The St. Martin’s Vestry

(yes, we need some new Vestry photos!)

The vestry, in concert with the rector, discerns and articulates a clear, concise vision for ministry that is founded in the Episcopal Church. We are stewards of the financial and material health of St. Martin's.

Current Members

Recent Vestry Meeting Minutes

April 2023 (No March mtg)
February 2023
Feb. ‘23 Conversation with Bishop Sam
January 2023 (3)
January 2023 (2)
January 2023
November/December 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022

What is the Vestry?

In England, the annual election of churchwardens took place during 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.” The current vestry evolved from this colonial pattern.

The vestry is the legal representative of the parish with regard to all matters pertaining to its corporate property. The number of vestry members and the term of office varies from parish to parish. Vestry members are usually elected at the annual parish meeting. The presiding officer of the vestry is the rector. There are usually two wardens. The senior warden leads the parish between rectors and is a support person for the rector. The junior warden often has responsibility for church property and buildings. A treasurer and a secretary or clerk may be chosen. These officers may or may not be vestry members. 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 resources and finances.