Incense, candles and joyful singing filled St. Mark’s Cathedral last weekend as the Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish celebrated one of her last official acts as Episcopal bishop of Utah: the ordination of five new deacons, four of them bound for the priesthood next year.
It’s almost an embarrassment of riches for the small diocese, and one that Irish, who is retiring in the fall, takes as a sign of the church’s health.
“We are poised in the best possible way,” Irish says, “to engage those who want to think their way through their faith.”
And yet even as an increasing number of Utah Episcopalians feel called to the ordained ministry, the church has fewer paid positions to offer. Two of the four new deacons who hoped to land paying clerical jobs have not found one.
[blockquote]And yet even as an increasing number of Utah Episcopalians feel called to the ordained ministry, the church has fewer paid positions to offer. Two of the four new deacons who hoped to land paying clerical jobs have not found one.[/blockquote] That’s the problem with turning the Ministry of the Word into the Ministry of Social Agitation and Propaganda. There are lots of people who want the job (especially when it comes with a nice salary, benefits, and a retirement plan), but very few who will pay for it. This is a scene that will be replayed with increasing frequency over the next 20 years as TEC contracts to the coasts and scattered large urban areas. Supply is going to outstrip demand for a very long time.
carl
Deacons are normally not paid.
Now a tentmaker and very happy living out my priestly vows in the world, what I find very interesting is the forgone conclusion that “professional” clergy procure their living from the church. You can be a deacon or priest or bishop, have a very fruitful ministry in the world and get your checks signed by someone other than the Financial warden. 🙂
If your are “ordained” a deacon by a “bishop” who has not received valid Trinitarian baptism, are you validly, licitly, and truly “ordained”?
It is common knowledge that the bishop of Utah did not receive Trinitarian baptism and was not either baptized or conditionally baptized on entry to the EcUSA/TEc. Can such validly baptize since the intention of the Church has been abrogated at the foundation? Should not all such as are alleged to have been “baptized” or “ordained” by such an one be conditionally baptized and ordained to correct the deficiency?
This is not intended as a personal attack but a question in regard to the nature of orders and ability to sacramentalize given the deficiency.
Just *love* the title of the article: “Utah’s Episcopal clergy grows even as church shrinks” — heh.
RE: “It’s almost an embarrassment of riches for the small diocese, and one that Irish, who is retiring in the fall, takes as a sign of the church’s health.
“We are poised in the best possible way,” Irish says, “to engage those who want to think their way through their faith.””
Mmmm. “Poised in the best possible way”?
The diocese’s high in membership occurred in 2002 — 7000 members. It has now declined to around 5200 members. In 2002 its ASA was around 2000 — it’s now about 1600.
So yeh . . . the Diocese of Utah is “poised” all right!
Do you think that the kind of denial and cluelessness that Bishop Irish exhibits in her cheery view of the Diocese’s demise is a sign of mental illness? Or is it just a bald lie to the paper and to its readers?
Sarah, it’s likely more a case of wishful thinking.
Ross
An interesting item. Plenty of ordinations but few jobs. Not really that surprising for a diocese with only 23 churches in 2008 and 17 of them had Plate & Pledge of less than $150K. Given all the talk about “tipping points” in global warming, budget deficits, etc., I thought about whether there could be a tipping point in the number of “poor” churches that each “rich” church could support. For example, for Utah it is 3 to 1. IF 3 to 1 IS the tipping point, then TEC has plenty of dioceses to worry about. In fact, there were 30 in 2008 with many having a ratio of greater than 3 to 1. For the percentage of churches with Plate & Pledge of less than $150K in 2008: Northern Michigan 100, Western Kansas 97, South Dakota 96, Eastern Oregon 91, Alaska 90, North dakota 90, Wyoming 89, Albany 88, Northwestern Pennsylvania 88, Easter Michigan 86, Eau Claire 86, Western New York 86, Montana 85, Bethlehem 81, Central New York 81, Fond Du Lac 81, Vermont 81, Nebraska 80, Idaho 79, Iowa 79, Nevada 79, Rochester 78, Western Massachusetts 77, Maine 76, Spokane 76, Northern Indiana 75, West Virginia 75, Central Pennsylvania 74, Springfield 74, and Utah 74. I find this more interesting than whether one gets to wear one’s mitre or not. Statmann