The vestry is a body of lay leaders in the Episcopal Church, called by God and voted on by the parish, who work in conjunction with the priests and staff of the church to manage the building and grounds, and oversee the financial security of the parish.
We, at St. Paul's, take this one step farther. We believe in a "working" vestry, where each vestry member is to be active in ministry and leadership within the parish. Therefore, each vestry member serves as a liaison to specific parish ministries. Please feel free to contact them if you care to volunteer for an area of ministry or find out more information about what is offered in specific areas.
Vestry Requirements
National Canons
CANON 14: Of Parish Vestries
Responsibility of Vestry
Sec. 2. Except as provided by the law of the State or of the Diocese, the Vestry shall be agents and legal representatives of the Parish in all matters concerning its corporate property and the relations of the Parish to its Clergy.
CANON 17: Of Regulations Respecting the Laity
Minimum Requirement: Communicants in good standing.
Sec. 3. All communicants of this Church who for the previous year have been faithful in corporate worship, unless for good cause prevented, and have been faithful in working, praying, and giving for the spread of the Kingdom of God, are to be considered communicants in good standing.
Diocesan Canons
1) Vestry members must be at least 18 years of age.
2) Vestry members must have maintained a financial commitment to the parish, known to the treasurer, in the year preceding election.
3) Vestry members must attend an annual planning meeting or retreat February 7th to February 9th unless prevented by extreme circumstances.
4) The vestry is responsible for the fiscal well being of the parish property, and must see that the facilities are maintained and that all bills are paid. If there is a deficit at the end of the year, the vestry must eliminate it either by subscription for the parishioners or by personal contribution.
5) The vestry is responsible for seeing that each member of the parish is asked to make a financial pledge for the support of the mission of the church.
Local Vestry Requirements
1). Vestry members must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (BCP pages 302 and 303).
2). Vestry members have an obligation to the principle of proportional giving at the level of the tithe to Christian ministry. Those who are not yet at the level of 10% should show signs that they are moving proportionally toward this mark.
The Vestry’s Statement on the Stewardship of Personal Resources…
“We, the Vestry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, as Christ’s followers, believe that we have been purchased with the price of His blood, and that everything we are and have belongs to Him. In light of this, we believe we are called to be responsible caretakers of the resources with which God has entrusted us, and we recognize the tithe (10%) as the historic standard of giving. The principle of the tithe as the minimum standard of giving has been affirmed on the diocesan and national levels, and we encourage each of St. Paul’s parishioners to strive increasingly to submit our time, talent, and treasure to His Lordship for the work of this church and the spread of His Kingdom.”
3). Vestry members are expected to have shown leadership in the area of Christian education by participating in parish educational programs or through diciplined, personal Bible study.
4). Vestry members are expected to be team players, working with lay ministry teams and acting as ministry liaisons. This will require periodic meetings to be held throughout the year with your ministry team.
5). Vestry members should possess knowledge of his/her spiritual gifts for ministry or be willing to take a spiritual gifts inventory to explore such gifts.
6). Vestry members must meet once a month on the third Monday evening for regularly scheduled vestry meetings in addition to any specially called meetings.
7). Vestry members must be present for at least 9 of the 11 regular vestry meetings per year unless prevented by extreme circumstances. Vestry absences must be excused by prior notice. Two consecutive unexcused absences represent grounds for dismissal.
8). Vestry members must be willing to serve out a full term of three years, unless admitted under special provisions.
9). Vestry members must posses the godly character not to engage in gossip, hearsay, or any type of destructive power struggles within the parish.