The congregations of two historic South Valley churches are engaged in an exciting experiment. The Gilroy United Methodist Church (7600 Church St.) and Morgan Hill United Methodist Church (17175 Monterey St.) have shared co-pastors since July. Even more intriguing is the fact that the ministers involved are married to each other.
The Rev. Patrick Davis has been pastor of the Morgan Hill church since 2010. Born in Germany, he was a science teacher before entering seminary at Emory University in Atlanta. After graduation, he was ordained in the United Methodist Church and began ministering to a succession of congregations throughout the Bay Area.
In 2002, Pastor Davis founded the Bay Area Alliance for Youth and Family Services, a nonprofit organization in Concord. It provides residential care for teen girls and foster family services; he continues as executive director as part of his ministry.
The Rev. Dawn Boyd is a native of Pennsylvania. She graduated from Taylor University in Indiana and received a master’s degree in religion at Scarritt Graduate School in Nashville.
In 1983, she came to the East Bay for a two-year appointment with the San Ramon Valley United Methodist church in Alamo. She stayed on the staff of this congregation of 1,200 members for 30 years with responsibility for small groups.
The current co-pastoring arrangement calls for three-fourths time for each. Pastor Boyd is assigned one-half time to Gilroy and one-fourth time to Morgan Hill; Pastor Davis’s assignment is a mirror image, with one-half time to Morgan Hill and one-fourth time to Gilroy. Their preaching schedule reflects this division as they exchange pulpits once each month.
In many ways the two churches are combining resources, with monthly joint staff meetings to schedule and coordinate events. However, they have allocated specific responsibilities between the co-pastors.
Pastor Boyd is lead pastor in Gilroy, responsible for pastoral care and visitation, Christian education, small groups and outreach. In Morgan Hill, she works with the church’s community meal program, Sharing the Bounty, and its volunteers.
Pastor Davis is lead pastor in Morgan Hill and is responsible at both sites for finance, trustees, conference-related concerns and interfaith ministry opportunities. Both handle spiritual matters such as pastoral counseling, weddings, baptisms, funerals and memorial services.
The Bishop of the California Nevada Conference of the United Methodist Church devised this co-pastor arrangement as a pilot. It is believed that this model of ministry with well-experienced pastors will provide many resources for small congregations that they would not normally have access to.
Pastors Davis and Boyd live in Gilroy and are happy with their assignments. However, there is one drawback: the three-quarter-time schedule has turned into two full-time schedules for the co-pastors. They have discovered the majority of their time spent together is focused too much on “church business.” Because they enjoy their ministry and care so deeply about the needs of the members of their congregations, it is a challenge to be intentional about scheduling some quality personal time for themselves and their beloved golden retriever, Jackson.
All in all, both pastors feel it is an honor and privilege to serve alongside other leaders in the faith communities of the South County.
Chuck Flagg is a retired teacher with a passion for religion. Reach him at [email protected].
