The Windhill Churches Centre in Bishop’s Stortford is being seen as a milestone in ecumenical relationships.
It was built by the Anglican Parish of St Michael and the Roman Catholic Parish of St Joseph and the English Martyrs.
The project has taken 15 years to come to fruition.
The centre comprises two halls, two kitchens, two offices for clergy and six meeting rooms.
The entrance, toilets and lift for the disabled are all shared.
It was opened on Saturday by the Rt Rev Dr Alan Smith, the Bishop of St Albans, and the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Westminster, the Rt Rev George Stack. [Article]
Wow we have come a long way. Shared toilets! Though I guess when you are dealing with ecumenism it is best to emphasize what we share.
I once wrote a church bulletin parody for a joint Anglican/Catholic church named “St. Thomas More & King Henry VIII”
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Well, usually when I am in an Anglican church, I think “I am so glad I am Catholic,’ although the last time I was also thinking ‘I am so glad I am not eighty either.’
They were planning to attend the Gay pride parade, and frankly, the mind boggled.
So, it took them 15 years to build “two halls, two kitchens, two offices for clergy and six meeting rooms”? Pardon me if I don’t hold my breath waiting on their next big joint venture.
I read your old post and although I could not understand it all, I think I got the drift of it and it brought memories of when I was growing up as a French Catholic. At school, my closes friends were all Catholic and of course I became an altar boy and please don’t get me wrong, it really was a blessing although I did not know it at the time. When I got home, I also made friends with some English boys and girls who were Protestant and at the time I could never really understand what all the fuss was all about but God forgive me cause I did find some of the jokes funny. One was about a Bishop interviewing a woman who had joined the Catholic church and now wanted to become a nun so the Bishop asked her what her profession was before she joined the church and she replied, “A prostitute” and the Bishop litteraly fell back in his chair and then made his way back up and said, what did you say? She again said, “A Prostitute” to which the Bishop replied, Oh thank Goodness, I thought you said, “Protestant.”
Anyway, I liked my English speaking friends and they thought me how to play ball and how to fight but the few close friends I had as a Catholic, I guess you might say that although I was a little guy, I was like a big brother to most of them and I enjoyed the attention you might say but when I got to grade 7, a new elite French school was created and to make a long story short, I was not invited.
Forgive me for getting carried away and running off in a tangent so I’ll close by saying that I still believe that no one can tell God what He should or should not do no matter how many heads Henry The Eight might have taken off!
God Bless Peace