed to take managed to take 23% of the vote in 2005. Who will he take his votes from?
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold with reduced vote share, Labour to take second place (maybe; probably not).
St Columb Major
A civil parish and town, often referred to locally as St Columb, it is situated approximately seven miles southwest of Wadebridge and six miles ) east of Newquay. The designation Major distinguishes it from the smaller settlement and parish of St Columb Minor on the coast. A population of around 4,000 in 2001. St Columb is situated in mid-Cornwall, about 5 miles inland from the north coast. The Pall Corporation (filtration and separation technology) employs 300 people in St Columb.
This was one of those seats won with less than a third of the vote with Independent Pat Harvey seeing off another Independent Paul Wills with an apparently comfortable majority of 129 - this was because of the vote spread. Councillor Harvey, the Chairman of Cornwall Council, was a district councillor for St Columb and joined the Unitary Authority in 2009.
The Conservatives have selected John Bell to challenge her and he will be hoping to close the 10% gap from the last elections although, with their being no other Independent candidate this year, it'll be open to question where those votes go.
The Liberal Democrats, who came fourth in 2009, have nominated local town councillor Alvin Augustus Martin (the middle name distinguishes him from the former West Ham player). The Liberal Democrats haven't really run candidates in major council elections in the area until last time and Mr Martin will hope to appeal to those who voted for the Independent, Mr Wills, last time. The Labour candidate on this occasion is Debbie Hopkins, who must hope to improve on only 3.6% of the vote last time.
I can't see Cllr Harvey losing her seat.
Prediction: Independent hold
St Dennis and Nanpean
St Dennis is a civil parish and village The village is situated between Newquay and St Austell.
St Dennis had a population of 2,696 in the 2001 census. A quarter of the male population was, at the time, employed in the extraction of china clay. Nanpean is a village in the civil parish of St Stephen-in-Brannel, approximately four miles northwest of St Austell in the heart of 'clay country', the china clay quarrying area of mid-Cornwall. The division also includes Treviscoe, Little Treviscoe, Step-a-Side, Hill Head and a few other areas. The only change since 2009 is that Nanpean has been added to the title.
A big issue here concerns the proposed siting of an incinerator which is being vigorously opposed, not least by all the local Cornwall Councillors.
Defending the division is lifelong resident and County Councillor, Fred Greenslade, an Independent who originally sat as a borough councillor for the old Rock ward as a Liberal Democrat. Involved in the China Clay industry for a number of years.
Standing against him is former Liberal Democrat borough councillor, Kim Wonnacott, who represented the old St Stephen ward. This time, dog-groomer Ms Wonnacott has cast aside the Liberal Democrat appellation and is also standing as an Independent. A St Stephen-in-Brannel parish councillor, it is hard to say how likely it is that Ms Wonnacott will challenge Cllr Greenslade, whose near 72% share of the vote in 2009 was very impressive. The Liberal Democrats are not standing a candidate this time and she may gain votes from here but I don't see much hope for her.
The Conservatives have Barbara Hannan as their candidate but given that they only managed 12% of the vote in a good year, I can't see them being much of a threat.
Prediction: Independent Greenslade hold
St Enoder
The village of St Enoder is 5 miles southeast of Newquay.
It would be tempting just to put my prediction in here to save time. Mebyon Kernow-Party in Cornwall leader Councillor Dick Cole will not lose this ward. The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have not even bothered to put up candidates this time so the only challenge comes from an Independent candidate, Elizabeth Hawken, who stood in the borough elections of 2003, coming third, and in the 2005 elections for the old County Council, coming fourth with another Independent winning. When Councillor Cole stands, he wins, and has built up his vote strongly over the years since he was first elected to the borough council, achieving 77.6%. I congratulate Ms Hawken for standing as elections should be contested. It will be an achievement if she can get anywhere near thirty percent of the vote.
Prediction: Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall hold (and how).
St Mawgan and Colan
St Mawgan is a village and civil parish 4 miles northeast of Newquay, Colan is a village and civil parish approximately three miles east of Newquay, it has a population of 1,176 (ish). It is a beautiful area where tourism is very important. The hamlets of Bosoughan, Chapel, Gwills, Kestle Mill, Lane, Mountjoy, Quintrell Downs, Trebarber and Trencreek are in the parish.
Conservative John Fitter comfortably won the seat (then named Colan and Mawgan) in 2009 with 53% of the vote, beating both an Independent and a Liberal Democrat. This time, Councillor Fitter is in a two horse race with Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall candidate, Rob Poole. With his vote share likely to fall with the Conservatives unpopular nationally, Cllr Fitter could face a bit of a fight, although it seems a hard task for Mr Poole, starting from nowhere, to win. As it adjoins the St Enoder division of Cllr Cole (see above), it is possible that a lot of help will being seeping across the boundary for Mr Poole and we shall have to see how successful it will prove to be.
Prediction: Conservative hold (or a shock is in the offing)
St Mewan
St Mewan is a civil parish and village, approximately one mile west of St Austell. The village is a small settlement. St Mewan parish includes the villages of Sticker, Trelowth, Trewoon, and most of Polgooth. it has a population estimated to be over 3,000.
St Mewan is one of the better-off areas of this part of Cornwall with only 7% of children said to be in poverty by a recent report (to many of us, that is still too high). As we have seen with many divisions in rthe St Austell area, this division was closley fought and won, narrowly, by Liberal Democrat Robin Teverson (Baron Teverson, of Tregony in the County of Cornwall). An active member of the House of Lords and frontbench spokesman for the Lib Dems, he is replaced as candidate this time Janet Lockyer. Only losing by 38 votes last time, the Conservatives will be targeting this seat with their candidate John Kneller, a local parish councillor.
There is an Independent hopeful here by the name of Malcolm Harris, who currently runs a successful local catering company. Part of his campaign is to ask questions about the scale and location of the proposed green-field shopping centre at Coyte Farm. Last time, an Independent candidate took 25% of the vote and this must give Mr Harris hope of pulling off a surprise.
Always a fairly close-run battle between the Lib Dems and Conservatives, which the Lib Dems normally win, it is possible that the success of the Independent campaign of Mr Harris that will decide things.
Prediction: Too close to call, Lib Dems slight favourite.
Tintagel
Tintagel itself is on the Atlantic Coast of Cornwall, with the civil parish spreading out from there. In 2001, the population of the parish was 1,820. The nearby Tintagel Castle is connected with the Arthurian myth and, small as the village is, it is one of the most visited places in Britain.
In 2009, the division was won quite comfortably by the Liberal Democrat, Glenton Brown. His closest challenger was Independent, Anthony Brewer, with the Conservatives trailing in third place. This time Councillor Brown is facing a Conservative candidate, Paul Charlesworth, and a UKIP candidate, Susan Bowen. Except, Susan Bowen has been completely disowned by the party as they have discovered she was, fairly recently, a member of the BNP, which is specifically banned by UKIP. She is not now campaigning although her name is still on the ballot paper. Ms Bowen only joined UKIP at the end of March and was allowed to become a candidate within a week or so - this is a weakness for a party wishing to capitalise on its popularity but not having the membership to do so.
This should encourage Mr Charlesworth but he lives quite a distance from the area and this might count against him.
All in all, Cllr Brown is probably safely home but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people vote UKIP on the basis of a protest, no matter the non-campaigning Ms Bowen's views (or, in some cases, because of them).
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold
St Stephen-in-Brannel
St Stephen-in-Brannel civil parish and village in central Cornwall, it is four miles west of St Austell on the southern edge of Cornwall's china clay district. Uranium was also mined in this area.
Long-standing district and Cornwall Councillor Des Curnow is standing again and if facing only one challenger in the shape of Keith Hickman of UKIP, the chairman of the St Austell and Newquay constituency party. Whilst I know Cllr Curnow is popular, I am very surprised that none of the parties have chosen to stand candidates here. Whilst Labour did disastrously (3.4%) in 2009, it has had a strong vote in this area in the past and I wonder why the Conservatives would give UKIP a clear run. The answer may well lie in the kind of councillor Mr Curnow is, as he has shown his independence of the ruling coalition (of which he is a member) on several issues and, given that he was one of those who nominated Cllr Cole as the Mebyon Kernow candidate for the last general election, his views probably lie more to the left than the right. he is one of the 'China Clay' area Councillors campaigning against the proposed incinerator in St Dennis.
I am sure Mr Hickman will campaign hard, and has been candidate since November of 2011, but I cannot see Cllr Curnow losing.
Prediction: Independent hold.
Lostwithiel
A beautiful area, Lostwithiel includes the civil parish and it's village at the head of the River Fowey estuary. The 2001 census found it had a population of 2,739. It is the home of Restormel Castle.
In 2009, this seat was snatched by the Conservative (Peter) Gavin Shakerley who won the seat, with only 30.7% of the vote due to there being 5 other candidates. The majority of 121 tells a lie of comfort in terms of victory which means that Councillor Shakerley has decided enough is enough and is not defending this seat.
Standing in his place for the Conservatives is the wonderfully named Benedicte Poula Gwyneth Bay.
An Independent candidate, Graham Jarrett, is hoping to repeat the usual victory for Independents in this seat. It is possible that presence of two Independents in 2009 cost them the seat and the combined vote share was 37.7% (whilst I accept that they wouldn't have shared all votes, many would have transferred).
The Liberal Democrats have never done well enough to win here and I cannot see that changing, although Mrs Marian Oldor Candy (I love the names around here) will do her best.
The dark horse is Nigel Andrew Challis, running for UKIP. He may well appeal to the independently-minded and will not help Ms Bay's hopes, slim as they are, of holding the seat. Could he come through the middle and win? I very much doubt it and see this seat returning to its Independent status.
Prediction: Independent gain.
Newquay
Newquay, is civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately 20 miles west of Bodmin and 12 miles north of Truro. The town is bounded to the west by the River Gannel and its associated salt marsh, and to the east by the Porth Valley. Newquay has been expanding inland (south) since it was founded. In 2001, the census recorded a permanent population of 19,562. Big tourism industry.
Newquay Central
This was a remarkable result last time as the Liberal Democrat's Geoff Brown managed to to win whilst gaining only 28.8% of the vote but still managing to well-beat the second placed Conservative, Andy Hannan, by 54 votes. Three Independent candidates managed to accrue between them 43.8% of the vote and this is probably what saved Councillor Brown, who was a district councillor in this area before the Unitary authority was set up. At one time the Liberal Democrats were quite confident here and Cllr Brown will hope to show that again but he is now facing a single candidate, Steven Slade, who is standing as an Independent.
Mr Slade is making wide use of social media to get his message across and is, in effect, an Green candidate as he recently joined the party. This is not to suggest he won't be independent when elected. He has just joined the town council after he was elected without contest. He has a BSc Hons in Ecology and has run his own businesses since 1991, in wildlife garden design, renovations and the supply of pub quizzes(!).
Councillor Brown should have a much better campaign than Mr Slade but he will need to watch out for the temptation to vote against a political party.
Part of me believes that a good campaign by the Independent will easily win this seat, but the other part questions how much of a campaign team and strategy he has. So, with a certain amount of reluctance to make a choice, I give it to Councillor Brown.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold
Newquay Pentire
After a few minor boundary changes, Newquay Pentire is another two horse race, this time between the sitting Councillor, Joanna Kenny, and the Conservative candidate, Lyndon Spencer Harrison. At the last elections, Cllr Kenny, a former district councillor in the old Gannel ward, beat off strong challenges from the Conservatives and Independent district councillor, Denis Dent, who was also the sitting County Councillor. A ward where Independents have always done well, it'll be interesting to see where the vote goes as, if it breaks for the Conservative, Cllr Kenny will be in trouble as she only managed to take 36.3% of the vote last time. With no Labour (who did shockingly last time with 2.8% of the vote) or English Democrat (7.6%)candidates, it will be the campaign that decides whose vote is appealed to the most - will the EDP vote go to the Tories, or not come out to vote?
Chairman of Newquay Chamber of Commerce, Newquay Association of Licensed Premises, Mr Harrison has a high profile locally and had a massive fallout with the Liberal Democrats which led to him resigning and forcing a by election. Mr Harrison lost to the Liberal Democrat with 405 votes to 591. Mr Harrison chairs Streetsafe, a project in which a portable building offers first aid facilities and a safe refuge for night-time revellers and local businesses.
In a wider race, Mr Harrison might well win, but I cannot see that he can do enough to defeat Councillor Kenny.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold
Newquay Treloggan
Another division won on a small plurality of 33.6% of the vote, Liberal Democrat Councillor George Edwards is not defending the seat this year, standing instead in Tretherras division. In his place is town councillor Dave Sleeman, who won a bitter byelection campaign against Conservative Lance Harrison (see above in Pentire). With neither the independent Norman Thompson (who picked up a very healthy 27.1% of the vote in 2009) nor the BNP (10.5%), the question is where their votes will go? In the case of the BNP voters, evidence suggests it won't go anywhere at all in this race and will stay at home.
The Conservative candidate is Kevin Towill, who stood at the last election, losing by 47 votes. He will surely hope to pick up votes from the Independents and this may be a close battle. Mr Towill is a town councillor and this year's Mayor of Newquay (at 33 years old, the youngest in the town's history).
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold
Newquay Tretherras
This is a battle with two defenders in that Councillor George Edward (Lib Dem, Trellogan) is challenging Councillor Patrick Lambshead (Con, Tretherra). This reflects some of the boundary changes in the area. On the basis of the results last time, the actual councillor defending is Cllr Lambshead. It was not a good year for the Liberal Democrats and Cllr Edwards will be hoping to take advantage of some recovery, assisted by the appearance in the race of a UKIP candidate, Doris Latham.
A town council by election took place in the general area of this ward in August of 2011, which was won by the Conservative by 56 votes over the Lib Dem in a straight fight. It wasn't a particularly high turnout and perhaps tells us nothing beyond that history shows close races in this ward. Last time, in the old division, former mayor Cllr Lambshead was assisted by the presence of three Independent candidates who polled 41% of the vote; whilst Cllr Lambshead got more than that combined vote, it may have been unhappiness with the lack of a single independent that helped him. The Liberal Democrats did very badly last time (14.8%), but Cllr Edwards will doubtless do better. A Trustee of a charity to preserve the historic Trenance Cottages in Newquay, Cllr Edwards has a high profile. I think that UKIP may well pick up some of the traditional independent votes and also Conservative votes. A former RAF gymnast, Cllr Lambshead may need to show some of that skill to get over the winning line this time.
Prediction: Conservative hold - just!
Newquay Treviglas
Another victory by a small vote total, Independent candidate Harry Heywood took the winner's rosette with only 31.2% of the vote, a majority of 28 over the Conservatives and 55 votes over the Liberal Democrats. Councillor Heywood is not defending the seat this year. A borough councillor for many years, Councillor Heywood seems to have decided to call it a day. This division encompasses most of the old Rialton borough ward.
Fighting to take this seat is town councillor, and last year's mayor, Andy Hannan for the Conservatives; the probable favourite to begin with as much of Councillor Heywood's vote used to go to Conservative candidates in the old three-member ward.
Returning from the last election is the Liberal Democrat candidate, deputy mayor Sandy Carter, who came a close third last time. Mr Carter has an unfortunate habit of just missing out on election and I feel that he is going to be unlucky this time.
It might be thought the entrance of a UKIP candidate would help Mr Carter and hinder Mr Hannan; polls show this to be true but whether that is enough to offset the votes Mr Hannan will likely pick up from the exit of Cllr Heywood is another matter. The UKIP candidate is Mark Hicks, about whom I have struggled to discover anything.
Labour have their only candidate in the Newquay seats in Treviglas, Joan Bowden. I am pretty sure this is the same Lillian Joan Bowden who stood for Labour in Newquay Central. The people of Cornwall seem to mirror the Irish tradition (with which I am much more familiar) of going by their middle names. She managed just 41 votes and 5.7% of the vote in Central, but Labour didn't even have a candidate here last time. The main fund raiser for the St Austell and Newquay Labour Party, Ms Bowden shows a dedication to the cause. Labour will probably do well enough to feel some satisfaction this year but not likely to come close to victory.
With the Greens not standing this year, Mr Carter will also be hoping to pick up these votes but won't be too pleased with a Labour candidate in the race.
All things taken into account, I am just going to give it to Mr Hannan.
Prediction: Conservative gain -just.
With the creation of the unitary authority, 4 new civil parishes were created: St Austell Town Council, St Austell Bay civil parish, Carlyon civil parish and Pentewan Valley civil parish.
A major concern during this election is the proposed building of an incinerator in St Dennis in the China Clay Area.
St Austell
The largest town in Cornwall with a population of 30,800 (2010 estimate). 10 miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of Devon. St Austell civil parish is entirely urban in character. The China Clay industry, once dominant as the St Austell employer, now employs only 2,000 people, but its annual output is higher than ever before. The St Austell Brewery, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2001, supplies cask ale to pubs in Cornwall and the rest of the UK, and its beers are marvellous, I have undertaken studies of the subject.
St Austell Bethel
This division was won by a tiny majority of 18 votes in 2009 by the Liberal Democrat's Graham Walker over the Conservative candidate, Bob Davidson. Both are back but this time Councillor Walker, also a town councillor, is standing as an Independent. He resigned from the party on 21st May, 2012, citing his immense disappointment in national politics. Town councillor Mr Davidson, a former district councillor for Bethel, will be hoping that this will help him to win this time.
For the Liberal Democrats, local constituency party chairman Malcolm Brown will be trying to return the seat to the party fold. A town councillor, Mr Brown won the Bethel by election on the 6th December, 2012. He took 41.5% of the vote over the Tory share of 27.5% and, whilst the majority was only 90, on a low turnout, that was acceptable, and was a gain from the Tories.
Another person with a lot to be happy about from that by election is Brendan Parkinson, the Labour & Co-op candidate in this division, who managed to achieve a Labour vote share of 21%, their best in this area for a long time. Whilst he shouldn't get too excited, that is a vast improvement on the 4.9% achieved in 2009 and, in actual votes cast, they more than doubled from a shocking 64 on a large turnout to 135 on a small one. St Austell is an area where Labour should hope to do well and if constituency party secretary Mr Parkinson can match his vote share then he will be delighted - the lack of a Mebyon Kernow-PC candidate may help him, or the Liberal Democrats. Mr Parkinson stood in the old St Austell North division in 2005 and, with the help of the General Election turnout, managed 18.6% of the vote. He must hope to do at least that. A sports enthusiast, Mr Parkinson was presented with a cheque for £1,000 by Cllr Walker in February of 2012 for St Austell Cricket Club, where he is chairman. I guess that is all the councillor will want to be making a gift of .The Independent didn't do well in that by election, but I doubt this will concern Cllr Walker too much.
UKIP's Ian Proctor, an Oxford Psychology and Philosophy graduate who is principal of Cornwall Language Services, the other candidate from 2009, who will be hoping that UKIP growth across the country will increase his vote enough to get him through a divided field; his 14.8% from last time should increase.
This is quite a tough one to call.Cllr Walker, Mr Davidson and Mr Brown all have strong chances to win here. Mr Davidson will probably be most effected by the UKIP vote and the battle for the Lib Dem vote between Cllr Walker and Mr Brown, as well as Labour's hope of taking votes from the Lib Dems and the play all will be making for those who voted MK-PC last time, makes this look like a fascinating seat. Cllr Walker won with 35.1% of the vote in 2009, I think somebody could win with less than that this time.
Prediction: No idea.
St Austell, Gover
In 2009, Conservative Jenny Stewart just managed to take this seat from the Liberal Democrat's Sandra Heyward by 53 votes and, this time, former Gover district councillor Heyward is hoping to go one step further. This political rivalry has history as Councillor Stewart originally gained her the Gover ward from Ms Heyward in the 2007 district elections with Ms Stewart being squeezed out of election by 48 votes (59 behind Cllr Stewart in what was a two-seat ward). Originally elected in 2003, Ms Stewart topped the poll but even then there were only 39 votes between first and third, so she is used to tight races, normally losing out. Originally an Independent, she has decided to stand as an Independent again but without there being a Liberal Democrat in the race. A town councillor and former mayor, she is a well-known figure and must hope that the unpopularity of the Conservatives will allow her to take the division.
Labour's candidate is Ann Phillips, who will be hoping to reverse the shocking collapse in the Labour vote in this division in recent years. In 2009, Labour could only to get 72 electors (6.2%) to vote for them, and they will be determined to reverse this decline and avoid another squeeze between the other two. It is hard to imagine that Labour wouldn't improve from the depths of unpopularity of 4 years ago, but the history of party weakness in this area goes back further.
The media-savvy Cllr Stewart (also a town councillor) will be happy if Labour can pick up protest votes, not least because it is unlikely that her vote share will remain as high as in 2009; the worry for her is that Ms Heyward will take the strong Lib Dem vote and, as an Independent, pick up any Tories wishing to make a 'non-party' protest. Getting the vote out will be the aim for all three candidates and Labour will be keen to avoid the "Labour can't win here" campaign doing for them.
It is a hard one to call but, even given the signs of Labour recovery and the likelihood of Ms Phillips picking up a healthy vote share for Labour from some of those who have voted Lib Dem for a long time, I think Ms Heyward could just take this seat, but it could well be a squeaker - again.
Prediction: Independent gain - just.
St Austell Poltair
Continuing the amazing story of St Austell 'squeakers', the Conservative Steve Double won this seat in 2009 by 68 votes and with 35.9% vote share, only 90 ahead of the third placed candidate.
Part of the reason for this was that the Liberal Democrat and Independent candidates were both sitting councillors in the old two-seat district ward, with the Liberal Democrat also being a sitting County Councillor. Councillor Double, town councillor and deputy mayor of St Austell, was obviously so surprised to win his seat that he decided to aim higher and has been selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for the St Austell and Newquay constituency.
He has decided not to stand for re-election to the County Council, which might seem a mistake but, given the possible loss of the seat this time, it is probably canny and means he will be more in the area in the run-up to the 2015 general election than in County Hall in Truro.
Defending the seat for the Conservatives is Adam Harris, volunteer and chairman of St Austell Community Kitchen (STACK), a charity providing hot meals to the homeless. STACK has won awards for their work and it is good to see such work being recognised and rewarded.
Hoping to wrest the seat back for the Liberal Democrats is Cornwall Councillor Jackie Bull, who has left her much safer Bugle division to face a more difficult challenge, albeit one in which she should be the favourite. The last mayor of the old district council, Cllr Bull works 20 hours a week as a case worker for local MP, Stephen Gilbert. She also runs the charity, ECC/Imerys Pensioners' Holiday Group.
Labour and Co-op's Andrea Lanxon returns as the only candidate who stood in 2009, when she saw the Labour vote fall to 8.5% (91 votes), the best in the area. Ms Lanxon stood for the old district ward in 2003, taking a creditable 20.5% of the vote and she will hope to be able to repeat that kind of vote shre this time. Whilst I do not doubt that Labour's vote will improve, it may not be helped by the entrance to the race of Mebyon Kernow-PC candidate, Derek Collins. Bethel town councillor Mr Collins was a long-time member of the Liberal Democrats who resigned in protest at the party's national coalition with the Conservatives. I can find no recent history of MK voting in this area of St Austell and it remains to be seen how he will do, but I would guess that Cllr Bull will be less than delighted to have to face another challenger from the centre-left (and a former Lib Dem) who might attract anti-government protest votes.
It is hard to predict and nobody knows where the large Independent vote will go (if it turns out) this time. I would be surprised if Cllr Bull doesn't gain this seat but, given the challenge to her vote from Labour and MK-PC and the appeal of a popular and socially-concerned Tory candidate defending the seat, it is a really fascinating battle.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat gain (maybe)
St Austell Bay
This division lies southeast of the town of St Austell and stretches along the coast from Charlestown in the north to Black Head in the south. It includes the communities of Charlestown and is a village and port on the south coast of Cornwall, in the parish of St Austell Bay. It is situated approximately 2 miles south east of St Austell town centre - tall ships, lots of filming), Duporth (now a defunct holiday village), Porthpean and Trenarren (a hamlet northeast of Pentewan). This boundary changes here brought parts of the parish formerly in Megavissey division into this division to preserve a sense of unity in this new (2009) civil parish.
The (unaltered) division had a byelection in November, 2009, following the resignation, due to ill-health, of Councillor Richard Stewart. This resulted in a big turnaround with the gain of the seat by John Oxenham for the Liberal Democrats by only 15 votes from the Conservative candidate, Bob Davidson (now the candidate in St Austell, Bethel). This was achieved with a swing of 13.5% and a great result for the Liberal Democrats. The Labour candidate, the returning Maggi Pitches (I preferred the previous Margaret Mary. I am old-fashioned), was squeezed to 4.6% of the vote in a classic Liberal Democrat victory.
On the face of it then, it is surprising to discover that not only is Councillor Oxenham not standing again for this division, but there is no Lib Dem candidate.
Hoping to take advantage of this and retake the division for the Conservatives is their candidate, local financial adviser Tom French, a St Austell town councillor. He is being challenged by Independent candidate, Ann Langley, who has campaigned about the state of the building site on nearby Carlyon Bay and its effect on tourism in the area. She will be hoping to take advantage of the lack of a Liberal Democrat candidate this time and with Conservative unpopularity nationally, but the actions of the Independents in County Hall, in local coalition with the Tories, may hinder her.
For Labour, as I mentioned above, Maggi Pitches is back and will hope to be able to turn unhappiness with the governments, local and national, to her advantage. The lack of a Lib Dem candidate should, one would think, help Labour here, but Ms Pitches will be determined to establish herself as a strong candidate to prevent another "beat the Tory" squeeze. Labour have polled well here in the past and must hope to do so again.
Prediction: Conservative (re-)gain
Penwithick and Boscoppa
Penwithick or Penwithick Stents is a village 2.5 miles north of St Austell, in the civil parish of Treverbyn in the 'clay country' area of china clay quarrying. There are plans to build a new settlement Baal & West Carclaze south of the village as part of the St Austell and Clay Country Eco-town. This would include 1,800 to 2,500 homes. The plan was given outline approval in July 2009.
Boscoppa is a settlement northeast of St Austell. Originally Boscoppa was a separate village but is now a suburb of St Austell and is west of the recently-built A391 bypass road. The village lies in a former mining area.
Won by Liberal Democrat, Christopher Rowe in 2009 with a 78 majority over the Conservatives, and 110 over Mebyon Kernow's Matthew Luke, this is a highly marginal division. Councillor Rowe is back to defend and his main challenger is probably the returning Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall candidate.
The Conservatives have nominated Jamie Hanlon but, with no Labour candidate this time and the unpopularity of the national coalition parties, I could see Mr Luke coming through the middle to take this.
Prediction: Mebyon-Kernow-Party of Cornwall gain
Fowey and Tywardreath
This division includes Fowey, a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the Fowey in south Cornwall At the time of the 2001 census, it had a population of 2,273. Still busy with trawlers and yachts, tourism is also an important source of income. Also in this division is Tywardreath is a small hilltop village in southern Cornwall, 3 miles north west of Fowey, it has 7 masonic lodges, it is in the civil parish of Tywardreath and Par.
Some obvious boundary changes here with Fowey now being joined (as in district wards in the past) with Tywardreath. The Liberal Democrat Councillor David Hughes, elected for the old Tywardreath division, is 'defending' this seat but I am not sure exactly how it would have turned out in 2009. As a ward, it either elected councillors unopposed or split the vote almost equally between Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents. The former Fowey division elected Conservative Sally Bain with a 36 majority over an Independent candidate. On balance, it looks like a better bet that the Liberal Democrats who would have won this seat last time, but given that people vote for different candidates in different ways in these parts, it can't be certain.
In 2007, Cllr Hughes was elected to the old district 3-member ward, 31 votes behind Cllr Bain, who is not standing here this time. He sits on the Tywardreath and Par parish council.
Born in Tywardreath and schooled in Fowey, local man Adrian Wildish is standing for the Conservatives. Formerly serving in the Royal Navy (from age 16), he now works in Plymouth in Military Communications. Very involved locally, he serves on several committees in the area. His wife chairs Tywardreath and Par parish council.
Standing for Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall, is Fiona Carlyon. She has recently demonstrated against the "Bedroom Tax" and actively challenges Councillor Hughes from the left of the political spectrum. There is no recent history I can find of MK-PC electoral activity in this area but, in the absence of a Labour candidate and the unpopularity of the national coalition government, Ms Carlyon may well take votes from Cllr Hughes. History points to a close fight here and it may well be the same this time.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold/gain.
Mevagissey
Mevagissey is a village, fishing port and civil parish, The village is situated approximately five miles south of St Austell. The village nestles in a small valley and faces east to Mevagissey Bay. The inner and outer harbours are busy with a mixture of pleasure vessels and working fishing boats, the remains of a once major industry. However, tourism has supplanted fishing as the dominant industry in recent years.)
Another of the remarkably close run results in the St Austell area was here in the old Mevagissey division, where Conservative Denise Mutton took the seat with a majority of 51 over the Liberal Democrats. Councillor Mutton is not defending this seat so it is an open competition. Always close, Cllr Mutton's majority last time is the highest she has ever achieved when she was the district councillor for the ward of Mevagissey.
Councillor Mutton's replacement for the Conservatives is James Mustoe, who will be hoping he does better than when he lost the St Austell town council by election in Bethel ward (see above). A former civil servant, he works as Office Manager for Sarah Newton, Conservative MP for Falmouth and Truro.
Hoping to take the seat for the Liberal Democrats is Dr Ella Westland, a parish councillor on St Goran parish council. She heads the Community Energy Group of Transition St. Goran working on a wind energy scheme that will be the first community-owned project.
For the Greens, Katherine Moseley, will be hoping to improve on their 10% share in 2009.
Labour had an awful result (as across Cornwall) in 2009, taking only 4% of the vote, so their candidate, Michael Bunney, will hope to return to a decent vote share, well into double figures I would have thought. From Gorran, he is a history teacher and Head of House at the historical (and now Specialist Sports College) King's School, Ottery, St Mary in Devon. He was also runner up for the National Teacher Award south west finals.
The big unknown is the share of the vote that UKIP's Michael Williams will achieve. Described by UKIP as "young and thrusting", Mr Williams was selected for the division in December of 2011, so it'll be interesting to see how hard he has worked since then and what it will achieve. If UKIP do well, it may well tip the balance in Dr Westland's favour, but she will not be too happy to see Labour and the Greens again battling for the centre-left vote, and probably with more success this year.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat gain
Mount Charles
Part of St Austell, this division was another close run thing with only 66 votes between first and third. The Liberal Democrat Shirley Polmounter had a majority of 18 over the Independent, Gary King, in 2009.
Both Councillor Polmounter and Mr King are standing again, but now Councillor Polmounter, who was previously a district councillor for Mount Charles, as both and Independent and then a Liberal Democrat, is standing as an Independent again.
For the Conservatives, town councillor Anne Double is running, the wife of Poltair Cornwall Councillor (and Conservative PPC for the St Austell and Newquay constituency) Steve Double, she gained her town council seat in the Mount Charles ward in a byelection with a comfortable victory over the Independent candidate in second place. Worryingly for the Liberal Democrats, it was the Labour candidate who snatched 3rd place, not even having run a candidate in 2009. The Liberal Democrats came fourth with 13.8% of the vote.
The situation that caused the byelection was not an easy one for the Liberal Democrats and probably explains much of their decline.
Director of local charity Scrapstore, Mr King, who just missed out in 2009, is standing as an Independent again. Whilst describing himself as a moderate, Mr King is clearly on the centre-left left of the political spectrum, stating in his profile: "People before Profit and Practical Policies before Party Politics."
He will be hoping that his opposition to both the national and county hall administrations will pay off this time. He was fairly soundly beaten by Mrs Double in the byelection but a bigger turnout, as well as establishing himself as the main candidate to beat the Tories would help him.
The Liberal Democrats are fielding Eileen Rix who will be hoping that the Liberal Democrat voters will stick with her and that the Independent voters will split between Cllr Polmounter and Mr Rix, to allow her through to win. This will be hindered by Labour's Paul Roberts, who will think his pushing the Lib Dems into fourth place in the town council byelection will allow him to push for a much improved Labour vote this time, especially with the seeming implosion of the local Liberal Democrats. His aim must be to get close to 20% of the vote.
For Cllr Polmounter, who resigned from the Liberal Democrats last month, this will be a tough campaign but she has shown her ability to win as an Independent in the past. Having said that, this is going to be a very tough fight between Mrs Double, Mr King and Cllr Polmounter and, with a reinvigorated Labour party, this seat could be won on a very low share of the vote.
Prediction: Too close to call, but the Lib Dems will lose it and Labour won't win it. Mr King as slight favourite.
Bugle
Bugle itself is a village in central Cornwall. It is in the parish of Treverbyn and is situated about five miles north of St Austell on the A391 road. There are plans to build a new neighbourhood on the site of the Goonbarrow Refinery west of the village as part of the St Austell and Clay Country Eco-town. This would include 450-550 homes. With the boundary changes, Luxulyan parish was brought entirely into this division. The village lies four miles northeast of St Austell and six miles south of Bodmin The population of the parish was 1,371 in the 2001 census. A report published in February of this year showd rates of child deprivation in the (Luxuylan and) Bugle ward are the highest in mid and south east Cornwall with more than a quarter — 27 per cent — of children living in poverty.
The 2009 Bugle Division was won by the Liberal Democrat's candidate, Jackie Bull, now transferred to be candidate in the Poltair division of St Austell. A changed division, it was then a safe win for the Liberal Democrats with the Conservatives in second place with less than half of the Lib Dem vote, just ahead of Mebyon Kernow.
This time, the Liberal Democrat candidate is Simon Rix who campaigns against the Council's decision to implement Council Tax cuts effecting the poorest households, but will face accusations of being part of a party which supports the government which has enforced these types of cuts nationally.
For the Conservatives, Rachel Beadle will be carrying what will probably be a forlorn banner; their candidate in Roche division in 2009, where she finished a distant third, the make up of this area is not good for the Tories which, even in a good year for them in 2009, still had them a long way off the pace.
The challengers to Mr Rix are this time more likely to come from the other candidates. Standing for Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall is Jerry Jeffries, a first time candidate who is teacher in the Cornish Language Partnership (Maga). MK have done well in this area in the past, with Matthew Luke having been elected as a district councillor in Treverbyn ward in 2007. Mr Jeffries will be disappointed not to eat into the Lib dem vote and come at least a good second, with over thirty percent of the vote, I think it'll be difficult for him though as he is not the only horse in the field here.
For Labour and Co-op, perennial candidate and town councillor David Doyle is standing again. It is in areas like this that Labour's commitment to social change and improving the lot of the poorest should have the highest resonance, but the Lib Dems have, as in most of Cornwall, side-lined Labour over the years. He will surely improve on Labour's disastrous 5.8% last time when the party was at its lowest, the question is whether he can get the vote back to the 18.5% he achieved in 2005 (when the county and General Elections were on the same day). An active member of the South West Co-operative party, Mr Doyle's political commitment to the area cannot be doubted but it has to be said that Labour must do well here.
Making up the field is Independent candidate, Steve Hopper, who will be trying to revive the independent vote base that previously had some strength in the area.
This should be a shoo-in for Mr Rix and the Liberal Democrats but I get the feeling that he will see a big cut in his vote share and majority and it will not be the Tories benefiting.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold
Par and St Blazey Gate
Par is a town and fishing port with a harbour on the south coast of Cornwall, pop: 1,400, 3 1/2 miles east of St Austell. Until 2007, china clay was still dried in, and shipped, from Par. There are plans to re-develop the docks as part of the St Austell and Clay Country Eco-town. This would include a new marina and 500-700 homes. St Blazey Gate is a small settlement is St Blazey civil parish, which grew up around a tollgate (hence the name).
Standing for the Liberal Democrats is St Blaise town councillor, Douglas Scrafton, who chairs the Par Bay Big Local group which was given £1 million over ten years to spend on local community projects. He has high local visibility and will be hoping to be able to harness that in his campaign.
For the Conservatives, Richard Pears, a local parish councillor, is hoping to represent the Division in County Hall.
Independent candidate, Alison Watkins was planning to stand in the St Austell, Bethel town council by election last December, but withdrew. She owns Nature Kitchen Spice Shop and Deli in the town.
She initiated St Austell's first annual Spring Fayre and is working on many other events.
I have little local knowledge of the campaign in this area but, given recent history, it should be a Liberal Democrat seat.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold.
Roche
Roche is a civil parish and village in mid-Cornwall. The village gets its name from a granite outcrop east of the village. The whle of the Parish is now included in the Division.
Easily gained by Independent John Wood from the Liberal Democrats in 2009, Councillor Wood returns to defend this division. A former district councillor, Mr Wood has a long history of representing this area. He leads the Independent Group at County Hall and is the Member Champion (whatever that is) for Eco-Towns. Former County Councillor Brian Higman (1999 - 2009) returns to try and regain this seat, but this time as a Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall candidate, having parted company with the Liberal Democrats in 2010. Surprisingly (well, maybe not when you see how politics seems to work in Cornwall), the Liberal Democrats are not putting up a candidate this year. This should make for an interesting campaign, not least as it appears to be the first time that MK-PC has run a candidate here.
The Conservative candidate, Derek Walker, should just be happy to improve on the fairly dismal record his party has here.
With no other candidates, it should be a two-horse race and, given unhappiness with the Conservative/Independent coalition in County Hall, former district councillor and Mayor of Restormel borough (1994-1995) Mr Higman will be hoping to return to Truro. Councillor Wood will hope that the novelty of MK-PC standing might be a turn-off for many and that both his history of service and a squeeze on the Conservatives will allow him to hold on. It seems that the Lib Dems may have stood aside for Mr Higman as part of a 'decapitation' strategy and it might just pay off.
Prediction: Independent hold - but with a much reduced majority and with MK-PC second.
St Blazey
Based on the St Blaise Civil Parish, the town was once dominated by the local mining industries and their associated transport infrastructure. Historically copper and tin were mined in and around the parish, whilst more recently china clay has been the principal commodity mined. "The Par & St Blazey Consols" or "South Prideaux Wood" was a small tin mine just north of the town and Par Consols Mine lies to the south west
The Eden Project lies within this division and tourism is very important. Boundary changes bring in Tywardreath Highway, Kilhallon, Penpillick and Porcupine. A recent report found the level of child poverty in this division to be 25%.
The Liberal Democrat, Roy Taylor, comfortably held this seat in 2009 with almost double the Conservatives share of the vote. A former district councillor, Councillor Taylor was first elected to the old County Council in 1985 for Bodmin until he, having moved to Par (where he and his wife run a B&B), was elected to the Restormal Council in 1996.
The Conservative candidate is Peter Sinclair whom I think was once the St Austell and Newquay Conservative Constituency Party Chairman. I think that he is unlikely to gain the seat but will be keen to hold on to a decent second place. Challenging him here will be Labour's Stuart Wheeler who will be hoping to to overhaul the Conservatives for a decent second place. In 2009, Labour managed a decent vote with 16.4% gained by
Liam Bellamy is running as an Independent candidate, he returned to St Austell four years ago after 20 years working overseas. Since then he has worked as a teacher and in the meat industry, experiencing the economic downturn first hand.
Liam coaches several rugby teams including boys and girls teams at St Austell RFC as well as being on its Executive Committee. I am not sure how well he will do, although an Independent candidate managed to take managed to take 23% of the vote in 2005. Who will he take his votes from?
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold with reduced vote share, Labour to take second place (maybe; probably not).
St Columb Major
A civil parish and town, often referred to locally as St Columb, it is situated approximately seven miles southwest of Wadebridge and six miles ) east of Newquay. The designation Major distinguishes it from the smaller settlement and parish of St Columb Minor on the coast. A population of around 4,000 in 2001. St Columb is situated in mid-Cornwall, about 5 miles inland from the north coast. The Pall Corporation (filtration and separation technology) employs 300 people in St Columb.
This was one of those seats won with less than a third of the vote with Independent Pat Harvey seeing off another Independent Paul Wills with an apparently comfortable majority of 129 - this was because of the vote spread. Councillor Harvey, the Chairman of Cornwall Council, was a district councillor for St Columb and joined the Unitary Authority in 2009.
The Conservatives have selected John Bell to challenge her and he will be hoping to close the 10% gap from the last elections although, with their being no other Independent candidate this year, it'll be open to question where those votes go.
The Liberal Democrats, who came fourth in 2009, have nominated local town councillor Alvin Augustus Martin (the middle name distinguishes him from the former West Ham player). The Liberal Democrats haven't really run candidates in major council elections in the area until last time and Mr Martin will hope to appeal to those who voted for the Independent, Mr Wills, last time. The Labour candidate on this occasion is Debbie Hopkins, who must hope to improve on only 3.6% of the vote last time.
I can't see Cllr Harvey losing her seat.
Prediction: Independent hold
St Dennis and Nanpean
St Dennis is a civil parish and village The village is situated between Newquay and St Austell.
St Dennis had a population of 2,696 in the 2001 census. A quarter of the male population was, at the time, employed in the extraction of china clay. Nanpean is a village in the civil parish of St Stephen-in-Brannel, approximately four miles northwest of St Austell in the heart of 'clay country', the china clay quarrying area of mid-Cornwall. The division also includes Treviscoe, Little Treviscoe, Step-a-Side, Hill Head and a few other areas. The only change since 2009 is that Nanpean has been added to the title.
A big issue here concerns the proposed siting of an incinerator which is being vigorously opposed, not least by all the local Cornwall Councillors.
Defending the division is lifelong resident and County Councillor, Fred Greenslade, an Independent who originally sat as a borough councillor for the old Rock ward as a Liberal Democrat. Involved in the China Clay industry for a number of years.
Standing against him is former Liberal Democrat borough councillor, Kim Wonnacott, who represented the old St Stephen ward. This time, dog-groomer Ms Wonnacott has cast aside the Liberal Democrat appellation and is also standing as an Independent. A St Stephen-in-Brannel parish councillor, it is hard to say how likely it is that Ms Wonnacott will challenge Cllr Greenslade, whose near 72% share of the vote in 2009 was very impressive. The Liberal Democrats are not standing a candidate this time and she may gain votes from here but I don't see much hope for her.
The Conservatives have Barbara Hannan as their candidate but given that they only managed 12% of the vote in a good year, I can't see them being much of a threat.
Prediction: Independent Greenslade hold
St Enoder
The village of St Enoder is 5 miles southeast of Newquay.
It would be tempting just to put my prediction in here to save time. Mebyon Kernow-Party in Cornwall leader Councillor Dick Cole will not lose this ward. The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have not even bothered to put up candidates this time so the only challenge comes from an Independent candidate, Elizabeth Hawken, who stood in the borough elections of 2003, coming third, and in the 2005 elections for the old County Council, coming fourth with another Independent winning. When Councillor Cole stands, he wins, and has built up his vote strongly over the years since he was first elected to the borough council, achieving 77.6%. I congratulate Ms Hawken for standing as elections should be contested. It will be an achievement if she can get anywhere near thirty percent of the vote.
Prediction: Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall hold (and how).
St Mawgan and Colan
St Mawgan is a village and civil parish 4 miles northeast of Newquay, Colan is a village and civil parish approximately three miles east of Newquay, it has a population of 1,176 (ish). It is a beautiful area where tourism is very important. The hamlets of Bosoughan, Chapel, Gwills, Kestle Mill, Lane, Mountjoy, Quintrell Downs, Trebarber and Trencreek are in the parish.
Conservative John Fitter comfortably won the seat (then named Colan and Mawgan) in 2009 with 53% of the vote, beating both an Independent and a Liberal Democrat. This time, Councillor Fitter is in a two horse race with Mebyon Kernow-Party of Cornwall candidate, Rob Poole. With his vote share likely to fall with the Conservatives unpopular nationally, Cllr Fitter could face a bit of a fight, although it seems a hard task for Mr Poole, starting from nowhere, to win. As it adjoins the St Enoder division of Cllr Cole (see above), it is possible that a lot of help will being seeping across the boundary for Mr Poole and we shall have to see how successful it will prove to be.
Prediction: Conservative hold (or a shock is in the offing)
St Mewan
St Mewan is a civil parish and village, approximately one mile west of St Austell. The village is a small settlement. St Mewan parish includes the villages of Sticker, Trelowth, Trewoon, and most of Polgooth. it has a population estimated to be over 3,000.
St Mewan is one of the better-off areas of this part of Cornwall with only 7% of children said to be in poverty by a recent report (to many of us, that is still too high). As we have seen with many divisions in rthe St Austell area, this division was closley fought and won, narrowly, by Liberal Democrat Robin Teverson (Baron Teverson, of Tregony in the County of Cornwall). An active member of the House of Lords and frontbench spokesman for the Lib Dems, he is replaced as candidate this time Janet Lockyer. Only losing by 38 votes last time, the Conservatives will be targeting this seat with their candidate John Kneller, a local parish councillor.
There is an Independent hopeful here by the name of Malcolm Harris, who currently runs a successful local catering company. Part of his campaign is to ask questions about the scale and location of the proposed green-field shopping centre at Coyte Farm. Last time, an Independent candidate took 25% of the vote and this must give Mr Harris hope of pulling off a surprise.
Always a fairly close-run battle between the Lib Dems and Conservatives, which the Lib Dems normally win, it is possible that the success of the Independent campaign of Mr Harris that will decide things.
Prediction: Too close to call, Lib Dems slight favourite.
Tintagel
Tintagel itself is on the Atlantic Coast of Cornwall, with the civil parish spreading out from there. In 2001, the population of the parish was 1,820. The nearby Tintagel Castle is connected with the Arthurian myth and, small as the village is, it is one of the most visited places in Britain.
In 2009, the division was won quite comfortably by the Liberal Democrat, Glenton Brown. His closest challenger was Independent, Anthony Brewer, with the Conservatives trailing in third place. This time Councillor Brown is facing a Conservative candidate, Paul Charlesworth, and a UKIP candidate, Susan Bowen. Except, Susan Bowen has been completely disowned by the party as they have discovered she was, fairly recently, a member of the BNP, which is specifically banned by UKIP. She is not now campaigning although her name is still on the ballot paper. Ms Bowen only joined UKIP at the end of March and was allowed to become a candidate within a week or so - this is a weakness for a party wishing to capitalise on its popularity but not having the membership to do so.
This should encourage Mr Charlesworth but he lives quite a distance from the area and this might count against him.
All in all, Cllr Brown is probably safely home but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people vote UKIP on the basis of a protest, no matter the non-campaigning Ms Bowen's views (or, in some cases, because of them).
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold
St Stephen-in-Brannel
St Stephen-in-Brannel civil parish and village in central Cornwall, it is four miles west of St Austell on the southern edge of Cornwall's china clay district. Uranium was also mined in this area.
Long-standing district and Cornwall Councillor Des Curnow is standing again and if facing only one challenger in the shape of Keith Hickman of UKIP, the chairman of the St Austell and Newquay constituency party. Whilst I know Cllr Curnow is popular, I am very surprised that none of the parties have chosen to stand candidates here. Whilst Labour did disastrously (3.4%) in 2009, it has had a strong vote in this area in the past and I wonder why the Conservatives would give UKIP a clear run. The answer may well lie in the kind of councillor Mr Curnow is, as he has shown his independence of the ruling coalition (of which he is a member) on several issues and, given that he was one of those who nominated Cllr Cole as the Mebyon Kernow candidate for the last general election, his views probably lie more to the left than the right. he is one of the 'China Clay' area Councillors campaigning against the proposed incinerator in St Dennis.
I am sure Mr Hickman will campaign hard, and has been candidate since November of 2011, but I cannot see Cllr Curnow losing.
Prediction: Independent hold.
Lostwithiel
A beautiful area, Lostwithiel includes the civil parish and it's village at the head of the River Fowey estuary. The 2001 census found it had a population of 2,739. It is the home of Restormel Castle.
In 2009, this seat was snatched by the Conservative (Peter) Gavin Shakerley who won the seat, with only 30.7% of the vote due to there being 5 other candidates. The majority of 121 tells a lie of comfort in terms of victory which means that Councillor Shakerley has decided enough is enough and is not defending this seat.
Standing in his place for the Conservatives is the wonderfully named Benedicte Poula Gwyneth Bay.
An Independent candidate, Graham Jarrett, is hoping to repeat the usual victory for Independents in this seat. It is possible that presence of two Independents in 2009 cost them the seat and the combined vote share was 37.7% (whilst I accept that they wouldn't have shared all votes, many would have transferred).
The Liberal Democrats have never done well enough to win here and I cannot see that changing, although Mrs Marian Oldor Candy (I love the names around here) will do her best.
The dark horse is Nigel Andrew Challis, running for UKIP. He may well appeal to the independently-minded and will not help Ms Bay's hopes, slim as they are, of holding the seat. Could he come through the middle and win? I very much doubt it and see this seat returning to its Independent status.
Prediction: Independent gain.
Newquay
Newquay, is civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately 20 miles west of Bodmin and 12 miles north of Truro. The town is bounded to the west by the River Gannel and its associated salt marsh, and to the east by the Porth Valley. Newquay has been expanding inland (south) since it was founded. In 2001, the census recorded a permanent population of 19,562. Big tourism industry.
Newquay Central
This was a remarkable result last time as the Liberal Democrat's Geoff Brown managed to to win whilst gaining only 28.8% of the vote but still managing to well-beat the second placed Conservative, Andy Hannan, by 54 votes. Three Independent candidates managed to accrue between them 43.8% of the vote and this is probably what saved Councillor Brown, who was a district councillor in this area before the Unitary authority was set up. At one time the Liberal Democrats were quite confident here and Cllr Brown will hope to show that again but he is now facing a single candidate, Steven Slade, who is standing as an Independent.
Mr Slade is making wide use of social media to get his message across and is, in effect, an Green candidate as he recently joined the party. This is not to suggest he won't be independent when elected. He has just joined the town council after he was elected without contest. He has a BSc Hons in Ecology and has run his own businesses since 1991, in wildlife garden design, renovations and the supply of pub quizzes(!).
Councillor Brown should have a much better campaign than Mr Slade but he will need to watch out for the temptation to vote against a political party.
Part of me believes that a good campaign by the Independent will easily win this seat, but the other part questions how much of a campaign team and strategy he has. So, with a certain amount of reluctance to make a choice, I give it to Councillor Brown.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold
Newquay Pentire
After a few minor boundary changes, Newquay Pentire is another two horse race, this time between the sitting Councillor, Joanna Kenny, and the Conservative candidate, Lyndon Spencer Harrison. At the last elections, Cllr Kenny, a former district councillor in the old Gannel ward, beat off strong challenges from the Conservatives and Independent district councillor, Denis Dent, who was also the sitting County Councillor. A ward where Independents have always done well, it'll be interesting to see where the vote goes as, if it breaks for the Conservative, Cllr Kenny will be in trouble as she only managed to take 36.3% of the vote last time. With no Labour (who did shockingly last time with 2.8% of the vote) or English Democrat (7.6%)candidates, it will be the campaign that decides whose vote is appealed to the most - will the EDP vote go to the Tories, or not come out to vote?
Chairman of Newquay Chamber of Commerce, Newquay Association of Licensed Premises, Mr Harrison has a high profile locally and had a massive fallout with the Liberal Democrats which led to him resigning and forcing a by election. Mr Harrison lost to the Liberal Democrat with 405 votes to 591. Mr Harrison chairs Streetsafe, a project in which a portable building offers first aid facilities and a safe refuge for night-time revellers and local businesses.
In a wider race, Mr Harrison might well win, but I cannot see that he can do enough to defeat Councillor Kenny.
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold
Newquay Treloggan
Another division won on a small plurality of 33.6% of the vote, Liberal Democrat Councillor George Edwards is not defending the seat this year, standing instead in Tretherras division. In his place is town councillor Dave Sleeman, who won a bitter byelection campaign against Conservative Lance Harrison (see above in Pentire). With neither the independent Norman Thompson (who picked up a very healthy 27.1% of the vote in 2009) nor the BNP (10.5%), the question is where their votes will go? In the case of the BNP voters, evidence suggests it won't go anywhere at all in this race and will stay at home.
The Conservative candidate is Kevin Towill, who stood at the last election, losing by 47 votes. He will surely hope to pick up votes from the Independents and this may be a close battle. Mr Towill is a town councillor and this year's Mayor of Newquay (at 33 years old, the youngest in the town's history).
Prediction: Liberal Democrat hold
Newquay Tretherras
This is a battle with two defenders in that Councillor George Edward (Lib Dem, Trellogan) is challenging Councillor Patrick Lambshead (Con, Tretherra). This reflects some of the boundary changes in the area. On the basis of the results last time, the actual councillor defending is Cllr Lambshead. It was not a good year for the Liberal Democrats and Cllr Edwards will be hoping to take advantage of some recovery, assisted by the appearance in the race of a UKIP candidate, Doris Latham.
A town council by election took place in the general area of this ward in August of 2011, which was won by the Conservative by 56 votes over the Lib Dem in a straight fight. It wasn't a particularly high turnout and perhaps tells us nothing beyond that history shows close races in this ward. Last time, in the old division, former mayor Cllr Lambshead was assisted by the presence of three Independent candidates who polled 41% of the vote; whilst Cllr Lambshead got more than that combined vote, it may have been unhappiness with the lack of a single independent that helped him. The Liberal Democrats did very badly last time (14.8%), but Cllr Edwards will doubtless do better. A Trustee of a charity to preserve the historic Trenance Cottages in Newquay, Cllr Edwards has a high profile. I think that UKIP may well pick up some of the traditional independent votes and also Conservative votes. A former RAF gymnast, Cllr Lambshead may need to show some of that skill to get over the winning line this time.
Prediction: Conservative hold - just!
Newquay Treviglas
Another victory by a small vote total, Independent candidate Harry Heywood took the winner's rosette with only 31.2% of the vote, a majority of 28 over the Conservatives and 55 votes over the Liberal Democrats. Councillor Heywood is not defending the seat this year. A borough councillor for many years, Councillor Heywood seems to have decided to call it a day. This division encompasses most of the old Rialton borough ward.
Fighting to take this seat is town councillor, and last year's mayor, Andy Hannan for the Conservatives; the probable favourite to begin with as much of Councillor Heywood's vote used to go to Conservative candidates in the old three-member ward.
Returning from the last election is the Liberal Democrat candidate, deputy mayor Sandy Carter, who came a close third last time. Mr Carter has an unfortunate habit of just missing out on election and I feel that he is going to be unlucky this time.
It might be thought the entrance of a UKIP candidate would help Mr Carter and hinder Mr Hannan; polls show this to be true but whether that is enough to offset the votes Mr Hannan will likely pick up from the exit of Cllr Heywood is another matter. The UKIP candidate is Mark Hicks, about whom I have struggled to discover anything.
Labour have their only candidate in the Newquay seats in Treviglas, Joan Bowden. I am pretty sure this is the same Lillian Joan Bowden who stood for Labour in Newquay Central. The people of Cornwall seem to mirror the Irish tradition (with which I am much more familiar) of going by their middle names. She managed just 41 votes and 5.7% of the vote in Central, but Labour didn't even have a candidate here last time. The main fund raiser for the St Austell and Newquay Labour Party, Ms Bowden shows a dedication to the cause. Labour will probably do well enough to feel some satisfaction this year but not likely to come close to victory.
With the Greens not standing this year, Mr Carter will also be hoping to pick up these votes but won't be too pleased with a Labour candidate in the race.
All things taken into account, I am just going to give it to Mr Hannan.
Prediction: Conservative gain -just.
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