Vestry

Our English word vestry comes from the Latin vestiarium, which originally referred to the room or part of a church wherein the vestments were stored and the clergy robed for divine service. At one time, congregants would meet with priests in the vestry to discuss parish affairs. However, by the late 1500s in Anglican parishes, vestry came to refer to the leaders of the church—not the room where the priest changed his clothes.

Today, the vestry is the governing board of the parish, and comprises the rector, senior warden, junior warden, and lay members.

The vestry can be thought of as something like a board of directors or board of trustees that takes up the parish's business and matters related to the operation of the church. The vestry also serves as an advisory council to the rector. Its main responsibility is to oversee the financial health of the parish, and in this capacity, the vestry develops and approves the annual budget in partnership with the rector. In the Episcopal Church, which uses a representative form of government, members of the vestry are elected at the parish's annual meeting. The rector appoints the senior warden, and all of the members of the vestry elect the junior warden.

The Saint Matthias Vestry generally meets in the Chapel at 7 PM on the second Tuesday of each month. Vestry meetings are open meetings, and all members of the parish are welcome.

Saint Matthias Vestry 2024

Kathy Underwood, Senior Warden
Stan Jamieson, Junior Warden

Kathy Adams * Tim Adams (Emeritus) * LaVerne Edmunds * Susan Halliday * Charissa Harjo* Mandy Knight * Gigi Maidlow * Wei-San Mohindar