In a converted church hall, their vicar shorn of his elaborate High Church clerical vestments and in a simple shirt and tie, 60 former parishioners from St Barnabas in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, gathered after a momentous journey, reversing centuries of religious history.
It was only three miles to St Anselm’s in Pembury, and most of them made the trip by car, but their spiritual journey to Rome signalled a greater pilgrimage that is either the biggest setback to Church unity for decades or its greatest step forward, depending on one’s point of view.
The St Barnabas recusants, one of the largest groups to leave the Church of England on Ash Wednesday for the Roman Catholic Church, were welcomed by Father Behruz Raf’at at Pembury, where they have effectively doubled his congregation. He described the Ordinariate set up by the Pope for disaffected Anglicans as a new “bridge” between the Church of England and Roman Catholic Church, divided since the Reformation.
The largest number of those who left are in the South East of England — the Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark alone took in six groups of Anglicans. Dozens more clergy and hundreds more laity are expected to follow the same path as the Church of England proceeds towards the consecration of women bishops.
The laity and their former vicars will be confirmed as Catholics on Maundy Thursday and the Anglican clergy will be ordained as Catholic deacons at Easter and as priests at Pentecost, several weeks later.
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Father Raf’at said: “I would like us to have unity. I would like everyone to work as hard as they can towards that goal.”
The former vicar of St Barnabas, for the next few weeks plain Mr rather than Father Ed Tomlinson until his ordination, admitted: “It has been a time of incredible upheaval. It will take a little time to settle down and get used to that.”
The Catholic church had shown “incredible hospitality”. There had been one or two “grumpy” Anglicans and “slightly outrageous” e-mails.
“I’ve always been a passionate Christian and want to get on with the work of the Church,” Mr Tomlinson said. “Increasingly in the Church of England since its synodical government, it’s been more and more political.”
Nicholas Leviseur, a former nonstipendiary Anglican priest, said that he would miss the neo-Gothic Victorian St Barnabas, but compared it to giving up a fast car to drive a Mini. “God is beyond big buildings,” he said.
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At St Barnabas, one of the biggest challenges facing the 30-plus worshippers who remain is managing the building itself, which runs up £2,500 a month in utility bills alone.
Geoffrey Copus, 80, a local historian who has worshipped at St Barnabas since 1960 but stopped going last November because of the vicar’s stance, returned on Ash Wednesday.
“I don’t like to hear Archbishop Rowan denigrated and the Pope extravagantly praised. My feelings about them are exactly the opposite,” he said. “We have a very good body of people who are not decamping. Several people already who thought they would have decided not to. I think others will return as well.”
The Archdeacon of Tonbridge, the Ven Clive Mansell, said that between 25 and 30 had been gathering to continue worshipping at St Barnabas.
“I am very sad because there are lovely people here and I say to those who have gone, please go in peace,” he said, “but I hope those who stay here have a chance to rebuild and carry forward things. There is space for an Anglo-Catholic congregation here in Tunbridge Wells.”