Vestry Elections
FROM THE RECTOR
Have you ever been a part of a project that made a significant difference in the lives of others? Have you ever been asked to lend your particular gifts to an organization that needed your help? Have you ever been able to do both at the same time?
When I was a teenager, our church’s youth group had an outreach project that paired eager young workers with older members of the congregation who were unable to do demanding physical tasks around their house. I was assigned to help a sweet couple, who welcomed me enthusiastically. On our first Saturday together, I washed windows all around the house. I enjoyed working with the residents, who took time to show me how to do the job and made sure I was safe climbing up and down their ladder. When the job was finished, they offered me effusive gratitude and praise, and I felt good knowing that I had helped them do something that they could not do on their own.
A few weeks later, I went back to their house for another Saturday full of chores. This time, I dug up stone pavers that had become overgrown with grass and reset them so that the path from the driveway to the front of the house was visible. It was exhausting work, and I did not have any gloves, so my hands quickly became worn and cut. Occasionally, one of the homeowners would come out and evaluate my progress before heading back inside. When the work was finished, they again offered me words of appreciation, but, besides a fleeting sense of accomplishment, I felt no real joy. I went back to their home once more out of obligation, but I then asked my parents if I could drop out of the program because I was not enjoying it.
I felt guilty and worried that the couple would be upset with me. I was nervous that I would see them in church and be forced to admit that I had not enjoyed helping them. In fact, I had been happy to help them out initially, but the satisfaction I felt because I had done something meaningful was unsustainable because the work itself was not something I enjoyed or that I was particularly good at. I still think about them every time I wash a window or dig out a stone paver, but I look back with gratitude that I have found other ways to offer my gifts to God and the community.
Stressing the importance of using our particular gifts for the good of the church, Saint Paul wrote,
If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
1 Corinthians 12:15-18, NRSV
All of us have gifts to share, and all of us are called by God to share them. In order to be faithful to God and to ourselves, we must seek that sweet spot of offering our particular gifts in a way that makes a profound impact. Are all Sunday school teachers? Are all Flower Guild members? Are all Community Meals volunteers? Do all sing tenor? Do all lead Evening Prayer? No, Paul reminds us. But, as we strive for the greater, fuller, stronger use of our gifts, we find fulfillment in a most excellent way.
One very particular but very important way of serving God and the church is on the vestry. Members of the vestry are elected by the parish to a three-year term, which is as much a responsibility as an honor. Vestries are in charge of the temporal resources and obligations of a church—money, buildings, debts, and legal requirements—but they are also called to join the rector in the work of spreading the reign of God in the community. In other words, vestry members have the difficult but beautiful task of aligning physical resources in ways that promote spiritual growth. Not everyone has gifts appropriate for that work, but, when they do and when they have the opportunity to use them on a vestry, deep fulfillment and fruitfulness unfold.
We need talented, strong, faithful leaders on our vestry. Vestry members need to have a lively faith and a deep commitment to our church. Serving on the vestry is hard work, and it requires a significant commitment of your time. We meet monthly as a group, and committees of the vestry usually meet more often than that. Our cashiers on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings are members of the vestry, and special events like the parish picnic and stewardship celebration are put on by the vestry. Nevertheless, the work undertaken by the vestry is deeply rewarding and usually joyful, especially for those who are gifted in the particular ways that support this ministry.
Has God given you those gifts? Are you the sort of person who can see the connection between money and ministry, between strategic planning and long-term growth? Do you enjoy being about the work of details without losing sight of the big picture? Do you enjoy working with a team of people with diverse ages and backgrounds yet committed to a common goal?
If that sounds like you, consider offering yourself as a candidate for vestry. If not, please think and pray about who else might have those gifts and nominate them. You can learn more about the canonical requirements for serving on the vestry and find the nomination form here. Nominations are due by November 12, after which the names and bios of the candidates will be published. The vestry election will take place on Sunday, December 10. If you want to know more about serving on the vestry, reach out to any of our current or recent vestry members, and ask them what they have enjoyed and what has challenged them.
Please join me in praying that God will raise up faithful leaders to serve on the vestry and ask God whether that might mean you.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan D. Garner