Churchwardens Manual | Page 3

to stand by their side; other suppose the word to be an abbreviation of Synodsmen, because in ancient times the Bishops summoned certain persons of credit from the various parishes in order to testify as to the morals of the clergy and people. These witnesses were called Testes Synodales, and hence some suppose the title of Sidesmen, or Synodsmen, to have taken its origin. Of late years in populous towns Sidesmen have often been elected, and are found to be of great help in assisting the Churchwardens in the execution of their duties.
The Vestry at which the Churchwardens and Sidesmen (if any) are to be elected must be duly summoned. The notice summoning the Vestry must be signed either by the Incumbent, the Curate, one Churchwarden, or one Overseer of the poor. {7}
It is obviously advisable that the signatures of the Incumbent and of both Churchwardens should be attached to the notice of the Easter Vestry. This notice specifying the particular business to be transacted must be affixed on a Sunday, three clear days before the holding of the meetings, at or near the principal door of all the Churches and Chapels in the parish. {8a} The Incumbent of the parish is by law the ex-officio Chairman of the Vestry. {8b} In his absence the ratepayers present must elect a Chairman for the occasion. The Curate does not necessarily take his place as Chairman, unless elected to do so by the Vestry. The usual custom in parishes is for the Incumbent to nominate one Churchwarden and the parishioners the other. Sometimes the parishioners elect both. The canon {8c} indeed seems to point out the election of both Churchwardens by the joint consent of the Minister and the parishioners as the normal mode of action, and the nomination by the Incumbent of one and of the parishioners of another as only to be resorted to when they cannot arrive at a common agreement. But custom goes for a long way in this matter, and the usual course is certainly for the Incumbent to nominate one and the parishioners the other. In the absence of the Incumbent the Curate has the same right to nominate one Churchwarden as the Incumbent if present would have. {9a}
In whatever manner the election may be carried out, the two Churchwardens subsequently stand on an absolute equality. The Incumbent's Churchwarden is not elected to look after the Incumbent's interests only, nor the parishioners' Churchwarden to look after the parishioners' interests only. The interests of both must be equally dear to the one and to the other. Nor can they act except jointly. The Vestry even is powerless to clothe one Churchwarden with authority to act against the will of his colleague in office. {9b} Any election by the parishioners must take place in the usual manner. Ratepayers present, whether paying directly or indirectly (32 and 33 Vic., c. 41, section 19), have a right to vote, and if a poll is demanded it cannot be refused by the Chairman. The votes must be taken in accordance with the provisions of the Vestry Acts, 58 Geo. III, cap. 69, sec. 2, 3, 4, and 59 Geo. III, cap. 85. If the votes are equal the Chairman has by right a casting vote, in addition to whatever number of votes he may have as an individual ratepayer. By 58 Geo. III, cap. 69, sec. 3, it is ordered that minutes of the proceedings shall be written out before the close of the Vestry, and after having been read be signed by the Chairman and any of the members present who may like to do so. {10a}
In some new parishes there are select Vestries, but by the 14 and 15 Vict., cap. 97, sec. 23, in parishes formed under any Church Building Acts before 1851 they are abolished, and it was enacted that after that date no select Vestry should be formed. {10b}
The Churchwardens thus duly appointed must make the following declaration before the "ordinary, or other person" qualified to receive it:--
"We do solemnly and sincerely declare that we will faithfully and diligently perform the duties of the Office of Churchwardens, to the best of our skill and understanding, and that we will present such persons and things as to our knowledge are presentable by the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm."
This declaration ought to be made at the visitation of the Bishop, Chancellor, or Archdeacon next ensuing upon the election. Until this declaration is made the Churchwarden is not legally qualified to act, and could not enforce his authority as Churchwarden if objected to. In case of the death of the Incumbent the parish would have no legal representative to act as the custodian of the temporalities of the Church in that particular parish. The fee payable by law at