2020 Vestry Members

The vestry of an Episcopal church are elected by the whole parish and have three primary responsibilities. The first two are managerial: to take care of the parish finances and parish buildings. The third responsibility is to choose individuals to fill various positions of parish leadership and representation: the election of a rector, the choice of delegates to the diocesan convention, and the selection of other individuals as the diocesan canons and parish bylaws may stipulate. The laws of the Church that are called “canons” define all these responsibilities.

Leadership on the Vestry involves more than representation. Leadership is not a matter of simply reflecting other people’s opinions and so keeping them happy but of learning, educating, informing, and persuading others. Leadership involves working to realize a vision of what the parish could be but is not. It involves change.

Leadership is a matter also of prayer and Bible study. The financial and property concerns of a vestry are not something wholly separate from the church’s life of worship or its mission to serve others. Decisions not growing out of prayer and Bible study and worship will be less likely to sustain and nourish the parish as it seeks to carry out its primary mission in obedience to the Holy Spirit.

Finally, vestry members have a liaison role to play between the parish members and the clergy and staff. They should help the clergy hear members who may not be willing or able to speak for themselves and help the parish understand the work the clergy are doing and the pressures they may be under. Good communications are critically important if the members of the body are to work together and support each other in love.