A Churchwarden who had been in office for 26 years was congratulated on his length of service. “You must have seen many changes in your time” his congratulator remarked.  “I have indeed” the churchwarden replied, “and I have opposed every one of them!”  I offer this well known story not for emulation but as a view that is sometimes expressed about those who, like yourselves, find themselves as Churchwardens – a venerable office – indeed an ancient office because it dates from about the 13^th century and is one of the earliest forms of lay ministry.  The role you have can be described as one Management, Maintenance and Ministry.

Management is now something you share with the PCC and in co-operation with your Incumbent.  As the key lay officers of the Church you are heads of  teams which includes many volunteers doing a great deal in furthering the life and witness of the Church and Parish.  Your encouragement of that team as well as management of people in a good way – a way which brings out the best in them and makes them feel that they are making a worthwhile contribution to the life of the church and parish. Your Vision should include an overview of the Church’s life in such a way that you know how each personal contribution fits in and where there are gaps in those contributions, you work with the Incumbent and PCC in seeking to fill them.  Management of people, particularly volunteers, needs a special skill based on mutual respect, a listening ear, and a gentle persuasion, as well as, occasionally, being a trouble-shooter and reconciler in matters of dispute.

Part of the Management role will be administrative. You will doubtless receive many pieces of paper from the Diocese, the Area, the Archdeaconry, the Deanery and all sorts of church bodies who require of you a decision, an opinion, or some administrative action.  You will deal with those wonderful documents called Faculties and you will work with Architects, workmen, Insurance assessors and bodies like English Heritage.  You will also be responsible for keeping records.

In the past the Churchwardens Accounts were carefully kept and are, today, a major source for Social and Ecclesiastical Historians.  Today we tend to use computers more than the written word but the Registers and the Annual Reports you make including the Presentments you have handed in tonight are all part of a record of Church life in this present age – and will become the source for future historians and, increasingly, the general public who have a keen interest in tracing family trees for which Church records are a prime resource.  Recently we here held a Centenary Day for the completion of this Church and we made the Church registers available for people to inspect – including a rather fascinating record of Births, Marriages and Deaths from Tudor times.  The fact that these documents could be read is a result of them being completed in ink that has stood the test of time.

Peter Taylor, on his retirement gave you all a special document pen and he was making a serious point which I hope you have taken on board – though, I must say, that in recent Visitations to Parishes some alas have been found wanting in this regard.  Entries made with Ballpoint pens do not stand the test of time and many records may well be lost as a result.  Of course, we can assume that all will be well because the Record Office eventually commits these records to microfiche but that assumes computer technology will still be available two or three hundred years from now.  Books will never be replaced as a primary record.

Your Second role is of course Maintenance  and those Churchwardens present who are continuing in office know only too well what this entails.  The Registrar has reminded you that you are responsible for the Inventory, including that wonderful work The Terrier but behind those documents is the duty to take care of the church building, its contents and its treasures.  Maintaining the Fabric in good order is, of course, a job you share with the PCC and in consultation with the incumbent but those who have been in office before know that a great deal will fall to you to oversee, arrange and check up on.

Inevitably, these days, there is the question of finance relating to repairs, re-building and development of churches.  In olden days monies were raised by levies on the whole parish.  On the High Street side of the Tower here you will find a splendid clock which is the local timepiece.  When it was set in motion in 1909 the Vicar at the time told the town that this was their clock and so every parishioner must pay 1 shilling a year for its upkeep!  I doubt that you could do that today though I am pleased to say that Epping Town Council continue to give us a contribution to the upkeep of the clock.  So maybe you should try it and see.  In reality you will be engaged with others in making application to all manner of Trusts and Charitable bodies and this will be quite demanding of your time.  One of the hopes I have for our Deanery – and maybe it could be an Archdeaconry thing – is to have a register of Trust-making bodies to whom we can apply.

The Third role is that of Ministry.  First, there is ministry to your ministers.  Ministry today is demanding and as we continue to work with a reduced number of stipendiary clergy, the pressures on any Ministry Team will increase.  Your Incumbent and other accredited ministers need supporting and encouraging.  The Registrar spoke to you of the importance of Partnership as a key component in the effective functioning of a parish  and this partnership is at the heart of your ministry as Wardens.

Churchwardens are an invaluable support for people like me and regular meetings and informal discussions do much to ensure not only the smooth running of the parish but also the smooth-running of the Vicar.  Many a gentle and sympathetic intervention by a Churchwarden when a Vicar gets a bit under the collar has staved off the break out of World War 3 in a parish!

Secondly, of course, there is ministry to the congregation.  You are the focus for the congregation who will come to you with their views on all manner of subjects; sometimes these views come in the form of complain, sometimes as well-meaning suggestions, and sometimes simply as observations.  It will be your job to interpret these, respond to them and act upon them as you see fit.   People look to you because you are the key lay-people who can represent their interests and who have time to listen and really hear what people are concerned about.  Sometimes this will require much patience but a listening, caring ministry is well worthwhile in the building up of the life of the Church.

Thirdly there is a ministry which involves the Bishop and Archdeacon, Area/Rural Dean and not forgetting the Deanery Lay Chair.  This is not only when things go wrong but simply to keep them informed of what is going on – much of which will be exciting and missionary.  Being the eyes and ears of the Bishop, whose Officers you are, is not about being ‘Big Brother’ but about being a channel whereby those who must oversee a wider church can know what is happening in your patch which can inform a wider Vision and Strategy.

And then  there is Ministry to yourselves.  Generally there are two of you and you may also have Deputies.  You must uphold each other, be concerned for each other and minister to each other.  Yours is a demanding role and you must therefore support one another – and possibly others in your Deanery who share the same work.

Management, Maintenance and Ministry are therefore vital components to the work God is calling you to do – and it is important to remember that it is indeed God’s work.  You are being called to share with others in the building up of God’s Kingdom in the places where you will serve.  It is a privilege because, as with all vocations, you are called by God to share in Christ’s work in a very special and significant way – the work of Witnessing and Ministering the Love of God to all with whom you have dealings – and the opportunities that come your way as a result of this office should be eagerly taken – for it is Christ who is calling you and it is in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit that you will fulfil this task.

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.

May that same Spirit guide you as you do this work.