Becoming a churchwarden can be a richly rewarding experience, but the role is not an easy one. This warmly written handbook will help all those considering, or already in, office to understand what is involved. Focusing throughout on real-life situations, including many case studies, it is a guide to: - the responsibilities of a churchwarden - how to become a churchwarden - working with the minister - the duties of a churchwarden through the year - what a churchwarden should know - what a churchwarden should ask - what to do when problems arise. Appendices containing relevant legal documents and other useful resources complete the book, making it an up-to-date, comprehensive and essential aid to negotiating the complexities of this important office. 'Packed full of useful facts and presented in a very readable way.' The Good Book Stall. The Revd Dr Martin Dudley is the Rector of St Bartholomew the Great, London and the author of several books, including (with Virginia Rounding), The Parish Survival Guide and Serving the Parish: How to be an effective PCC member (both SPCK). Virginia Rounding is the acclaimed biographer of Catherine the Great, and a frequent book reviewer for the Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian and The Independent. She lives in London.

Deals with all aspects of the role and responsibility of being a Churchwarden. The aim of this book is to encourage Churchwardens to approach their role with confidence, and with the knowledge that much can be achieved in their term of office. The C of E has 30,000 churchwardens, of which several thousand are elected for the first time every year. “Churchwardens are the great unsung heroes of the Church of England” says the Rt Rev Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield, in his foreword to this book. “The great strength of Matthew Clements’ writing is that he sets the sometimes dry duties and responsibilities of wardenship within the warm context of human lives lived joyously and devotedly in the service of Christ and his beloved Church. All will find in this book practical wisdom, shrewd commonsense and indefatigable commitment to a noble cause.” The role of the churchwarden in the Anglican Church has not changed much over the years, although perhaps the respectability and authority of the role has diminished. It is a responsible and important role which, if done conscientiously, will augment the efforts of the clergy and encourage the congregation, thus strengthening the Body of the church. This book is for all current churchwardens as well as all those (sometimes reluctant) volunteers who are considering the possibility of becoming churchwardens in the future. Additionally, it will be useful for anyone else in the church who is able to admit to themselves that they don’t really know what the churchwarden actually does. Told with gentle humour based on solid experience and pragmatism, Matthew Clements details the extensive boundaries of a churchwarden’s responsibilities and gives many examples from his own experience of just what the job can entail. There are many pitfalls that await the unwary, and there are many joys as well.