From the April 2024 Magazine
This is the last letter from the present Church wardens as we are both handing over to 2 younger versions this month.
Barry has served for two years as Church warden and myself 17 years and 3 Interregnums. Barry is continuing his excellent work in the Monks Cell as the Church Archivist and I hope he will still write his interesting pieces for the magazine on past Finedon. We both thank the tremendous support we have had from the PCC and the congregation over this period of time.
So, what is a Churchwarden and what do they do? Good question. They are the Guardians of the Church. They first appeared In Parish Records in the 13TH Century and by the 14th Century Church wardens were elected. It should be noted that in those days they were not all male. In the medieval Church one Churchwarden was appointed by the incumbent the other by the Parishioners.
By 1964 all Churches legally required Churchwardens and the Churchwarden Measure was introduced.
A Churchwarden’s primary duty is to help the Minister exercise his or her Ministry effectively. They should welcome people into Church be available for people to talk to , look after the Church and the graveyard, be responsible for everything in the Church, read meters, organise the drains to be cleared, recycle, supervising the collection, ensure the Church does not waste money leaving lights etc on when the Church is not being used, maintaining order in Church, finding Priests in the interregnum to take services, arrange funerals and chair the PCC as Vice Chair in the absence of a priest, check the gravestones annually, in interregnum ensure visiting priests are paid, look after the pastoral needs of the parish, look after the Vicarage when empty and many other duties. The post is unpaid, challenging but rewarding.
We wish the new Churchwardens every blessing as we move into a new phase of our Parish.
