Last Monday, Bob & Marian were sworn in as our Churchwardens for 2009-10, at the Annual Archdeacon’s Visitation Service.  This year was unusual in that we have no archdeacon at present so it was a special privilege for me to admit the Wardens in the Archdeaconry.  In place of the usual ‘Charge’, I preached an address about the role of Churchwardens. I based it on the headings—Management, Maintenance and Ministry. The sermon is on our website if you want to read it in full.  In addition to these obvious roles, I suggested that there was another image that might usefully be considered and on the grounds that if a thing is worth saying, it is worth saying twice—this is what I said. 

“ I have a final role which I would like you to consider.  At Baptism the centre of the service, apart from God, is the one being baptised.  When that person is a baby or an infant, the parents choose Godparents to help them bring up the child spiritually. Though the parents tend to choose people who are relatives or particular friends and possibly are less concerned with the religious side of things, nevertheless those people become God-parents. Their work is to help God love the child and make her/him ready for God’s Kingdom.  It is a very important role because they stand, in many ways, in God’s Stead.

I would like to suggest that as Churchwardens, you are being chosen to be God-parents not to an individual child but for a Church Community.  Your role is to help people know that God loves them and cares about them – so much so, in fact, that God has chosen you to represent him and to mete out that love in all you do.  You are in a special role because you represent God and you are to encourage people to see the Vision of God’s Kingdom and help them to travel into it.

God-parents are very special to those in their care and the best God-parents fulfil their role dutifully but most of all with a real desire to see their god-child grow in Spirit and in Truth.  It seems to me that if you see yourselves as God-parents to your Church, you will have a very special relationship with your congregation, your ministers and your community.  You will, in fact, be doing a very spiritual work because you will be helping Jesus to work with the Holy Spirit he has sent upon his Church – to guide people into all truth.”