The Spiritual Life of the Vestry

The vestry are the elected lay leaders in the parish.  Unfortunately, many people assume the vestry is responsible for the administration of the church and nothing more.    Congregations flourish when the leadership devotes time to developing its spiritual life.

The Rev. Sara Chandler, rector of Saint Margaret's Church in Woodbridge, Va., meets with the vestry at 8am on Saturday mornings.  The first half hour is dedicated to prayer and faith sharing.  They begin with prayer which Sara describes as "open and shared.  Members are encouraged to pray for personal concerns, the church, our time together, whatever.  When this winds down, she asks, 'What has God been doing in your life since last we met?'  And anyone who wants to can respond.  This is not an excuse for general exchange of news, but a real opportunity to share our faith."

In the second half hour, the vestry at Saint Margaret's discusses whatever book they are reading.  They have read the following: Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis; The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard; Knowing God, J.I. Packer; Servanthood, Bennett Sims; The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren; Moving Off the May, Thomas Bandy; Rediscovering Church, Bill Hybels; and Freedom of Simplicity, Richard Foster.  Sara indicates some books have been more popular than others, but the important thing is that the vestry is reading together.

One of the things that has enhanced my life has been the practice of prayer partners.  We tear pieces of paper in half and the vestry and I pull out a slip of paper from the hat.  Then, we find our match.  We commit to pray for our prayer partners until we meet again and select new partners.

If you're interested in more ideas about how to enhance the spiritual life of vestries, you might want to look at Transforming Church Boards into Communities of Spiritual Leaders by Charles Olsen.

This article is a work in progress.  If you have other experiences that have enriched your spiritual life on the vestry, please e-mail me and I'll pass along the helpful suggestions on our web site.

Faithfully…Sherry Hardwick Thomas  

For More information contact: 

The Rev. Sherry Hardwick Thomas

hardwickthomas@yahoo.com