Utah's Episcopal clergy grows even as church shrinks

Faith gains five new deacons, but paid positions can be hard to land.
By Kristen Moulton
The Salt Lake Tribune
06/17/2010

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. the rest