The website of the Darlington Ordinariate at St. Osmund’s Catholic Church, Gainford, has the following report about a recent Evensong service at their church as seen by Anglo-Catholic clergy from a guest parish:
“On the afternoon of St Helen’s Day a group of us from the church went off to join Fr Grieves and the local Ordinariate Group at Gainford Roman Catholic Church for a service of Prayerbook Evensong. It was a glorious afternoon in their delightful church; hidden away and set in beautifully maintained gardens – a simple treasure. No big, loud building but a modest one and so well kept, clean and polished, beautiful flowers and to my great surprise, a pretty full church. Choral Evensong is one of the delights of the Anglican Church and here it was being offered by a group of fellow Christians. It was all there: the much loved setting of Stanford in C for the Canticles, all the Psalms for the 18th evening, sung with full glorias at the end of each psalm, two lessons, properly announced and clearly read, an anthem by Bairstow and good, well-known, singable hymns and at the end the hymn ‘The day though gavest Lord is ended’. Before we got there we had Benediction, all done with the expected precision of worship led by Fr Grieves and I noticed one of the hymns for Benediction was written by a former Anglican Bishop of Southwark, Richard Parsons. This really was the Ordinariate showing part of its Anglican Patrimony. A true act of worship, in beautiful style. The choral singing was excellent and the organ music superb, only the organ itself was a bit weary but, as might be expected, they have already begun an Organ Fund to deal with the problem.
We went to Gainford to support them as they came on Saturday to support us, fellow Christians, seeking to serve the Lord in our different ways, when none of us is finding the path of discipleship easy. Do spare a prayer for them, as I am sure they will pray for us.
Why not take a ride out to Gainford, just to see the village and this brave new pattern of following Jesus. Make sure you see the cemetery, it is pretty big and so well cared for, especially the beautifully trimmed hedges. A haven of peace and tranquility.”
(From the Parish Magazine of St. Helen’s (Forward in Faith) Church, St. Helen Auckland – as quoted on the website of the Darlington Ordinariate)
ORDINARIATE NEWS (from the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society) 
David,
From your quotation: On the afternoon of St Helen’s Day a group of us from the church went off to join Fr Grieves and the local Ordinariate Group at Gainford Roman Catholic Church for a service of Prayerbook Evensong. It was a glorious afternoon in their delightful church; hidden away and set in beautifully maintained gardens – a simple treasure. No big, loud building but a modest one and so well kept, clean and polished, beautiful flowers and to my great surprise, a pretty full church. Choral Evensong is one of the delights of the Anglican Church and here it was being offered by a group of fellow Christians. It was all there: the much loved setting of Stanford in C for the Canticles, all the Psalms for the 18th evening, sung with full glorias at the end of each psalm, two lessons, properly announced and clearly read, an anthem by Bairstow and good, well-known, singable hymns and at the end the hymn ‘The day though gavest Lord is ended’. Before we got there we had Benediction, all done with the expected precision of worship led by Fr Grieves and I noticed one of the hymns for Benediction was written by a former Anglican Bishop of Southwark, Richard Parsons. This really was the Ordinariate showing part of its Anglican Patrimony. A true act of worship, in beautiful style.
Excellent!
This is the very sort of positive interaction that will draw many Anglicans — especially to whom the Church of England seems less and less hospitable — to see the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham as a viable alternative and that ultimately will lead to the growth of the ordinariate. It would not be surprising if the “guest parish” of this article and its pastor were already contemplating such a move, with this “visit” being part of the process of discernment, though they cannot acknowledge such a situation publicly.
Norm.