Once Anglican, now Catholic: St. Luke's Parish (of the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter) is now, since last year, in Washington D.C. at Immaculate Conception Church.
It's the Tridentine Mass in the vernacular! Or should we call it the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite made ordinary, now housed at a regular Catholic Parish.
These ordinariate parishes of the Anglican use are ever more numerous in the USA, thank God! I know of two or three others: Houston, Boston, Scranton,
YouTube video, published on Oct 4, 2013
www.stlukesparish-bladensburg.org. www.facebook.com/StLukesCatholicParish. Then located near Washington D.C, St. Luke's Catholic Church is an Anglican-Use Parish, a part of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Originally an Anglo-Catholic parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, we were received and confirmed into the Catholic Church on October 9, 2011 by the Archbishop of Washington, Donald Cardinal Wuerl. We are in full communion with the Holy See and fulfill the regular Sunday obligation. Please visit our website for more details!
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CATHOLIC CHURCH WASHINGTON, DC
May 24, 2014
My Dear Parishioners,
Please welcome Fr. Mark Lewis and St. Luke’s Ordinariate Catholic Community with a special letter to the parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church about a new and exciting moment in the history of our Catholic Church and in the life of our own parish.
Monsignor Watkins
Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Fr. Mark Lewis, and I am the pastor of St. Luke’s Ordinariate Catholic Community. I know you have heard about the Ordinariate; this brief communication is to provide you with some additional information about our journey into the Catholic Church. In November 2009, then Pope Benedict XVI issued an Apostolic Constitution entitled Anglicanorum Coetibus (“Groups of Anglicans”), a structure that would allow for groups of Anglicans (as well as their pastors) to enter the Catholic Church while maintaining some aspects of Anglican patrimony. This, needless to say, sparked our interest.
Being a small multi-cultural Anglican parish, St. Luke’s was much more traditional than the trends taking place within Anglicanism. Thus, in February 2010, I and two lay leaders met with the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington to discuss our future. During that meeting the Bishop suggested we might fit better within the structure of the Catholic Church. He asked that I contact (at that time) Archbishop Wuerl’s office to ascertain if they were interested in helping us to become Catholic. Over the next 17 months we used the time to pray and to examine more closely the Anglican tradition, in particular in comparison to Catholicism. What we discovered was truly the work of the Holy Spirit. We came to the conclusion (the belief) that we were not intending to move to the Church of Rome as a means of leaving The Episcopal Church, but were being drawn to its truth about Jesus and its theology-we discovered the need for Apostolic Authority.
On June 6, 2011, a joint statement from the Archdiocese of Washington and the Episcopal Diocese of Washington announced the intention of St. Luke’s parish to become Catholic. Fr. Scott Hurd of the Archdiocese was assigned as chaplain of St. Luke’s. Under the guidelines set forth by Rome and under the watchful eye of the Archdiocese of Washington we entered the catechetical process. On October 9, 2011, we were made Catholics, confirmed by Cardinal Wuerl in the Crypt Church of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. We became the first Episcopal Church in America to enter the Catholic Church through Pope Benedicts XVI’s Apostolic Constitution.
In January 2012, I along with about 40 other former Anglican clergy began an intense course of study approved and set forth by Rome. I was ordained a Deacon on June 2, 2012, and three weeks later was ordained a priest by Cardinal Wuerl at the Cathedral Church of St. Matthew.
When St. Luke’s became Catholic we entered into a leasing agreement with The Episcopal Diocese of Washington for the continued use of the church and rectory; that agreement, though, is nearing its completion. In an effort to help secure our future we sought the assistance of the Archdiocese of Washington. We were hoping to relocate to a place that would remain accessible to our current membership, while at the same time be more conducive to attracting all members of the Ordinariate in the greater DC area, as well as new members. When contacted by the Archdiocese, Msgr. Watkins graciously agreed to explore the possibility of St. Luke’s relocating its Masses to Immaculate Conception.
I look forward to worshipping in your magnificent Church! I also look forward to getting to know all of you as I will be assisting Msgr. Watkins when needed.
Please know your generosity will be helping to bring about the fulfillment of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s vision for the Ordinariate, as our mission involves both current and former Anglicans-we seek to bring as many home to Holy Mother Church as possible. Your generosity, and especially that of Msgr. Watkins, provides The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, as well as St. Luke’s, the best possible milieu for success.
I am excited about this opportunity!
Blessings,
Rev. Mark Lewis – Pastor, St. Luke’s Ordinariate Catholic Community
