Governance

Governance

Wardens are responsible for seeing that the parish functions as a parish: making sure, for example, that services are conducted on a regular basis, a task which takes on special importance when there is no rector or the rector is ill; signing legal and fiscal documents; entering into contractual relationships with the rector or, in the absence of a rector, interim or supply clergy; and seeing that the programs and mission of the congregation are implemented.

The Diocesan Canons provide guidance on parish bylaws and on some aspects of the wardens' roles. Some requirements for wardens are also outlined in the National Canons and the Maryland Vestry Act.

Diocesan Canons (top)

Parish bylaws provide an organizational structure with rules and guidelines for the effective operation of a parish or congregation. Canon 25 of the Diocesan Canons outlines required content for parish bylaws, including provisions for the offices and election of senior and junior warden.

Canon 10, Sec. 2(b)(ii) states that the senior and junior warden shall serve as lay delegates to regional assemblies.

Canon 31, Sec. 3 states that, if a parish does not have a rector, the senior warden "shall communicate to Council the financial commitment of that congregation in support of the mission and ministry of the Diocese for the coming year." Sec. 4 states that, if there is no rector and the congregation "is unable to fulfill its commitment in regular and timely payments," the Senior Warden "shall immediately communicate with the Bishop and Council."

Canon 35 says, "In every Parish or Separate Congregation, the Wardens, if required by the Member of the Clergy in Charge, shall provide the elements of bread and wine for the Holy Communion."

View entire text of Diocesan Canons

National Canons (top)

The National Canons make few references to wardens. They describe vestry members as the legal representatives of the parish (Title I, Canon 14, Sec. 2) and those responsible for clergy relationships (Title III, Canons 17 and 19). Wardens are named where the signature or decision of one individual would be needed.

Title I, Canon 14: Of Parish Vestries

Sec. 1 states that, "In every Parish of this Church the number, mode of selection, and term of office of Wardens and Members of the Vestry, with the qualifications of voters, shall be such as the State or Diocesan law may permit or require, and the Wardens and Members of the Vestry selected under such law shall hold office until their successors are selected and have qualified."

Title I, Canon 17: Of Regulations Respecting the Laity

Sec. 4b states that, in regard to the procedure for transfer of membership to a new parish, "The Member of the Clergy in charge or the Warden of the Congregation to which such certificate is surrendered shall record in the Parish Register the information contained on the presented certificate of membership, and then notify the Member of the Clergy in charge or the Warden of the Congregation which issued the certificate that the person has been duly recorded as a member of the new congregation."

Sec. 4c allows the clergy or warden to enter a transferred member on the parish register even if the person has been unable to obtain a certificate from his or her last parish.

Title III, Canon 14: Of Clergy and Their Duties

Sec. 2e states that at the Bishop's visitation the clergy, wardens, vestry, and other officers of the parish shall "exhibit to the Bishop the Parish Register and give information on the state of the Congregation, spiritual and temporal, in such categories as the Bishop shall have previously requested in writing."

Section 4 deals with the authority from outside a particular parish to officiate in the parish. If the clergyperson in charge of the parish is absent or disabled, and arrangements have not been made for another clergyperson to officiate, "a Warden may give consent" for the other clergyperson to officiate. Section 4b states that, if the parish clergy are neglecting their duties to officiate, "the Wardens, Vestry, or Trustees of the Congregation shall, on proof before the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Diocese of such neglect or refusal, have power, with the written consent of the Ecclesiastical Authority, to permit any duly qualified Member of the Clergy to officiate."

Title III, Canon 17: Of the Calling of a Rector

Wardens have two prescribed duties: To "promptly notify the Bishop" of a vacancy, and to sign the notice of the election of a new rector and send it to the Ecclesiastical Authority.

View entire text of National Canons.

The Maryland Vestry Act (1798)(revised 1976) (top)

The Maryland Vestry Act is a state law that governs the corporate existence and operation of parishes in Maryland. Certain portions of the act are applicable to parishes in the District of Columbia, by act of Congress. The act contains few references to wardens.

Sec. 312F aand 312G specify that the rector shall be a member of and preside at vestry meetings, "provided, however, that each parish may by bylaws . . . provide for any additional or different manner of determining the presiding officer of a vestry meeting."

Sec. 312I states:

A Senior Warden and a Junior Warden shall be elected from among the members of the parish entitled to vote. The by-laws of the parish shall provide for the manner of conducting elections of such churchwardens, either by the members of the parish or by the vestry; their length of terms; and the manner of filling vacancies in the office of churchwarden. Their duties shall be as prescribed in the by-laws of the parish, and in the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese in which such parish is located.

Sec. 312N, which also applies to the District of Columbia, requires that any sale of property must be approved by at least five members of the vestry, including the rector, "together with the consent of both the churchwardens...."

The full text of the revised Maryland Vestry Act (Laws of Maryland [Session Laws], Chapter 96, Acts of 1976) and provisions applicable to parishes and congregations in the District of Columbia (Private Law 91-220, 84 Stat. 2164 [1970]) is published in the diocesan Journal in odd numbered years.

The Maryland Vestry Act and the provisions applicable to parishes and congregations in the District of Columbia are also available to read online: Maryland Vestry Act

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