Vestry Responsibilities

Members of the vestry, along with the rector or priest-in-charge, serve as spiritual leaders in our congregation. They are entrusted with the mission of the congregation, called to offer their gifts for ministry to the sacred task of fulfilling God’s call. Rather than a representative for a constituency, they are trustees and stewards of the congregation.

The Episcopal Church Foundation identifies four responsibilities of the vestry, shared with the rector:

1. Discerning God’s call
2. Identifying new leaders
3. Stewarding and developing resources
4. Special duties in the absence of a rector

The most important of the four responsibilities is discerning God’s call for our congregation as articulated in its mission and vision. Congregations share the common mission of the Church, but every congregation is uniquely called by virtue of its history, its neighborhood, and its people to live that mission in a particular way. And God has equipped our community to fulfill the mission to which it is called. Discerning God’s call requires knowing your congregation’s history, its neighborhood, and its people.

Canonical Responsibilities:

Every congregation and all clergy in the Episcopal Church are bound to abide by the Canons of the Episcopal Church, which set out the following responsibilities:

• Be agents and legal representatives of the congregation in all matters concerning its corporate properties and the relations of the congregation to its clergy (Title I. Canon 14, Section 2, page 52.)
• Ensure that standard business methods, as outlined in The Episcopal Church’s Manual of Business Methods in Church Affairs, will be observed (Title I. Canon 7, Section 1, page 39).
• When a congregation is without a rector, the officers of the vestry are responsible for the continuation of worship, including the calling of a new rector (Title III. Canon 9, Section 3, page 87).
• The vestry has responsibility for nominating persons for holy orders (Title III. Canon 5, Section 2, page 70).