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Parish administration and governance
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What is a vestry? Joe Ferrell The governing board of an Episcopal parish is called the vestry.
The title derives from English practice in the eighteenth century
when parishes were made legally responsible for the care of the
poor and a body of lay people was needed to oversee the work.
Lacking the kind of parish buildings we now have, the board met in
the priest's vestry (maybe because it would have been one of
the few parts of the church with a fireplace) and the board took
the name of its meeting place. In the American Episcopal Church, the number, mode of selection,
and terms of the vestry is determined by state law or diocesan
canon. In this diocese, these matters are specified by canon. Our
diocesan canons allow each parish to choose among several options
for structuring its vestry, but in every parish the vestry is
elected at an annual meeting by the parish's "enrolled,
confirmed, adult communicants in good standing." The minimum
voting age is 16. At the Chapel of the Cross, our parish by-laws
call for a 12-member vestry elected for staggered three-year terms,
with members ineligible for immediate re-election. Thus, we choose
four new vestry members each year. We require a majority of the
votes cast, which sometimes makes it necessary to conduct a run-off
election to fill all of the seats. Although our annual meeting
always takes place on a Sunday between the 9:00 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.
services on a day set by the vestry, we provide for balloting after
each Eucharistic service on a subsequent Sunday. The national canons succinctly describe the vestry's basic
function. It is "to be agents and legal representatives of the
Parish in all matters concerning its corporate property and the
relations of the Parish to its Clergy." The vestry's single most important assignment is to elect a
rector when there is a vacancy, a task our vestry has not had to
discharge for more than 20 years now. Vestries have wide latitude
here, but the bishop exercises general guidance and oversight of
the process and must approve the vestry's selection. Members
who have come to our church from other faith communities are often
surprised to find that there is no trial sermon! Assisting clergy
are selected by the rector, not the vestry, but their employment
agreements are subject to the vestry's approval. Next in importance is the vestry's responsibility for
tending to the "secular concerns" of the parish. Among
these are organizing the annual canvass, adopting and administering
an annual budget, establishing general personnel policies for
employees of the parish, and seeing to the upkeep of the
parish's land and buildings. These concerns occupy the largest
share of the vestry's time and attention. As large as business affairs loom in the vestry's
consciousness, it would be a mistake to think that these are its
only concerns. The vestry works closely with the rector to
structure the parish program. It is intimately concerned with the
spiritual life of the parish and its members seek to keep
themselves informed about the many facets of parish
life. One final assignment deserves mention. Under our national
canons, all persons who aspire to the ordained ministry of the
Church must be sponsored by a "faith community", which in
most cases is the aspirant's home parish. At each stage of the
ordination process - postulancy, candidacy, ordination as deacon,
ordination as priest - the aspirant's vestry must formally
endorse him or her by a two-thirds vote of confidence. This
endorsement is not a mere formality; it is a vital symbol of the
role of the laity in the calling of persons to the ordained
ministry. Service on a parish vestry can be among the most interesting and
rewarding forms of service one can render to the Church, but not
everyone has the "spiritual gifts" that it requires.
Chief among those are discernment, patience, and compassion - and
every now and then the interpretation of tongues! Send
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