Perhaps Brynildsen's presence in the Roman Catholic Church - she will join it at Easter - will spark a revolution in hymnody, but that's getting ahead of the story.

Right now, the Allentown woman would be gratified enough to know whether she will continue to be able to worship according to her familiar and beloved Anglican rite once her conversion is complete.

Brynildsen, her husband, Martin, and a half-dozen other area Episcopalians are among thousands worldwide entering or planning to enter the Roman Catholic Church in expectation that the Vatican will establish an Anglican "ordinariate" in the United States. The canonical structure would allow them to retain their reverent, hymn-rich liturgy and other sacred traditions after conversion.

One impetus of the movement, though not the only one, is the progressive-traditionalist divide playing out across Christendom. Dismayed by the drift of mainstream Anglicanism on some social and theological issues - including women's ordination and the sanctioning of homosexuality - conservatives have turned to Rome, where teaching and practice are unchanged.

The local group has been meeting at Sacred Heart, in Bath, to undergo religious instruction and look forward to the day when the church will offer the liturgy that has nourished their Christian faith these many years. Pope Benedict XVI set the stage for that possibility in November 2009 in a document called Anglicanorum Coetibus, which the Vatican said was a response to persistent requests from Anglican groups for a process whereby they could be accepted into the Catholic Church while retaining elements of their Anglican heritage.

This would mark a change to the system of Anglican Use established by Pope John Paul II, in which communities of converts have been allowed to use Anglican-style liturgy in a number of U.S. parishes. Those sites are few and far between - the only one in Pennsylvania is in Scranton.

Under the new structure, an ordinary - a cleric with jurisdiction over a particular territory - would oversee the groups of former Anglicans across the country.

Monsignor Francis Nave, pastor of Sacred Heart, likened it to the existing system for Byzantine Rite Catholics in the Diocese of Allentown, who are led by their own bishop rather than by the Latin Rite bishop, the Rev. John O. Barres.

If an ordinariate community is established at Sacred Heart, for example, "the building would be in a sense under two different jurisdictions," Nave said.

Given the interest shown by Episcopalians around the country, a U.S. ordinariate seems likely, said the Rev. Scott Hurd, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., who is assisting Cardinal Donald Wuerl with its potential establishment.

"I wish I were able to offer a definitive timeline," Hurd said. "The decision is reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and we are awaiting their decision." The congregation is the Vatican body responsible for determining the soundness of theological writings, imposing discipline on errant clerics and other matters of faith and morals.

The local group gathers on Sunday afternoons at Sacred Heart, where Nave has been leading the studies that will culminate at the Easter vigil with their entry into the church.

On a recent Sunday, the members reflected on their religious journey, which has been more direct for some than others but has led all toward Rome.

"I've always been inspired to come in this direction. Through the gracious offer of the Holy Father, we're lucky to be welcomed this way," Martin Brynildsen said. "For me this is an opportunity to fulfill a dream of unity and join with the greater Catholic Church."

Church officials and the local converts say the movement is about more than particular teachings or progressive-conservative conflicts, that it speaks more broadly to a growing desire for Christian unity.

"A number of people have been motivated because they have experienced a widening chasm between their beliefs and the practices and policies of the Episcopal Church," Hurd said. "But really this is about the movement of the Holy Spirit leading these people. Instead of it being a rejection of something, it's an embrace."

"We believe in the fullness of what the church teaches," said Keith Andreve of Bethlehem, who discovered a reassuring solidity in Catholicism's moral theology and came to believe the papacy, the ultimate Catholic office of authority, was divinely instituted to guide the church.

Some in the Anglican tradition would likely not make the move if it required giving up their liturgy. It is not vastly different from the Roman rite, but the prayers are lengthier and language richly Elizabethan. Nave said he plans to learn the liturgy himself but expects an ample number of converted priests will be available to celebrate it.

"People do have a strong attachment to their liturgy," Nave said. "For the sake of unity, there are things we can do to accommodate them, especially liturgically. They are able to embrace the Catholic faith but with the comfort of familiarity."

For the converts, it goes beyond that. They said greater availability of the Anglican rite could lead more Catholics to explore it, leading to a sort of liturgical cross-pollination that could deepen the sense of reverence in the Roman form.

And that, they said, could persuade more Catholics to follow Karen Brynildsen's dictum and sing the whole hymn.

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