Can a person receiving a wage from the church become a churchwarden?

Answer 1

Yes. The churchwarden is the oldest elected office in the UK. The churchwarden is elected as the diocesan bishop's representative in the parish. Note the word parish. The office of churchwarden is a parish office and not exclusively a church office. This is why, at the annual church meeting, the meeting should be split into two parts, the first part being the election of churchwardens, at which anyone in the parish has the right to attend and vote - or to stand as churchwarden, and the second part of the meeting, which is exclusively open to churchgoers only (or to others only by invitation) where the other business is completed like the election of council members, financial and other reports, and so on. So theoretically (although not likely in practice) a churchwarden could be elected who never attends church and is simply electable by virtue that he or she lives in the parish. There is, however, a 'get-out clause if the vicar or rector finds himself (or herself) having to have two wardens who are non-church members. In such a scenario the incumbent is allowed to appoint one of the wardens without election. This ensures that, if such a bizarre eection of two wardens should occur, then at least one warden would be on the same wavelength as the vicar. Therefore, there is no reason why a person paid by the church should not stand for election as churchwarden. The 'paid member of the church' and 'churchwarden' roles are totally separate. I was a paid organist for many years at my last church; and I was a council member and did a stint as churchwarden without any problems at all. Any parishioners questioning such an appointment should be referred to the Canon Law of the Church of England, or the PCC Handbook (available from Amazon) where it clearly states that there should be no bar to holding office if you are a paid church member.