Company of Mission Priests
Encyclopedia
The Company of Mission Priests (CMP) is a "dispersed community" of male priests of the Anglican Communion
, who want to consecrate themselves wholly to the church's mission, free from the attachments of marriage and family. CMP was founded in 1940 by the initiative of the superiors
of the Anglican religious order
s of the Community of the Resurrection
, the Society of the Sacred Mission
and the Society of St John the Evangelist
.
CMP follows a Vincentian
rule of life. It is not officially classified as an Anglican religious order
by the church, but as an "acknowledged community". Members give simple promises, (cf. simple vow
) which are renewed annually. The whole community meets in General Chapter
once a year, and the Regional Chapters more frequently.
CMP is known for its work in Guyana
and Madagascar
and for its work in staffing "needy" parishes in England with two, three or more priests, who live together in a clergy house. CMP was one of the founding members of Vincentian Millennium partnership in AD 2000.
The warden since 2005 is Father Timothy Pike CMP and the episcopal visitor
is the Right Reverend Lindsay Urwin
OGS, formerly the Bishop of Horsham
, and now the Administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
.
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
, who want to consecrate themselves wholly to the church's mission, free from the attachments of marriage and family. CMP was founded in 1940 by the initiative of the superiors
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
of the Anglican religious order
Anglican religious order
Anglican religious orders are communities of laity and/or clergy in the Anglican Communion who live under a common rule of life. The members of religious orders take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and lead a common life of work and prayer...
s of the Community of the Resurrection
Community of the Resurrection
The Community of the Resurrection is an Anglican religious community for men. It was founded in 1892 by Charles Gore with Walter Howard Frere and four others....
, the Society of the Sacred Mission
Society of the Sacred Mission
The Society of the Sacred Mission is an Anglican religious order founded in 1893 by Father Herbert Kelly, envisaged such that "members of the Society share a common life of prayer and fellowship in a variety of educational, pastoral and community activities in England, Australia, Japan, Lesotho,...
and the Society of St John the Evangelist
Society of St. John the Evangelist
The Society of St John the Evangelist is an Anglican religious order for men. The members live under a rule of life and, at profession, make monastic vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. The SSJE was founded in 1866 at Cowley, Oxford, England, by the Father Richard Meux Benson, a priest in the...
.
CMP follows a Vincentian
Lazarists
Congregation of the Mission is a vowed order of priests and brothers associated with the Vincentian Family, a loose federation of organizations who claim St. Vincent de Paul as their founder or Patron...
rule of life. It is not officially classified as an Anglican religious order
Anglican religious order
Anglican religious orders are communities of laity and/or clergy in the Anglican Communion who live under a common rule of life. The members of religious orders take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and lead a common life of work and prayer...
by the church, but as an "acknowledged community". Members give simple promises, (cf. simple vow
Simple vow
In Roman Catholic canon law, a simple vow is any vow, public or private, individual or collective, concerned with an action or with abstaining from an action, if that vow has not been recognized by the Church as a solemn vow....
) which are renewed annually. The whole community meets in General Chapter
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
once a year, and the Regional Chapters more frequently.
CMP is known for its work in Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
and Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and for its work in staffing "needy" parishes in England with two, three or more priests, who live together in a clergy house. CMP was one of the founding members of Vincentian Millennium partnership in AD 2000.
The warden since 2005 is Father Timothy Pike CMP and the episcopal visitor
Visitor
A Visitor, in United Kingdom law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution , who can intervene in the internal affairs of that institution...
is the Right Reverend Lindsay Urwin
Lindsay Urwin
Lindsay Goodall Urwin OGS is an Australian-born bishop of the Church of England . Urwin was the suffragan Bishop of Horsham in the Diocese of Chichester, in southern England, from 1993 to 2009 and was also the principal organiser of the annual Caister Conferences...
OGS, formerly the Bishop of Horsham
Bishop of Horsham
The Bishop of Horsham is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester, in the Province of Canterbury, England...
, and now the Administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
Our Lady of Walsingham
Our Lady of Walsingham is a title used for Mary, the mother of Jesus. The title derives from the belief that Mary appeared in a vision to Richeldis de Faverches, a devout Saxon noblewoman, in 1061 in the village of Walsingham in Norfolk, England...
.