Church warden: duties, functions and features of activity

Important qualitiesPros and cons of the professionWhere to study

The church warden is an assistant to the rector of the temple on economic issues. Ensures the preservation of church property, maintaining order in the temple and in the surrounding area. By the way, in 2021, the ProfGid career guidance center developed an accurate career guidance test. He himself will tell you which professions are suitable for you, and give an opinion about your personality type and intelligence.

Repairing the heating or water supply system of buildings on the territory of the temple is the concern of the elder. He hires workers or asks parishioners for help - the main thing is that the lights are on, the heating is warm, and the priests can concentrate on worship.

Training to become a church warden

Universities

Moscow Theological Academy of the Russian Orthodox Church

Theology (Moscow Theological Academy of the Russian Orthodox Church)

Russian State Social University

Theology (Faculty of Humanities RSSU)

Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin

Religious Studies (Ural Humanitarian Institute, UrFU)

Russian State Humanitarian University

Religious Studies (RSUH Center for the Study of Religions)

Vladimir State University named after Alexander Grigorievich and Nikolai Grigorievich Stoletov

Religious Studies (Humanitarian Institute)

№12 (89) / 8 •December• '09

Evgeniy Alabushev Current conversation

•In this topic:•

Current conversation

“Reflections on dreams and faith in miracles”

Anton Rozhin, student of the Faculty of Theology, Ural State Pedagogical University
Modern parishioner - who is he? Active member of the Church or ballast? Even if we consider this almost ideal option - a person is engaged in his spiritual life, consciously and regularly participates in the Sacraments - the question arises: “Is this enough to be considered a parishioner?” We decided to ask these questions not to a priest or even just a parishioner, but to the elder of the church in the name of the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon in Yekaterinburg, Sergei Yuryevich Ksenev.

— Sergey Yuryevich, please tell us what the responsibilities of the headman are?

Sergei Yuryevich Ksenev, elder of the temple in the name of the great martyr and healer Panteleimon - This is the question that I ask myself. At the beginning of my “career” I asked abbot Dimitry (Baibakov) what I should do, he answered: “Everything.” There is no list of responsibilities here; it should concern everything that happens in the temple.

— That is, you support and ensure the life of the temple from the material side?

- You can say so. Our central event is worship. But for it to take place, a lot is needed: not only a priest, a choir, a sexton, but also heating, water supply, and drainage. These nuances concern me directly.

— The headman is an unusual parishioner. You will almost never be seen doing nothing: you are always running somewhere, arranging something, setting something up. In this case, do you still have time for prayer?

- Unfortunately, there is little time. In addition to my work in the temple, I also have a private house with an ancient stove heating, where I need to chop wood, bring water and much more. Probably my own negligence is to blame. Previously, when I was just a citizen of the Russian Federation, there were some kind of secular holidays for me. When I was baptized and began to attend church, all these secular holidays faded into the background, they seemed to disappear, and church holidays appeared. And when I came to the church to work, there were no more church holidays. Every holiday, “like a horse’s wedding,” is a complete bustle of some kind (although in some sense it is a pleasant bustle). I need to personally monitor a lot of things in the temple so that everything goes smoothly. Sometimes during a service you want to stand and pray, but still someone will come up and tug your hand: “But something happened somewhere there,” and sometimes you just have to stand in the yard and, keeping order, listen to what’s happening in the temple. During the holiday you get so tired that you walk around like a boil for two or three days.

In our church it’s quite difficult to simply pray, because someone is constantly distracting me with something, because a lot of things are focused on me. Not because people are so harmful, but because maybe they can’t make decisions about the household without me. I have to periodically go to another temple just to stand quietly behind a column and pray so that no one sees or hears me.

— If the temple has an elder, then the temple probably doesn’t have many problems. But it cannot be that there are none at all. What is the parish elder concerned about today?

— All tasks are set by the abbot. At the same time, there are matters that require attention. I think they are the same in every temple: cleanliness, order. Or the same cleaning of the temple, removing the snow, with which there is a lifelong struggle. And then there is the global task - building a school - an extraordinary event.

— It is impossible to solve such ordinary or global problems alone. Can parishioners help the parish in any way, and is this help needed at all?

- Of course, we need help. They began to build a school, they are building it with donations from our parishioners, with money that people put in mugs for which they order services. It's all from there. If there are any benefactors, then these are, again, our parishioners. I think that first of all we need prayer help. And if possible, then financial assistance. We, the parishioners of our church, need this, even if our grandchildren will study at this school. At the moment there are people who come up and say: “Let's help.” I know them and quite actively exploit this desire to work and do something.

— The most important question that everyone can ask themselves: to what extent can we do something in the temple?

“I was talking to one priest not so long ago and asked: “Father, this is how it is, the problem is this: come to church on Sunday at three o’clock - there is no one here. The service ended, we stood around, prayed and that’s it, went home. “Well, that’s how we are,” is a good explanation for a person who can do something, but doesn’t want to.” So I asked the priest: “How are things going with the parishioners in your parish?” He says: “How? I hire people and that’s it.” Of course, I can just ask the abbot's blessing and hire a couple of people who will do everything that needs to be done. But it is necessary, first of all, for the parishioners themselves to contribute to the life of the church.

It's difficult to get people interested in something. Let's look at our life: you come to the supermarket - everything is there for you, everything is laid out, there is a cash register, you come, pick up groceries, pay, then they clean the store, wash it, you do nothing there. Today there is an attempt to turn the temple into a spiritual supermarket. So we came to light a candle, order services and that’s it, don’t expect anything else from us, we don’t need anything, I defended myself, relieved myself of spiritual need, “but for the rest, don’t touch me!”

So the priest says that the solution to this issue lies on a spiritual plane, it is not an economic issue, if Muslims work in our churches, and Orthodox Christians come like they go to a supermarket. Somewhere there may be an omission on my part, since my organizational skills are lacking. It seems like you need to connect people, but this is not a teapot - just take it and connect it, you need to have some kind of attitude, authority. One day, three years ago, I decided to conduct an experiment. Then a lot of snow suddenly fell overnight, and there was no janitor. I arrived at the temple around nine in the morning, took out several shovels, stuck them in the snow and began to remove the snow myself. Of the entire stream of people who passed by, only two people joined in the cleaning, and the rest wished for God’s help. The Lord helped us, but how much did the people who passed by need it?

Now, due to the crisis, there is no problem finding hard-working and non-drinking people who would agree to work for the money they pay in the temple. But don’t we, who are seeking the salvation of our souls, really need this? Here is another very interesting example. I have a friend, a parishioner of the temple, who brought a carload of firewood for his temple. He brought them and folded them. And there is no one to chop. He walked and walked, he will come - as he unloaded them, so they lie, he will come again - they will lie again. I look later, he and his brother are chopping this wood together. In one day the whole car was torn apart. How much did they need it? I ask them: “Do you need this?” They say: “Of course it is necessary, we are working for the temple.” And there was such surprise on his face: “Don’t you know or what? It’s all so simple!”

— It turns out that people don’t see that there are some things they could participate in?

— By the way, there is one nuance here. It is not always possible for a person engaged in a certain activity, for example, a manager, to split wood. He may have health problems or some other circumstances. For the most part, I don’t know who is doing what, who can help with what. On Christmas Day, a person comes up and says: “I am such and such, what should I do? Here’s my phone number, call me what you do.” The man called, came, worked - a joy for both children and salvation for adults. One person working in a church recently said: “Somehow I don’t get tired in church, I get tired at work, but here I don’t, on the contrary, I even get stronger.” The Lord probably does not abandon even such small works.

— So it’s all about people and their organization?

- Yes. You don't have to go far. Our grandmother's temple is being cleaned. There are fewer and fewer of them every year. During the time that I have been working here, three people have appeared and four people have disappeared. This is despite the fact that women are the majority in the temple. True, there is also a positive shift: when it was necessary to prepare the temple for Easter, many people responded, mostly women (God bless them). Even in my absence, they came and said: “Give us some area, we will wash it.” The sisterhood was very helpful. Previously, this practically never happened. That is, this is only partly a question of the organization, but to a greater extent - the parishioners’ own initiative. Thank God that now there is a certain circle of people to whom I periodically turn for help. There are people who want to do something or even volunteer, but they are hesitant to come and offer help, they are embarrassed or do not know who to turn to in the temple. There is no need to be afraid of anything, you just need to approach any priest or find an elder and offer your good hands to help.

— Are there any difficulties in working with such volunteer helpers?

— It would seem that it would be easier for me to hire professionals. I call a person in the morning, I plan his working day so that his work is as efficient as possible, so that this day is fully occupied. If he has been paid, then he must do whatever needs to be done at the moment. And with volunteer helpers, the resolution of the issue is most often delayed. If I called an electrician, he came and fixed the problem within an hour; if I call someone I know from the house, the solution to the problem will take several days, depending on how he does it over time.

I can use a hired worker to the maximum because he is obliged to complete the work on time. I can tell him that until he does, he won't leave here. But you can’t say that to a volunteer. The most important thing that is required of a volunteer is to work conscientiously. But if a volunteer works for the temple, then he works for God - how this changes things!

“They say that people who improve their houses work in vain if the house of God is not built.” Should all church affairs come first for a parishioner?

- Here is the usual summer picture: the majority are in the gardens, and not at services in the temple of God. Spiritual life, judging by the number of people visiting the temple, simply freezes with the onset of summer, because garden life begins. We start digging beds because we are sure that we cannot live without it! I am far from making spiritual diagnoses, but making excuses: “I am in the service, I worked in the garden” is strange and dangerous for a Christian. There can be any number of such excuses. But what happens to the human soul in this case? Draw your own conclusions.

— Sometimes priests during a sermon ask for help in solving some matter. Are such calls effective?

- Previously, when Fr. Evgeniy Popichenko said that something needed to be done, two or three people came. 10-15 men responded to our last request to unload the furniture and assemble it. I was surprised: “Wow!” It got to the point where they told me: “Go ahead, we’ll collect it ourselves, go mind your own business.” Lately people have been quite active. This makes me happy. Here is a recent example - the day of an elderly person. I waited until the last minutes to be involved in this case. But the parishioners carried it out calmly themselves and it didn’t even affect me! I can’t say that people are inactive now.

Nowadays, young people are quite active, and parishioners respond to the need for some kind of help. Of course, not everything is rosy. We get used to comfort, we have arrived - everything should be ready for us, we should receive some amount of self-care. I say again that this question lies on a spiritual plane.

— Do you think that the increase in the activity of parishioners is connected with the development of people’s spiritual life?

- With attempts to at least improve it. Everything comes as a person develops and grows. It is impossible to drag a person from the street here and say: “Chop some wood.” For him, the temple should become the temple of God, in which he wants to do something, he really does! And when a person wants, you can see it in the eyes. Let's see what will happen on Epiphany, how willing people are to sacrifice their time and help in pouring the water.

— Sergey Yuryevich, at the end of our conversation, what would you like to say to all parishioners?

— The solution to all our problems, personal or social, lies on the spiritual plane. If a person is spiritually sick, then this is reflected very strongly on the physical, material level. It is impossible to be spiritually sick and physically healthy. You need to take care of yourself and not focus on some material manifestations of the world; after all, the spiritual component of a person’s life should prevail. Then maybe something will work out in everyday life, in the family, and at work.

•In other rooms:•

Links[edit]

• "Canon E1 of Churchwardens". Anglican Church . Retrieved February 18, 2021.
• "Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860". legislation.gov.uk
  . 1860. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
• "Church Wardens' Measure 2001". Office of Public Sector Information. 2001. Retrieved August 24, 2008.
• Clements, Matthew (2018). Companies, rules and rectors - how to succeed as a church warden
  . London: Matador. ISBN 978-1-78901-631-4.
• "Canon C29: Of Church Wardens and Chapels". Anglican Church of South Africa
  . Archived from the original on 2014-10-30. Retrieved August 13, 2014.

Notes[edit]

1. ^ a b c
   "Canon E1 on Church Overseers". Anglican Church . Retrieved February 18, 2021.
2. Clements 2021, pp14-16.
3. Clements 2021, pp. 143-149
4. Clements 2021, pp102-106.
5. Clements 2021, p12.
6. ^ a b c
   ECJA 1860.
7. Clements 2021, pp. 16-18.
8. "The Churchwarden's Office: A System of Checks and Balances". church law
   .
9. Churchwardens' Measure 2001, pp. §4.
10. Churchwardens' Measure 2001, pp. §6.
11. Churchwardens' Measure 2001, pp. §3.
12. Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1992). London Encyclopedia
    (reprint ed.). Macmillan. S. 20, 753.
13. "St Mary's Parish Church, Ecclesfield".
14. Rules of Church Representation, Rule 18(4)
    . Anglican Church. 2021
15. Clements 2021, p29.
16. ACSA.