Blessed People of our God,
Is this a shop or is this a Church ? I gathered that it is both. The picture represents the Anglican Catholic Church of Saint Alban in Salford, Manchester , England. What a wonderful idea – this is an excellent idea for Church planting and Mission work.
My former Parish Priest in the Australian Anglican Church always told us that ” we as Anglican Catholics are not good at evangelizing”. That might be true in some cases , but evangelizing are we called to do. I recall discussing this idea with my own Bishop, Bishop Brian of Iverach ,who is based in Sydney and it is something I am going to plan for the provincial Victorian town of Bendigo. We don’t have to have a grand cathedral in order to preach Christ Crucified. Then we are in a situation that we might not always be heard, but we will definitely been seen.
Bishop Brian runs a Mission from Redfern in Sydney, they are strongly evangelical.Whenever I discuss something with him he says ” God is blessing” and that is how is see my calling on this very day.
The peace of the Lord be with you.
Father Ed Bakker
The Anglican Catholic 
Thank you, Fr Ed. Bishop Mead is doing a terrific job also with the shop in Canterbury and a little church that is open onto the street. Many people of our time may be more impressed with a warm little place of worship than the big empty churches that nobody can afford to keep going.
Some years ago, my secular work had brought me to attend a major medical conference in Boston. The convention centre and my hotel were adjacent to a large shopping mall and office complex: wherein I found, to my great surprise, a church: the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Francis.
http://www.bostoncatholicdirectory.com/Parishes-And-People/Mini-Site.aspx?id=4916
There, Mass is celebrated 4 times a day (in English) as well as in Spanish on Saturday evening and Sunday. I found the availability of this place for my own quiet worship and prayer to be an excellent addition to the complex, and from all indications, it was welcomed and patronised by many in that community.
The main challenge might be the cost of a commercial lease, and whether the property developer is prepared to accept a non-commercial, or subsidised rent!
Dear Father David, Your input was appreciated. Yes the cost of a commercial lease could be a problem, but am working on it. Yours in Christ Father Ed Bakker
Father Ed Bakker Anglican Catholic Church /Original Province Missionary Diocese of Australia & New Zealand Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne Phone:03 54444721, mobile: 0400 366 451 http://www.fatheredbakker.blogspot.com/
It used to be a butcher’s shop I believe; the congregation left their gothick revival building (here seen before the spire was added
http://talbotfamilyblog.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/st-albans-church.jpg) and eventually bought the shop after worshipping in houses for a while.
Thanks Ken for the interesting feedback.
Fr Ed Bakker