Churchwardens' Manual

The fact that a Second Edition of this Manual has been called for within a few months of its first publication, shows, I think, that it has met a want which was previously felt by Clergy and Churchwardens. The whole of the Manual has been revised, and additions made with special reference to the Burial Laws, the position of District Churches as regards the Mother Church, and the conveyance of land or buildings to trustees for mission or other purposes, which it is hoped will add to its value.

G. H. G.

THE CLOSE, WINCHESTER.

October, 1890.

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

Additions have been made to the present Edition, especially with reference to the changes which the Local Government Act, 1894, has made as to the duties of Churchwardens. It is hoped that these additions may be found useful. I once more express the hope that this Manual may be found increasingly helpful in the hands of the Churchwardens in the carrying out of their very responsible duties as officers of the Church.

G. H. G.

THE CLOSE, WINCHESTER, 1897.

INDEX. Acts quoted:-- PAGE 7 Gul. IV, and 1 Vict., cap. 45, 66 sec. 3 58 Geo. III, cap. 69 67 59 Geo. III, cap. 85, sec. 1 69 14 and 15 Vict., cap. 97, sec. 23 71 18 and 19 Vict., cap. 128, sec. 78 18 15 and 16 Vict., cap. 85, sec. 10 80 24 and 25 Vict., cap. 125, sec. 2 82 43 Geo. III, cap. 108 84 36 and 37 Vict., cap. 50 84 4 and 5 Vict., cap. 38; 7 and 8 85 Vict., cap. 37 Aggrieved Parishioners, how to 58 deal with Cemetery, how to be provided 32 Churchwarden:-- Origin of Office 1 Who qualified to act 3 Not to act except in concert with 9 his colleague Declaration to be made 10 Legality of Election, how 12 ascertained Vacancy, how filled 13 Canonical Duties 20 Duty in connection with New 23 Incumbent Duty in connection with Fabric, 21, etc. Churchyard, Church Goods, Insurance, Church Seats, Faculty Pews, Sequestration, Parish Documents Churchyard, enlargement of 31 ,, Closed, to be kept in order by 30 Churchwardens at expense of Parish Council Corporation. Churchwardens not a 94 corporation except under special circumstances Council, Parish--Powers of Vestry 13, etc. transferred to with certain exceptions Custody of Keys of Church 53 ,, Church Bells 54 ,, Tithe Map 18 District Churches. Banns not to 39, etc. be asked or Marriages to be Solemnised in the Mother Church Ratepayers residing in District 41 have a vote in Vestry of the Mother Church Music of Church, management of 53 Offertories, power over 54 distribution of Sidesmen, why so called 7 ,, How elected 6 Trust deeds. How land and 49 buildings for mission and other purposes should be conveyed Vestry, Notice of, how to be 7 signed ,, Incumbent Chairman of 8 ,, How Votes taken 10 ,, Select--abolished 10 Notices of First Edition 87

The Duties of Churchwardens.

I am so constantly asked in the course of my inspection of the Churches in the Archdeaconry of Winchester what are the duties and responsibilities of Churchwardens, that I have thought it might be useful to publish the following remarks, which were in substance delivered in my charge to the Clergy and Churchwardens of the Archdeaconry of Winchester in the Spring of 1889. Many requests were then made to me that I would publish my charge as a manual for Churchwardens, and it is in consequence of those requests that this publication has been put forth.

Let me first refer to the origin of the office. The name appears in connection with the ecclesiastical history of the fourth century. St. Augustine refers to certain officers in the Church called seniores Ecclesiastici. These officers were not ordained persons, but yet had some concern in the care of the Church. They were entrusted with the treasure and management of the outward affairs of the Church. These persons may be looked upon as the ecclesiastical ancestors of our present race of Churchwardens. {2} In Lyndwood's Provinciale there are allusions in some of the Provincial Constitutions of the fourteenth and fifteenth Centuries which seem to point to officers in connection with the Church corresponding to our present Churchwardens. It is not, however, until after the Reformation that we find their duties distinctly defined in successive Canons, as in 1571 (Cardwell's Synodalia, I, 122), in 1597 (Cardwell's Synodalia, I, 160), and in our own Canons of 1603.