Way forward for UK traditionalists?

(Church Times report this week)

BRITISH holidaymakers in Spain and France who want to worship on Sun day in the Anglican way are increas ingly able to do so.

Roman Catholic bishops in both countries have given their blessing to informal schemes in which RC clergy rent out their churches on a Sunday morning to their Anglican colleagues. The going rate is €25-€50 a service.

“The RC churches are just wonder ful, and they are opening their doors to us,” the Revd Paul Needle, spokes man for the diocese of Europe and Priest-in-Charge of St Christopher’s, Costa Azahar, said last week. “This is happening in France and Spain, and we encourage it.”

English-speaking congregations were growing across Europe, he said, and clergy had realised how advan tage ous it was for the new congrega tions, few of whom were established enough to have their own buildings, to worship in a Roman Catholic church.

“A lot of clergy realised that it is far easier to provide a donation to the Roman Catholic parish priest than to pay for the maintenance of an old crumbling building of our own.”

In Mr Needle’s parish, the switch took place about eight years ago, when a retired clergyman, the Revd John Phillips, who used to conduct services in his home, was asked by the Roman Catholic priest to help with the funeral of an Englishman. After the service, the parish priest asked him if he would like to use his church to conduct Anglican services on Sun days: “Mi casa es su casa.”

Mr Needle said: “This is something that the bishops in the Roman Cath olic Churches in both France and Spain have given their blessings to. These are very fluid arrangements, and some times there are no contracts at all.”

The fluidity can have its downside. On one occasion, the parish priest had arranged a funeral at the same time as the Anglicans were due to have their services. “We just went and had coffee in the local bar for an hour. The barman did well out of us that day.

“Another downside is that we have to be aware of our hosts’ sensitivities. Although we have no difficulties over women priests, we don’t put women priests behind the altar. It is a courtesy thing, and we accept that as our start ing point. We enjoy good fellowship with the RC priests.”

One English visitor to Spain, Robin Ripon, said that he had attended an Anglican carol service in the RC church of Villanueva de Tapia, Anda lucía, at Christmas. “Every body seems to be happy with the arrangements.”