Churchwardens

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals serving in a religious community who assist in the oversight of church management and operations
2. People elected to oversee the upkeep and administration of a church and its grounds
3. Lay officials charged with managing the maintenance and temporal duties of a parish church

Etymology: Churchwardens were not originally clergy but lay parishioners, and the office is far older than its name suggests. The word "churchwarden" is a compound of "church" and "warden", and its Middle English forms, such as "cherchewardeyn" and "churchewardeyn", show the two parts fused together by the late medieval period. "Warden" comes from Old French "wardein", meaning a guardian or keeper, so the literal sense is simply a keeper of the church. The plural "churchwardens" is simply the regular plural of this compound, with the "s" added to the end of the final element. The compound itself is transparent, which is why the modern word still reads plainly as "the people who guard the church." Their duties went well beyond guarding the building: they looked after its fabric, its goods and its finances, and that practical, property-minded role is what the word has always pointed to.

Synonyms: parish officers, church officers, vestrymen