From Sacramento-
She sings the litany. He delivers the sermon.
It is Sunday morning at All Saints Episcopal Church in Sacramento and both the Revs. Michael and Betsey Monnot preside over the worship services, one of several ways the church keeps down expenses.
"We trade off duties every week," said Betsey Monnot.
The two priests, who are married and have two children and another due in three weeks, said the church could afford one full-time clergyperson. So they agreed to job-share and serve as co-rectors.
"When you're a small church, you have to be creative," said Michael Monnot.
He echoes a message that Bishop Barry Beisner has been delivering to the members of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California.
Faced with declining membership and less money to pay salaries and maintain aging buildings, Beisner is calling on staff and laity to come up with new ways of keeping their church doors open.
More here-
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/02/22/2554285/declining-membership-hurts-episcopal.html
1 comment:
Northern California was the diocese of my ordination. Back in the '70's and early '80's a pretty vibrant place of bustling small towns and a few larger urban areas. The region has grown in population really dramatically in the last 25 years, especially in the Sacramento area. Ethnically now much more diverse, especially with large South Asian immigration. The huge decline in membership and attendance in the context of such substantial growth in the region makes the story even more worrisome. All Saints Sacramento used to be, for example, a pretty strong mid-sized parish, with a rector and often a curate, good music program, outreach to the campus community, etc. Sounds like they're just hanging on by their fingernails these days.
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