Letter from a true pastor

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The Reverend Giles Pinnock, who blogs as One Timothy Four, has today written to his people to announce that he has offered his resignation as the Vicar of St Mary-the-Virgin, Kenton, to the Bishop of Fulham, with the intention of being received into full communion with the Catholic Church.

His letter is a warm and heartfelt au revoir to his flock. He acknowledges that it is no longer possible to offer Anglican leadership to those who wish to remain members of the Church of England. He then says:
To those of you who are considering becoming Catholics, either as members of the forthcoming Ordinariate under the provisions of Anglicanorum coetibus or in a local Catholic parish, I trust that I am, in the manner of a middle-eastern shepherd, walking ahead of the flock, leading you by my example to safe pasture.
The name of the blog is taken from St Paul's first letter to my baptismal patron, St Timothy:
... take heed to thyself and to doctrine: be earnest in them. For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee ... (1 Timothy 4:16)
The Revd Pinnock's thoughtful statement to his people is an fine illustration of how this exhortation of St Paul can be put into practice. for the full text of the letter, see: Becoming Catholic – a statement made to the congregation of St Mary-the-Virgin, Kenton on Sunday September 5th 2010

H/T Mulier Fortis. See also Jeffrey Steel's post Fr Giles Pinnock and Family Becoming Catholic

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