Rotas, Rules and Rectors

How to Thrive Being a Churchwarden

by Matthew Clements

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.

Author news

"Rotas, Rules and Rectors - How to thrive as a Churchwarden" is intended to help the churchwardens of the Anglican church to thrive rather than merely survive in the role. I suspect many people refuse to accept nomination because of a fear of the unknown; others accept nomination and then wish they hadn't when they discover what the job entails! No-one seems to put any boundaries to the job, and existing books focus more on the legal responsibilities of the role than the practicalities. This book will help them to do it better once elected, by illustrating both the scope and the details of the role, based on my knowledge and experiences. It is my hope that this book will help the right candidates to be elected and then to be able to do the job more effectively.
Church Times published a review on 22 March 2019 which included "In all the years that I was a parish priest and then an archdeacon, I would have loved to have this book to thrust into the hands of a new churchwarden or someone considering standing for election."

http://www.beingachurchwarden.com/

Press Coverage

Church Times

Book Reviews

A lovely book to handle, and reads in an easy way, and the content is cheerfully fascinating. We knew very little about these activities before, and although we are not individually involved in this particular field, we are sure that after reading this we can’t help but be wiser about how people can work better together for the good of others. We hope that it will be widely studied.

by Nancy

As a newly appointed Churchwarden I have found this book extremely useful. It is written in a gentle, friendly way and I am sure it will be close to me all through my time as a Churchwarden. It normally takes me a month to read any book but I stormed through this one in just over a week.

by Tim Bishop

About the Author

Matthew Clements

I am a recently retired Chartered Engineer, married to a charity director, with two adult children and two young grandsons who we see often. My wife and I met at church in 1967 and married in 1974.

I spent 16 years in the Royal Air Force as an engineer officer - my final job was in charge of the routine servicing of the UK fleet of the Harrier "jump-jet" aircraft in the early 90s. After leaving the RAF I worked for IBM in analysis of data for a new RAF IT system, and this was followed by working for Network Rail in a similar sort of role. In that time I also volunteered as treasurer of both a church and a small charity working in Africa.

Before retiring I was churchwarden for five years at a Grade II* listed church where I developed my interest in maintaining the church, as well as being treasurer of another small charity working in Africa. Since retiring early, I have restored an old Grade II listed limestone house solely using traditional techniques and materials, and have gained much experience on the practicalities of re-ordering and maintenance of two more churches, one Grade I listed and the other a Grade II* listed chapel. In my six years as churchwarden here, we did four major projects on the larger church, two of which were funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Other interests include flying a small aeroplane, and aviation history.