The Role of the Vestry
All Saints’ Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Sunday, November 1st. At the meeting, we will review what we have done this past year, set our sights on the year(s) ahead, review finances, recognize the work people have done, and elect two new vestry members. If you are interested in serving on vestry, you have been here for at least two years, you do not have a spouse currently on vestry, and you are confirmed, please come talk to Fr. Aaron or the Junior or Senior Warden (Kaitlin Skiver and John Harman). To give you a brief overview of what this lay ministry looks like, I have attached the following article by David Roseberry, titled “The Vestry: A Rookie Anglican Guide,” published on Anglican Compass.
The Role of the Vestry
1. Protect the Vision
The vestry’s primary role is to protect the stated vision of the parish. Each member of the vestry should be able to articulate and safeguard the primary visionary direction of the congregation. They should each know the answer to this question: What are we trying to do here? How to discern and articulate the vision that God has for the parish deserves its own article, but once the vision is understood and prayed through, the vestry should guard and protect it. It shouldn’t change with the seasons or the passing of years.
2. Insure the Values
The next function of the vestry is to ensure the congregation’s values. That is, while the vestry may know the direction and what they are trying to do as a parish, the values question is this: How are we actually trying to live out our vision? What are the means and programs by which we are working toward our vision? Where do we focus our efforts? What are we going to do now? Adult discipleship, worship, evangelism ministries, small groups, student ministry, compassion ministry, local mission, etc. These are not choices to make—one instead of the other—but areas to build up and maintain.
3. Uphold Financial Integrity
The vestry is also charged with protecting the financial integrity of the church. Through a designated finance team, the vestry should scrutinize the finances every month. They should provide for an annual audit of all funds, approve budgets, and make routine reports to the congregation. They should approve long-term financial contracts and basically act as guardians of the financial life of the parish to ensure that the church has a long-term future and is operating in a trustworthy way with all funds that have been given or borrowed.
4. Support the Rector
Supporting the rector is the fourth key role of the vestry. The rector is the main agent of the vestry to accomplish 1, 2, and 3 above. The vestry’s primary role, then, is to help the rector accomplish these things. Vestry leadership is never honorary; they are not rubber stamps for what the rector decides is best. But they are not either to be “devil’s advocates” (who needs that!?), the loyal opposition, or representatives of any special interest groups or programs in the parish. The vestry has one job in a sense: find the rector to lead the parish in 1, 2, and 3 (above) and support him however they can.
5. Model Sacrificial Giving
The final role of the vestry is to model sacrificial, tithe-based giving to the parish. The vestry should be among the most generous and financially committed members of the church. Why? Obviously, the leadership should never ask members to give beyond their own willingness to give and their own personal level of commitment. Leaders lead in every area. That makes sense. But the vestry should be strong givers because people who are sacrificial givers—tithers—have usually discovered in themselves a heart of generosity that will help create a parish-wide culture of generosity in the years to come.
[…] Like all things Anglican, these ideas must be locally adapted to the custom, the temperament of the people, and the church and its traditions. Many effective leaders may disagree with these five points—or add a sixth or seventh. But this is what I have learned as I prepare for yet another meeting tonight with one of my favorite groups in the church: the vestry.
God’s Peace,
Fr. Aaron