Vestry: A Peculiar Ministry
Every year in the fall, we begin the process of selecting four new members of our vestry. Compared with other parishes I know, our process is actually pretty complicated. We receive nominations and produce a ballot that includes all of the canonically qualified nominees. Starting in Advent, we vote each Sunday until four individuals have been selected by a majority of voters on a particular week’s ballot. Officially, however, the election cannot take place until the Annual Meeting in January, so the four individuals who have been identified through the initial balloting process are then presented to those who show up for the meeting in order that they might elect those four to the vestry. In theory, because nominations do not close until the Annual Meeting, someone else could be nominated from the floor, which would require us to count votes on the spot.
As complicated as that may seem, the most difficult step in the whole process begins now. The hardest part is figuring out who will run. Although it is the current vestry’s job to make sure that the election goes smoothly, it is your job to discern whose names will be on the ballot. It is your responsibility to ask whether God is calling you to put your name in the mix and to listen out for the names of others whom God might be encouraging you to nominate. In order for the vestry to be filled with good, talented, faithful people, you must be willing to consider whether you or someone close to you is willing to serve.
What does it take to do a good job as a member of the vestry? What qualifications and characteristics make someone a good choice? Well, do you love God and love your church? Are you able to see how temporal, physical things like finances and buildings help a parish like ours pursue intangible, spiritual things like forming new disciples and pursuing the reign of God in our community? Can you work alongside a group of people that sometimes disagree but always support one another and the ministries of our church? Will you set aside time each day to pray for our parish and for the needs of the world? In addition to the time you normally spend at church, can you find extra time to come to vestry meetings, serve as a breakfast or dinner cashier, and help out with special projects like the parish picnic and the stewardship celebration? There is no one right kind of person to serve on the vestry, and one of the great privileges of my job is getting to work alongside whomever the parish elects.
Serving on the vestry is very much a ministry—one grounded in faith and enabled by the Holy Spirit. Normally, we do not run for a position in a ministry like serving as an usher or on the altar guild. In fact, no one really runs for vestry either. Although an election will determine who serves, there is no campaigning. Instead, all of those who are willing to have their names on the ballot are offering themselves for this particular kind of service. The real act of discernment, therefore, takes place before the ballot is even set. It takes place now.
Nominations for vestry are now open. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else, please do so using the vestry nomination form found on our website. Anyone who is a confirmed communicant of St. Paul’s, who is at least 18 years old, who is regular in worship, and who makes a financial commitment to the parish is eligible to run. Although nominations will technically stay open until the Annual Meeting, the deadline for being included in the initial balloting process is November 8. The vestry is still working out how we will conduct an election during the pandemic, but stay tuned for those details in the weeks ahead.
Please begin praying that God would lead our church to raise up faithful people to serve on the vestry. As you pray, do not forget to ask God whether that means you.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan