The diocese of Canterbury said in a statement that it had received a letter from the churchwardens of St Peter’s “about a possible move to the Ordinariate”, and that “conversations are due to start soon”.
The statement said that, whatever the outcome of discussions with St Peter’s, “the Church of England will retain its parochial ministry in the parish of St Peter’s, Folkestone; and St Peter’s Church of England Prim ary School will remain a Church of England school.”
The Revd Martin Short, chaplain to the Bishop of Dover, said: “The fairest thing you could say is it’s far too early for any conversations about the future use of buildings until after conversations about people moving to the Ordinariate have been success fully concluded.”
Procedural note for non-Brits: In addition to being the focus of union for the Anglican Communion, the Primate of All England, and the Metropolitan Archbishop for the Southern Province of the Church of England, Abp. Williams is also the diocesan bishop of Canterbury (the oldest diocese in Great Britain, covering most of southern and central Kent). However, the other roles are so time-consuming that the suffragan Bishop of Dover functions as the day-to-day ecclesiastical authority for the diocese (he is even treated as a diocesan bishop for some purposes, such as representation of the diocese in the House of Bishops). That’s why the Bishop of Dover and his staff are issuing statements about the Folkestone matter.
Unlike the situation in the United States, there can be no question of the existing parish transferring as an ongoing entity from one denomination to another. Parishes in England are geographic entities with both ecclesiastical and civil functions, so there is going to be a CofE/Canterbury Diocese parish covering this territory no matter what happens to the current congregation. That does not foreclose the issue of possible transfer of the buildings if they are made redundant for CofE use because there are no longer enough Anglican worshipers to need the facilities.