USA > Maryland > A compilation containing the constitution and canons of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of Maryland; > Part 5
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The details of the duties of English Churchwardens are regulated by several canons of the code of 1604, which have been well collected by a correspondent of the True Catholic, in the second volume of the new series .-- p. 282. He has distributed them under seven heads. The duties mentioned under three of those heads, viz: The care of the church building, the supply of the necessaries of worship, and matters connected with accounts, are, your committee apprehend, transferred in Maryland to the Vestries. A sort of exception to this rule is made by the twenty-eighth Diocesan canon of 1847, which directs the Churchwardens, when required by the Rector, to provide the elements for the celebration of the Holy Communion. But this must be so understood, as to imply that the Vestry are to pay the expense.
The other four heads relate to the care of worship and doctrine, and of order and morals; to the presentment of offenders and the admin- istration of discipline and government. The details which those canons regulate are accommodated to the civil and Ecclesiastical laws of Eng- land, which are, in some instances, not in force in this country. In some instances the duties which are devolved upon Churchwardens by those canons have been transferred to the Vestries. The care of the pulpit, for the purpose of excluding unauthorized administrations, which is committed to the Churchwardens, by the fiftieth and fifty-second canons of the English code of 1604, is, by the American canons, transferred to the Vestry, as will be seen by reference to the thirty-sixth canon of the General Convention of 1832, and the ninth of that of 1853.1
It seems to the Committee that, while the adaptation of these canons to the state of our own laws is in itself a desirable thing, it would be a work of such delicacy and difficulty as would perhaps render it inexpedient at present ; at any rate, it is beyond the scope of the duties committed to them by the last Convention. Until, however, that is done, the English canons would be an imperfect, and perhaps dangerous, guide for American Churchwardens. The committee, therefore, decline saying anything more upon this part of the subject.
By the law or usage of most American Dioceses, the Churchwardens are members of the Vestries, and regarded as the principal members. In some Dioceses, the legal title of the corporation is " The Wardens and Vestry." Hence the Wardens are, in the canons of the General Convention, fre- quently named with the Vestry. In acting under such canons, it would be prudent for Vestries in Maryland, to associate the Churchwardens with themselves. The special duties imposed upon Churchwardens, by the written laws of the American Church, are very few. They are imposed, either by rubrics or canons. Those by the rubrics, are only six, imposed
1 Digest, Title I., Canons 17 and 18, ¿vi.
RESOLUTIONS, ETC., OF CONVENTION OF MARYLAND. 47
by as many rubrics. Of these, four impose ceremonial duties only. Three of them will be found in the office for the Institution of Ministers, and one in that for the Consecration of a Church or Chapel. In the office for the Churching of Women, there is a rubric, which associates the Church- wardens with the Minister, in disposing of the offering which the woman is required to make. A rubric in the Communion Office designates Deacons and Churchwardens, as the persons, with the alternative of other proper officers, to receive, during the Offertory, the alms and other devotions of the people. Canon 14, of 1853,2 makes it the duty of the Churchwardens to certify to the Bishop the election of a Rector of a Parish, and to unite with the Rector in certifying the election of an Assistant Minister. Canon 26, of 1832,3 makes it the duty of Churchwardens, jointly with the Minister, to give information to the Bishop of the state of the congregation, under such heads as may have been committed to them one month before the Visitation or the meeting of the Diocesan Convention. This seems to be a recognition of the ancient duty of presenting offences which is directed by an English Canon to be exercised in a similar manner. In fact, at every visitation of the Bishop or Archdeacon, the Churchwardens are still called on for presentments, although they generally present that every- thing is as it should be.
The committee have only to add that, by the usage of this Diocese, the Churchwardens, or either of them, may certify the election of a lay dele- gate to the Convention, although the Register is the more usual and appropriate officer.
H. STRINGFELLOW, JR. J. W. FRENCH. HUGH DAVEY EVANS. JOHN SNOWDEN.
(1856, pp. 93 to 95.)
2 Digest, Title I., Canon 18, 2i.
3 Digest, Title I., Canon 18, ¿iv., clause 2.
6. Resolution respecting an Act of Incorporation.
Resolved, That the Act of the General Assembly of Maryland, passed at January session, 1856, ch. 17, entitled "An Act amendatory of the Act incorporating the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Maryland, passed at December session, 1840, ch. 67, authorizing the said Convention to take and hold subscriptions or contributions in money or otherwise," be, and the same is hereby accepted by this Con- vention, and the Secretary of this Convention is hereby authorized and directed to file, as early as practicable during the session of this Conven- tion, a proper official certificate of this acceptance with the Secretary of State .- (1856, p. 3.)
. Resolution respecting the Legal Capacity of Vestries.
Resolved, That the President appoint a committee of three, learned in the law, to examine the legal question of the capacity of Vestries under the present practice in this State, and report at the next meeting of this Convention any action that they may deem necessary in the premises .- (1856, p. 15.)
48 RESOLUTIONS, ETC., OF CONVENTION OF MARYLAND.
Report of the Committee on the Legal Capacity of Vestries.
The committee appointed by the Convention of 1856, to examine the legal question of the capacity of Vestries under the present practice in this State, and report any action they may deem necessary in the premises, (see Journal of 1856, p. 15,) beg leave to present their report.
The Vestries known to our Ecclesiastical system are of two kinds, Vestries of parishes, and Vestries of congregations.
1. As to the first-Vestries of Parishes-they are of great antiquity in England, and are of two sorts, known as Vestries and Select Vestries, and derive their name from the place (vestiarium, a room for keeping the Minister's vestments) in which they usually met for the transaction of business. The Vestries proper, as distinguished from Select Vestries, consisted of the whole body of contributing Parishioners, and had power in some cases by custom to elect both Churchwardens, but ordinarily those officers were chosen under the Canons of 1603 by the joint consent of the Ministers and Parishioners, and in case of disagreement, one Warden was elected by each. The Vestry was not a corporation, but the Church- wardens were, and as such, entitled to purchase and hold the goods of the Church and bring actions for them, the freehold of the church and glebe being in the parson, who was also a corporation ecclesiastical. Besides the power of participating in the choice of Churchwardens, no Church rates could be levied without a majority of the Vestry present at a called meeting.
The select Vestries were a certain number of persons, elected yearly to make rates and manage the Parish concerns for that year. This could only be done in England, where a custom to that effect, legally speaking, existed. The powers of the Select Vestries seem to have been the same with those of Vestries generally, the one body acting as a sort of deputy for the other, and having, no doubt, originated in the difficulty attendant on the transaction of business by large numbers of Parishioners assembled together.
These Select Vestries furnished the model for our present system, which, in its main features, has now prevailed for upwards of a century and a half.
On the 9th of June, A. D. 1692, at the first regular session of the Assem- bly, held after the Crown had seized into his own hands the government of the Province of Maryland, an Act was passed entitled, "An Act for the Service of ALMIGHTY GOD, and the establishment of the Protestant Religion in this Province." By its 3d section, the county justices were directed, with the advice of the principal freeholders, to lay out each county into Parishes by metes and bounds, after which the freeholders in each Parish were to make choice of six Vestrymen, who were empowered to levy Church rates, administer gifts or bequests for pious uses, and main- tain suits in the premises as amply as any body corporate might do. This Act was repealed in 1696, but on the 25th March, 1702, in the first year of Queen Anne, another was passed with the title of "An Act for the establishment of Religious Worship in this Province according to the Church of England, and for the maintenance of Ministers." By this Act
RESOLUTIONS, ETC., OF CONVENTION OF MARYLAND. 49
Select Vestries of six were established in every Parish, the incumbent added to their number, and the Vestries in conjunction with the Church- wardens required to pay the Parish charges and repairs of Churches and Church yards, and authorized to apply to the County Courts for assess- ments on the Parishioners for these purposes. This Provincial law, with some subsequent amendment, remained in force for upwards of seventy years, but finally made way for "An Act for the establishment of Select Vestries," passed by the State of Maryland in March, 1779., with a supple- ment enacted in November following, and this early State legislation was in its turn superseded by the "Act for the establishment of Vestries for each Parish in this State," passed at November session, 1798. .
To this last-mentioned Act resort must be had for the powers and capacities of Parochial Vestries. The enumeration of those powers and capacities would be but a mere transcript of the law, which is unnecessary as being within every one's reach. Had the extent or construction of any of them been submitted to the committee, they would have directed their attention to it, but in the absence of any specific inquiry they have not thought themselves warranted in volunteering their opinion upon any particular clause.
2. Congregational Vestries, where not incorporated by Special Acts, (as in the cases of Christ and St. Peter's Churches, Baltimore,) derive their existence from the Act of 1802, chapter 111, entitled " An Act to incor- porate certain persons in every Christian Church or Congregation in this State," and its Supplements. By this Act (commonly called the Christian Congregation Act) the members of each separate congregation, organizing and acquiring a corporate existence under it, are empowered to adopt a plan of government settling the qualifications of the electoral body and the persons to be elected, and other things necessary for the continuance and management of the corporation generally. The word Vestry is not mentioned in the law, which only uses the word " Trustees " to designate the persons clothed with corporate powers. But all church congregations availing themselves of its provisions have always styled their Trustees Vestrymen, and for the most part have, it is believed, expressly conferred on these officers the powers possessed by Parochial Vestrymen. In the absence of any such declaration of their powers, it is the Committee's opinion that the use of the words " Vestrymen " and " Vestry " in a plan adopted by churchmen would be held to import ex vi termini that the persons so designated were to exercise the powers and functions ordinarily signified by those terms. For all practical purposes, therefore, the powers and capacities, both of Parochial and Congregational Vestries, may be assumed to be identical, except in the instances in which special legislation may have made a difference. The committee have no sug- gestions to offer in the way of amendment ; the powers of Vestries, having been given, can only be altered by law, and are therefore beyond the authority of this body. It might, indeed, recommend, though it could not legislate ; but the committee would deprecate any movement on the part of the Convention looking to a change in the Act of 1798. This Act, having been passed before the cession of the District of Columbia, is still in force
4
50 RESOLUTIONS, ETC., OF CONVENTION OF MARYLAND.
in that part of the Diocese, but no modification of it at this day could operate there. Were any such to take place, it would introduce different systems in the portions of the Diocese lying within and without the terri- tory of Maryland, and could hardly fail to bring confusion and evil with it. E. F. CHAMBERS. (1858, pp. 101, 102.) J. MASON CAMPBELL.
8. Resolutions relative to the Collection and Preservation of Records.
Resolved, That there be added to the permanent committees of the Convention a committee to be called The Committee on the Records of the Diocese, to consist of three members to be chosen by the Bishop, and the vacancies to be filled by him ; whose duty it shall be to collect, take charge of and preserve the records of the Diocese, and to superintend the printing and publishing of any that may be directed to be printed and published ; and also
Resolved, That the sum of two hundred dollars, out of the Convention fund, be appropriated, to be expended by the committee in the execution of their duties .- (1860, p. 12.)
9. Of a Board of Church Charities.
Whereas, by Act of the General Assembly of Maryland, 1856, ch. 1%, it is provided that the corporate powers and privileges of the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Maryland shall be extended to take and hold subscriptions or contributions in money or property which have been. or may be made to or in behalf of the various objects of charity connected with the Church in the several counties of the State, and in the City of Baltimore, now existing or which may hereafter exist, under the sanction of said Convention, and to appoint in its discretion Executive Committees or other Trustees for administering the respective funds so arising as aforesaid in such manner and form as the Convention may, from time to time, prescribe ; and whereas this Convention did, at its annual session in the year 1856, accept the powers granted by the said Act : and whereas it is necessary to make some provision for executing the same-
Resolved, That, for the purpose of administering such subscriptions or contributions in money or property as have been or may be made in behalf of church charities, in conformity with the Act aforesaid, there shall be a Board of Trustees, to be called " The Trustees of Church Charities," who shall receive, control, and invest all such contributions, donations, or be- quests of money or property as may be placed in their hands : Provided always, That in such administration the respective funds shall be kept separate and distinct, and that each fund shall be held liable only for obli- gations that may have been incurred in its own proper behalf.
Resolved, That this Board shall consist of the Bishop for the time being, who shall be ex officio President, and six Lay members of the Church ; and for the election of said Lay Trustees and the administration of the said fund, the following rules be adopted :
RESOLUTIONS, ETC., OF CONVENTION OF MARYLAND. 51
1st. This Convention shall, after the passage of these resolutions, pro- ceed to ballot for six Lay Trustees, and the persons having the highest number of votes shall be declared elected.
2d. The Trustees to be elected as aforesaid shall be distributed by arrangement amongst the members into three classes : the first class, con- sisting of the two having the largest number of votes, shall serve until the adjournment of the next Annual Convention after their appointment ; the second class, consisting of the two receiving the next highest number of votes, shall serve until the adjournment of the second Annual Meeting of the Convention hereafter ; and the third class shall serve until the adjourn- ment of the third Annual Meeting of the Convention hereafter ; each lot of these Trustees to hold their respective offices until their successors are appointed ; and to continue the succession of the Board, the Convention, at its next and succeeding Annual Meetings, shall elect, by ballot, Trustees in the stead of those whose terms are about to expire. The persons thus elected shall serve until the adjournment of the third Annual Meeting of the Convention after their election.
3d. Any vacancy which may happen by death, resignation, refusal to serve, or removal out of the Diocese may be filled by the Board of Trustees, who shall appoint a suitable person, which person shall serve until the next Annual Meeting of the Convention, which shall appoint a Trustee to fill the vacancy for the residue of the term of the person in whose place he shall be elected.
4th. The Board shall meet on some day prior to the first day of July next, to be appointed by the Bishop or by the Board, and at such time thereafter as the Board may direct, or upon the requisition of the Bishop or any two of the Trustees in writing. A meeting shall likewise be held on any day in the week next preceding the day appointed for the Annual Meeting of the Convention and at such place as the Bishop may name, when he calls them together. A majority of the Board shall be a quorum for the trans- action of business .- (As amended, 1873, p. 50.)
5th. The Board, at its first meeting, and from time to tinie thereafter, shall appoint a Treasurer, who shall continue in office for one year, or until his successor is appointed. The Treasurer shall have the custody of the money, property, or securities belonging to the said Board, subject to such order as the Trustees may make from time to time'in relation thereto. It shall, likewise, be the duty of the Treasurer to keep an account of his receipts and disbursements, which shall be laid before the Convention at every meeting.
6th. The money raised, and to be raised, shall be invested in registered securities, ground rents, or mortgages, in the discretion of the Board .- (As amended, 1876, p. 42.)
7th. Every investment shall be made in the name of " The Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Maryland," and no investment so made shall be transferred or assigned, but by deed of the President of the Board, under seal of the Treasurer of the Board, and signed by the Bishop, or two other members of the Board.
8th. The Board shall keep a journal of its proceedings in which shall be entered the attendance of its members and its acts and resolutions in
52 RESOLUTIONS, ETC., OF CONVENTION OF MARYLAND.
regard to the administration of said funds, and on every question moved and decided, the ayes and noes shall be taken and entered on the journal of proceedings, if required by any member of the Board.
This journal, with a summary report of the proceedings of the Board, and the book of accounts of the Treasurer, shall be laid before the Con- vention at each annual meeting.
9th. The foregoing rules may be altered, and any one or more of the said Trustees may be removed at any time by a vote of a majority of all the members of the Convention .- (1866, p. 18.)
10. Of Consent to Division of Diocese.
Resolved, That the consent of this Convention is hereby given to the erection of a new See, to consist of the Eastern Shore of the present Diocese of Maryland .- (1867, p. 11. See infra No. 60, Consent to Second Division.)
11. Of the Salary of the Assistant Bishop.
Resolved, That the sum of four thousand dollars per annum, payable quarterly, be the stipend of the Assistant Bishop.
Resolved, That a Standing Committee of Ways and Means of three Lay- men be appointed by the chair, to whom shall be referred the mode of raising said stipend, as well as all questions of appropriation of money by the Convention.
Resolved, That the said Committee is hereby empowered to raise, by such modes of assessment as shall appear to it most just, upon the several Parishes and Congregations of the Diocese the sums of money needed, and the assessments so levied shall be placed in charge of the Treasurer of the Convention, to be collected and distributed to the several purposes for which appropriations are made. (1870, pp. 27 and 28.)
12. The Stinnecke Maryland Episcopal Library.
(Report of Trustees of the Episcopal Fund. Journal, 1871, p. 121.)
The Trustees further report, that in March last, they received a communi- cation from Bishop Whittingham, to the effect that he desired to apply a legacy which he had received, in erecting upon the lot forming part of the Episcopal residence, a building, of which he also submitted a plan, to be used forever as a Library by the Bishop of the Diocese and his successors ; and that he also meant to give and convey to the Convention, to be held and administered as part of the Episcopal Fund, his very valuable Library, consisting of about 10,000 volumes, many of which are extremely rare. The Bishop thus stated his desires and intentions, for the purpose of ascertaining from the trustees whether they would allow such improvement and accept the Library, upon the understanding and agreement that, as far as possible, by the action of the Trustees and the ratification of the Convention, the Building and Library shall be secured forever, for the use of the Bishop of Maryland and his successors.
RESOLUTIONS, ETC., OF CONVENTION OF MARYLAND. 53
To the proposal of the Bishop the Trustees gave their unanimous con- sent, and they at the same time passed Resolutions thanking him for his noble benefaction, and pledging themselves to carry out his wishes as far as possible.
The Trustees now specially report the same to the Convention for its approval, and for such further action as the generous conduct of the Bishop calls for.
[Signed,] W. J. ALBERT. F. W. BRUNE. BERNARD CARTER. LAURENCE THOMSEN.
Mr. F. W. Brune read the report of the Trustees of the Episcopal Fund, and offered the following Resolution :
Resolved, That the Convention, having heard the report of the Trustees of the Episcopal Fund accept and approve of the same, and consent that the Bishop may carry out his generous intention of erecting a building for a Library on the lot of ground adjoining the Episcopal residence, and like- wise gratefully accept his proposed donation of his valuable Library, and also authorize the Trustees of the Episcopal Fund and of the Church Chari- ties to enter into such agreements and stipulations as may be deemed proper to secure the use of such building and its Library to the Bishop of Mary- land and his successors forever, in accordance with the wishes of the Bishop on the subject. And further that the Trustees of the Episcopal Fund and of Church Charities be authorized to insure the Library of the Bishop when given to them, and for any sum needed to pay for the insur- ance they be authorized to draw on the Treasurer of the Convention.
The Resolution was unanimously adopted .- (1871, p. 16.)
Mr. Chas. H. Wyatt presented a statement from the Executors of the late Bishop Whittingham, which was read and referred, on motion, to the Committee on the Episcopal Library.
To the Convention of the Diocese of Maryland :
We respectfully submit herewith a copy of certain clauses in the Will of the Rt. Rev. William R. Whittingham, late Bishop of the Diocese, in which bequests are made to the Convention and to certain of its Committees, and request the Convention to take the necessary action for the reception of the property, and the delivery to the Executors of proper acquittances.
The bequest of his valuable Library, which by one of the clauses in his Will, Bishop Whittingham has made to the Convention, is confirmatory of the gift, which, through the Trustees of the Episcopal Fund, was announced to the Convention in 1871 (see pages 16 and 121 of the Journal) and embraces a large number of volumes added by him since that date, coupled with a reservation to his sons of the right to take from the Library such books as they may have special reasons for selecting.
BALTIMORE, May 26, 1880.
54 RESOLUTIONS, ETC., OF CONVENTION OF MARYLAND.
Extract from the Will of the late Right Reverend William R. Whit- tingham, dated September 22d, 1879. * * X X X
Item. I bequeath the large Cabinet at the north end of the corridor on the second story of the Episcopal Residence (after my sons shall have taken therefrom what they shall believe to be strictly private papers,) with all its contents, to the Stinnecke Maryland Episcopal Library, for.the use of the Bishops who may at any time be resident in the Episcopal Residence in Baltimore.
Item. I bequeath the southernmost large Cabinet, in the corridor of the second story of the Episcopal Residence, to the Trustees of the Episcopal Fund, to remain in the Residence as part of the furniture thereof; pro- vided that my sons shall first have taken therefrom such portion of its contents as they may deem fit to choose.
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