What is the Vestry?

In England the annual election of churchwardens took place in Easter week. The parishioners gathered at the church to hear the outgoing Wardens render their accounts and elect their successors. The parishioners assembled in the vestry, the room off the chancel where the clergy vested. The assembled parishioners came to be known as the Vestry. These were open vestries in that all adult male parishioners could participate. It was like a modern annual congregational meeting. In Virginia the parishes were very large and it was difficult to get all the male parishioners together. So they would meet only once and elect twelve of their number to serve for life. This was known as a closed vestry. The transition to a closed vestry was completed by 1633 or 1634, when a Vestry Act was passed. It provided that "there be a vestrie held in each parish." Today's vestry evolved from this colonial pattern.

The Vestry of St. John the Evangelist is composed of nine members, each serving a three year term. Each year, at the Annual Parish Meeting held in January, we elect three new members to the Vestry. The Vestry is the legal representative of the parish with regard to all matters pertaining to its corporate property. The Rector serves as the presiding officer of the vestry.  The Senior Warden (sometimes called the Rector's Warden) is appointed by the Rector from among the elected members of Vestry and with the consent of the Vestry.  The Senior Warden leads the parish between Rectors and is the chief counsel of advice to the Rector.  The Junior Warden (sometimes called the people's Warden) is selected by the Vestry from among its elected members.  The Junior Warden typically has responsibility for church property and buildings. The members of the Vestry select two officers, a treasurer and a clerk (and may appoint a chancellor), who may or may not be elected members of the Vestry. The basic responsibilities of the vestry are to help define and articulate the mission of the congregation; to support the church's mission by word and deed, to select the Rector, to ensure effective organization and planning, and to manage the resources and finances of the Parish.

Vestry Minutes

Vestry Resources