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Meeting of parishioners

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The meeting of parishioners (also referred to as the annual vestry meeting or (AVM)) is held yearly in every parish in the Church of England to elect churchwardens and deputies (if any) for the forthcoming year.

Contents

The meeting must be held by 30 April and is commonly held immediately prior to the annual parochial church meeting. It is the last remnant of the old vestry meeting.

The meeting

Since this is a public meeting, notice must be given in writing with the minimum period of two Sundays before the date of the meeting and the notice must be displayed publicly.

The meeting is convened and chaired by the minister (usually the incumbent or priest-in-charge), or if there is no minister or the if she or he is unable or unwilling to chair the meeting, the churchwardens convene, and the meeting elects a chairman.

Agenda

Typically, the meeting's structure is as follows:

  • Opening statement by the chair, usually the parish priest
  • Minutes of the previous annual vestry meeting
  • Nominations for churchwardens have to have been handed to the minister before the meeting, in writing: he has the right to reject one of the nominees if he feels that person would be a difficulty
  • Vote – only required if there are more applicants than posts available
  • Meeting closes

    • As the agenda is so short, meetings typically last less than ten minutes.

    Attendees and voters

    The following people may vote:

  • People whose names are on the church electoral roll (whether or not they are resident in the church parish).
  • People who are resident in the parish and who are also on the register of local government electors. Note, this means any resident of the parish and who is registered to vote – of any faith or none.

    • References

    Meeting of parishioners Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA