Property Deal Clears Way to Ordinariate

From The Living Church-

St. Luke’s Church will make a pilgrimage from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism without leaving its historic location at 53rd Street and Annapolis Road in Bladensburg, Md.

The Rev. Mark Lewis, rector of St. Luke’s since 2006, praises the Rt. Rev. John B. Chane, Bishop of Washington, for the arrangement, in which St. Luke’s will lease the facilities from the Diocese of Washington and has an option to buy the property.

“We have a relationship that is mutually respectful,” Lewis said in an interview with The Living Church. He appreciates where I am theologically, and I know he appreciates the parish.”

Bishop Chane sounded similar notes in a joint news release issued by the Diocese of Washington and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.

“This was a transition achieved in a spirit of pastoral sensitivity and mutual respect,” Chane said in that statement. “Christians move from one church to another with far greater frequency than in the past, sometimes as individuals, sometimes as groups. I was glad to be able to meet the spiritual needs of the people and priest of St. Luke’s in a way that respects the tradition and polity of both of our churches.”

Lewis said he felt the bishop’s support as soon as he broached the question of St. Luke’s pursuing admittance to the Ordinariate, which the Vatican has established for Anglicans who wish to join the Roman church while retaining aspects of Anglican piety.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2011/6/15/property-deal-clears-way-to-ordinariate