ChurchWardens.com

Qualifications of Churchwardens

 

The Churchwarden should be someone who the congregation respects as a leader and who can take charge when needed. A Churchwarden may have to take a service at ten minutes notice, or deal with the press when some scandal occurs. He or she needs to guide the parish council to make the right decisions. Churchwardens should be wise, and if needed, firm. They should not be frightened when dealing with senior clergy. They should nourish and maintain their own Christian faith, and not let it become stale in the wake of logistical concerns about the church.

Churchwardens must be baptized, regular communicants who are resident in the parish or on the Electoral Roll. They need not be members of the congregation of the parish church in a parish with more than one church. In addition, any Churchwarden:

• Should be over 21 (minimum age may vary, between 18 to 21)
• Should consent to being appointed
• Should have been confirmed, and should have received communion at least three times in the previous year. A person who is ready to be confirmed and wants to be confirmed also qualifies.

 

The Churchwarden's duties involve the handling of money and the ownership and care of valuable property. This calls for as much financial integrity as a charity trustee. Indeed, in many parishes the Churchwardens become trustees of some charity linked to the church. People who have been convicted of certain offences of dishonesty, and people who have been disqualified as company directors, are not allowed to be charity trustees. Such persons should not be consisdered for appointment as a Churchwarden.