Being Open

In all the years I've been on (or aware of) Vestries, their work always seems to be done secretly. (I say "aware of" because I was never really aware of Vestries until the day I was asked to stand for one; they were something mentioned at the Parish Meeting then forgotten the rest of the year.)

I've noticed in blogs and in communications with other Anglicans there seems to be sometimes a suspicion of the Vestry, just because its work is done out of view. Perhaps this is more likely to be a characteristic of a big church, especially one with multiple "congregations" (e.g. the 8:00, 9:15 and 11:00 groups who barely know each other) than a small one, but a recent communication implied the same in a small church.

It seems a shame... and yet I realized that until recently this could have been a problem for us.

With such a widespread congregation as ours is, and having to struggle through one of the country's worst regional traffic nightmares, it's difficult to get together on evenings. So the Vestry tries to piggyback on other times they are together. For years it met in the Rector's office before the service. Although this put a firm time limit on the meeting, the office was crowded with no room for anyone else. Exclusionary.

I think it was during the time we were without a Rector that the Vestry started meeting after the service and coffee "hour", in the Parish Hall, and the practice continues. The Vestry can't wait until everyone leaves, but at some point it starts gravitating to the tables at one end of the hall. I'm still not sure whether people are aware that they can sit in -- or whether they're just being wiser in "running away."

What brought all this up was a note in the Epiphany Newsletter on our "Parish Leadership Restreat" this coming Saturday, which says: "Although the vestry and clergy are the primary participants in this retreat, anyone else from the parish (especially other lay leaders, or would-be leaders) who would like to attend, are most welcome."

Part of the message I see to our parish, in light of my recent observations, is: "There's nothing being done in secret here." And that couples well with another practice the Vestry adopted over the summer, which is to post the meeting minutes (after approval) on a bulletin board in the Parish Hall. (Though I noted last Sunday they'd gone missing.)

Especially given the list of topics before the Vestry, I hope others interested in the future of our church will take note and come.