The Society of Catholic Priests (SCP) is a religious society of

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

in the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

which draws its membership from Anglicans who consider themselves a part of the

liberal Anglo-Catholic The terms liberal Anglo-Catholicism, liberal Anglo-Catholic or simply Liberal Catholic, refer to people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm liberal Christian perspectives while maintaining the traditions culturally associated w ...

tradition.

Founding and early history

The society was founded in 1994 by a group of priests from the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

who felt that they could no longer remain within the existing fraternal organisations for

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

priests, such as the

Society of the Holy Cross The Society of the Holy Cross (SSC; la, Societas Sanctae Crucis) is an international Anglo-Catholic society of male priests with members in the Anglican Communion and the Continuing Anglican movement, who live under a common rule of life that i ...

, which had taken conservative positions on the

ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...

to the priesthood. Its objective is to promote the formation and support of priestly spirituality and Catholic evangelism.

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for jus ...

is the group's patron. In 2009, a group of priests and seminarians from the Episcopal Church and the

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2017, the Anglican Church co ...

gathered at Christ Church, New Haven, Connecticut, to form a North American province of the society, known as the Society of Catholic Priests in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada (often abbreviated SCP NA). An Australian province was also created in 2009.

Current life

Membership in the SCP UK is open to all Anglican priests who accept the Anglican Communion as part of the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church", who recognise the

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

of women priests, believe in the

real presence The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist, not merely symbolically or metaphorically, but in a true, real and substantial way. There are a number of Christian denominati ...

and who uphold the traditional view of the

seven sacraments There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all those ...

. Priests keep a rule of life which includes the daily offices of

Mattins The Daily Office in Anglican churches focuses the traditional canonical hours on daily services of Morning Prayer (also called Matins or Mattins, especially when chanted) and Evening Prayer (called Evensong, especially when celebrated chorally) ...

and

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

, Eucharistic-centred spirituality, use of a

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters of the di ...

, the sacrament of

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

and praying for and ministering to other SCP members. Deacons may become associate members. The Society of Catholic Priests is associated with the Dearmer Society, for ordinands who aspire to full membership of SCP, and the

Company of Servers The Company of Servers (CoS) is a society within the Anglican Communion for lay people whose vocation includes serving at the altar. It was inaugurated on 24 January 2009 at Southwark Cathedral. It is formed of many chapters based on diocesan boun ...

, for lay people who serve at the altar. In the SCP NA, membership is open to all Anglican clergy who; A) believe that the churches of the Anglican Communion are part of the one holy and catholic and apostolic church; B) are members of The Episcopal Church or the Anglican Church of Canada; C) embrace as colleagues all those admitted to holy orders in the same; D) believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist; E) embrace the sacramental life of the Church as means of God's grace; F) and keep the rule of life of the society. In the SCP NA, professed but unordained members of religious communities may also be admitted as full members. Seminarians and seminary graduates preparing for ordination may be admitted as "provisional members", becoming full members automatically upon their diaconal ordination. Members of the society are entitled to use the letters ''SCP'' after their names.

List of rectors general

*Jack Bright (2000-2005) * Jonathan Clark (2005–2008) *

Andrew Nunn Andrew Peter Nunn (born 30 July 1957) is a British Anglican priest. Since 2012, he has been the Dean of Southwark in the Church of England. Early life Nunn was born on 30 July 1957 in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire. From 1975 to 1979, he studied ...

(2008–2017) *Ian Gomersall (2018–present)

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Society of Catholic Priests (Europe)The Society of Catholic Priests (North America)The Society of Catholic Priests (Australia)
Anglican organizations Anglican religious orders established in the 20th century Anglo-Catholicism Christian organizations established in 1994 Christian organizations established in 2009

Founding and early history

Current life

List of rectors general

See also

References

External links