As the financial crisis deepens, Sydney Anglican organisations are working to cut costs.
The Sydney Diocesan Secretariat announced eight redundancies last month after a review of cost structures, in a pre-emptive move to ensure the continued provision of essential services for frontline ministry.
"While it's very regrettable that we have had to announce some redundancies, this has been unavoidable given our responsibility to be good stewards of the Diocese's resources, and the changes in the economic environment," CEO Steve McKerihan said.
Also, Anglican Media Sydney has decided not to replace two staff members planning to attend Bible college next year.
The move anticipates a decline in revenue as clients cut costs.
"In difficult times, marketing budgets are often the first thing to get slashed and we need to wait and see what effect that will have on our income," says CEO Allan Dowthwaite.
"Looking at the year ahead we can't afford to fill these positions, and there will be an impact on what Anglican Media can produce."
One of those leaving is Southern Cross journalist and movie reviewer, Joseph Smith, with resulting changes to the culture section from February.
Despite media reports that the crisis is shifting student enrollments from independent to government schools, the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation's corporate secretary Max Caddy says these are "largely anecdotal" and there is "no clear indication" of an overall change next year.
