Regarding requests for association, each case is treated as a unique movement of the Spirit and a unique series of conversations between the parish, mission or ministry seeking association (hereafter "the inquirer") and The Rumney Marsh Fellowship (hereafter "the fellowship").

While all depends on the inquirer's unique set of circumstances, the conversations will most certainly involve questions regarding "why the inquirer is leaving the jurisdiction in which they are currently canonically resident" (or "why the inquirer left the jurisdiction in which they were last canonically resident"). There will also be questions about inquirer's process of formation (e.g., incorporation), the theological system and method of teaching, the corporate spirituality, and any plans for growth if admitted into our particular fellowship. Another question is "given the multitude of Independent and Old Catholic jurisdictions to choose from, why does this parish, mission or ministry want to associate itself with this particular fellowship?"

Our attempt in the process of association is to enter into a solid relationship between the parish, mission or ministry and the current membership of the existing fellowship. The building of such multifaceted relationships take time and we liken the process to one of courtship, betrothal, and marriage. For a parish, ministry or mission that was conceived in another jurisdiction, the process of incardination is further complicated by dynamics experienced by one whose first marriage ended in either the death of the spouse or a [possibly messy] divorce. If it was a "death," there is a necessary period of mourning the loss and regrouping before moving on. If it was a "divorce," in addition to the mourning process there is also a necessary period of healing and processing that must be done so that the same mistakes are not made over [and over] again.

For these reasons we require a period of at least six months to a year between initial request and formal association. In some circumstances the period may be even longer.

When a parish, mission or ministry has found itself without episcopal oversight—and if the deacon or priest ministering in that parish, ministry or mission has likewise become excardinated—that PARISH, MINISTRY OR MISSION may wish to apply for a "Temporary Association"—with "Temporary Faculties" for their deacon or priest—within our fellowship. The status of "Temporary Association" may only be granted at the discretion of the pastor/president of the fellowship who is also a bishop in the historic succession.

Our concept of "Temporary Association" is based on the understanding that many Catholics hold: "all ministry is dependent upon the oversight of a bishop." In other words, while a deacon or priest receives the "power" to do certain things in ordination, they only have the authority to do these things by license ("faculties") from a bishop. For example, consider when a priest is laicized. The laicized priest is not actually "un-priested" or "un-ordained" because the sacrament of Holy Orders leaves an indelible mark on the soul—like baptism and confirmation. However, without a bishop's authorization—i.e., license or faculties—the laicized priest cannot function as a priest other than to absolve and anoint those in proximate danger of death.

The concept of "Temporary Association" within our fellowship develops out of an episode in the life of David, founder of this fellowship. At a rather inopportune moment, David found himself without episcopal oversight while nevertheless having a small flock in his care. Two dear friends in Independent/Old Catholic movement—both bishops within the historic succession—offered him a great gift, the gift of "temporary faculties." This gift allowed him to continue his priestly ministry without fear that what he was doing was somehow "invalid" because it was without the required episcopal oversight.

For David, with a small parish depending on him, the granting of "temporary faculties" while he "sorted things out" was a blessing. His ministry could continue and his people didn't have to suffer because of his particular predicament. Eventually David accepted incardination with the bishop whose temporary faculties he had accepted, but the faculties had been granted in a no-strings-attached spirit. David was always free to return the faculties "with no hard feelings" if he decided to incardinate elsewhere. The understanding was that it was a temporary permission to perform ministry that bought some time so that David didn't feel like he had to "rush in to another relationship" without suitably mourning the loss of the previous relationship and without suitably discerning the call to a new relationship. OF COURSE THE ULTIMATE BENEFICIARES OF THE "TEMPORARY FACULTIES" WERE THE PEOPLE DAVID SERVED.

In our humble opinion, choosing the fellowship that a parish, mission, ministry wants to serve under—and, for that matter, the bishop a deacon or priest wants to be licensed by—is as important a step as picking one's life-partner. Much too often in the Independent/Old Catholic movement, we have seen people jump into things much too quickly because of a sense of desperation. The fellowship's gifts of "temporary association" and "temporary faculties" means that your parish, mission or ministry will have time to prayerfully consider your options without your ministry dissolving. It is a gift to the people of a local church so that they may experience a normalcy that would immediately cease upon their pastor's excardination from a Catholic jurisdiction.

While "temporary association with temporary faculties" may not be exactly what you have in mind, we prefer allowing more time for our relationships to grow. We feel that this arrangement allows all the parties involved—i.e., the members of the local parish, mission or ministry as well as their clergy and the members of this fellowship—ample time to work through "the details" as well as "get to know what may be problem areas in the future." It allows a chance to really think things through and make sure that we don't miss something important. In relationship terms, it allows us to get beyond the infatuation phase and into the business of real relationship building.

In the Independent/Old Catholic movement there has been an awful lot of what some might call "just jumping in and trusting the Lord." In our experience, this hasn't really been a "trusting in the Lord" at all; rather, it has been a capitulation to our society's modern day need for instant gratification. More often than not—we dare say 99% of the time—these relationships have crumbled at the first testing. With this history in our movement, we prefer the rather more cautious approach.