Welcome to the Vergers Voice, the official news blog of the Vergers Guild of the Episcopal Church. Also known as the VGEC, we are located on the web at vergers.org and facebook.com/vergerguild the #1 online resources for vergers world-wide.

For information about submitting news and announcements to the blog, click HERE or contact [email protected].

Friday, September 19, 2014

State of the Guild - A Conversation with Scott Smith

Scott Smith presenting Bishop Whitmore of the Diocese of Atlanta with a VGEC Challenge Coin at the Summer Assembly and Business Meeting of the Diocese of Atlanta Mark Emory Graham Chapter

By Ken Holloway with Scott Smith, President - Verger's Guild of the Episcopal Church

Scott Smith and I talk frequently, sometimes by email, sometimes on the phone, sometimes by ham radio. Our conversations are 97% about the Verger's Guild of the Episcopal Church. This week I asked Scott, our VGEC President, to give me his view of where we stand in implementing the official Guild objectives announced at last year's conference and to suggest how we, individually, might be looking to the future of the VGEC. This edition of the Verger's Voice is lengthy, but I pray that you will see we've been working hard since our Nashville conference to produce really smart and long lasting improvement to the reach and function of the VGEC.

Central to a healthy guild is our constant grounding in the fundamental question: "Are we living into our bylaws." Scott stated that the center of the Board of Directors' focus has been the declared objectives for the year (2013 Conference to 2014 Conference). The following list is read at the beginning of every board meeting.

Review/Update/Amend 2014 Goals
  • Active working committees
  • Chapter Development (Major push)
  • Expand Membership (Clean up list, contact all parishes, work with Dioceses/Chapters, increase membership revenue)
  • Training Course Improvement (long term)
  • Guild Shop mission and plan (long term)
  • Finance/Audit Committee and budget (long term, planning)
By looking at these goals, we can answer how we are doing as exemplars of our bylaws by noting what each committee has accomplished. We're vergers-so get out your checklist.

Active Working Committees - We have eight operational committees with 45 members. The term "active working committees" describes our functional backbone. All the members are experienced leaders in their own right, with heartfelt dedication to complete their individual tasks on time and in appropriate detail while meeting objectives which were determined by the committee as a whole and approved by the board. Every committee is engaged actively in no-fluff work toward well-defined objectives. Check!

Chapter Development - The key elements of diocesan chapters of the VGEC are local training, education, fellowship, and a meaningful project to center the chapter's focus. With nine strong members, our Chapter Development work has literally "lifted off" this year under the leadership of Rich Lammlin and Richard Parker. New chapters have formed and are forming in the Diocese of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Connecticut. Many existing chapters are enjoying a rejuvenation including Atlanta, Dallas, Mississippi, and the Diocese of Texas. The VGEC is best supported by organic growth of its chapters within the dioceses of the Episcopal Church and around the world in the Anglican Communion. By frequently visiting diocesan gatherings around the country, and engaging in continuing conversation, we attract those interested in the ministry of the verger at the diocesan level. We support and encourage our chapters by maintaining a meaningful training course and effective communications channels, using all available means. We are working on ways to coordinate with chapters to better coordinate our shared membership data. We are expanding the number and strength of the chapters. Check!

Membership - Already engaged in a multi-year effort to assure that the membership rolls are audited for validity and currency, committee chair Cheryl Cantrall called on Betty Moore to take on the bulk of our database purification work. Happily, we can report that the task is virtually complete with new projects coming online. Richard Lammlin, as board liaison, and as the moving force in revitalizing chapter activities in Connecticut, is codifying the process of chapter establishment and concomitant membership expansion. This process will provide structure to our planned out-reach to dioceses and parishes across the nation. Finally, Betty and husband Karl are now working to purify our Parish Membership data. Check!

General Convention - Strategic planning, agile tactical decisions and experienced leadership are the codes for our presence at the General Convention. Margaret McLarty has arranged for the VGEC to have the best booth placement on the Exhibit Floor in Salt Lake City. Margaret and the General Convention team will use the booth placement, chosen to gain maximum traffic exposure, to increase awareness of the verger ministry within the greater church. Membership expansion and diocesan and clergy attraction...check!

Training - Our awesome training team, headed by Dr. Bill White, has worked to make sweeping changes to our training course by putting the parish rector at the center of the course completion certification, changing the price of the course to $60, making the virge available separately for course graduates, and making the distribution of the course via a PDF file rather than hard-copy mailed version. Contributing to the ongoing VGEC training philosophy, Duke DuTeil has been asked to contribute his extensive experience as Head Verger at the Washington National Cathedral by acting as Board Liaison and Training Advisor. Stay tuned for another innovative and truly stellar addition to our guild training capability in the mid-term future. I'd grade this one as a "check", wouldn't you?

Guild Shop - Bill Gleason's retirement prompted Barry Norris to step up and extend the splendid track record of providing merchandise of genuine interest to our membership at price-points geared to assure a break-even operation. Barry is developing a long-term Guild Shop plan, ably assisted by an active committee. You'll find an accelerated rate of merchandise development specifically for the Guild from month to month as you visit the shop. Tune in to the shop often and watch the merchandise changes. Guild Shop Mission and Long Term Plan - check!

Annual Conferences - The vergers who serve on the conference committee are led by Pat Allen who has been part of six incredibly successful conferences during her tenure. Terry Hughes and Ritchard Taylor of St. Luke's Church, Burlington, are planning a unique Canadian experience this month. Looking ahead to the 2015 Conference in St. Louis, Shug Goodlow of Christ Church Cathedral, promises memories unavailable anywhere else. We have conference planning in very good shape and there is opportunity for change, new ideas, and innovation in the coming years.

Communications and Technology -We arranged to use innovative technology to facilitate board meetings and the board met five times this year instead of just twice a year as in the past. Web-based face-to-face meeting technology means so much more than just being able to meet more frequently. It brings our feelings to what might otherwise be just words and diagrams on a presentation chart. When you have audible and visual conversation that continues as long as necessary, even between formal meetings, the volume of issues discovered, explored and settled increases tremendously. We have that. Our Facebook page and our email "blasts" have expanded their update frequency and reach to assure that we always have a way to talk among ourselves. Our "V-List" bulletin board acts as a day-to-day forum, entertaining questions, answers and opinions. Our weekly "Verger's Voice" blog attempts to explore, in story format, subjects that all vergers will hopefully find interesting. Our communications programs have reached across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to interest and engage new members, one of whom is acting as European correspondent for The Verger's Voice.

Nomination Committee - No better example of "living by our bylaws" exists than the recent work accomplished in providing a dynamic slate of candidates for election to our board next week. It is so gratifying that, using our formal nomination procedures, Dr. Mike Malone, Nancy Paulin, John Townsend, Pat Allen and Duke DuTeil produced our slate with comparative ease. This is validation of the process itself and the skills of those using the process to prepare for the annual conference.

The very best leadership personalities I have known over 38 years of public and private work are those who support and promote their colleagues with sound counsel and positive reinforcement at all times. I think our Scott is such a leader. He told me that being president of the VGEC is an "absolute joy" because of the talented and willfully dedicated people he gets to work with in building the Guild day-to-day. He even said, mindful that he is a "geek's geek", that it is easier to be the Guild president than to chair the communications committee. Scott has provided his vision to us and supported every move we've made by giving us his confidence and trusting us to do our parts. It is the beauty of working with professionals in which I find so much joy. If you see it the same way, I challenge you to find your niche in VGEC, locally in your diocese or nationally on one of the committees mentioned in this post. There is plenty of work for vergers and the VGEC to do in 2015!



Abstract: A conversation with Scott Smith on the State of the Guild as we prepare for our annual conference next week.

Friday, September 12, 2014

John Taylor - Twenty Years a Verger at St. Mary's Kerrisdale, Vancouver, BC



By Ken Holloway with Jane Dittrich and John Taylor

Jane Dittrich of Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, BC wrote about John Taylor's 20 years as a verger in the September edition of the Diocese of New Westminster monthly newsletter, Topic. Jane emailed VGEC president Scott Smith telling him about the upcoming article. She thought that we would be interested. She was "spot-on." An email conversation ensued around our desire to publish a synopsis of the article in the Verger's Voice with a link to the current issue of Topic.

John is the verger at St. Mary's Kerrisdale, Vancouver, BC. He chaired the committee which planned, sponsored and managed the VGEC Conference held in Vancouver in 2000.

Jane introduced John's story starting with his childhood:

"Call it a calling. When a friend informed John Taylor of a job posting at an Anglican Church in 1994, he felt as though life was purposely moving full circle. John, a cradle Anglican originally from Guelph, Ontario, had been inspired by the verger at his family parish of St. George's. There, John was a choirboy, a server (he was promoted to head server at the age of fifteen), and was president of that parish’s chapter of the Anglican Young Peoples' Association (AYPA). During this time, he mindfully observed the parish verger, and admired how he carried himself and how he subtly executed his ministry."

"John knew that he had truly found "home" in August 1994 when, after a successful meeting, he was hired as St. Mary’s verger, by (then rector) the Venerable Bill Stephens and the Parish Wardens. It was the opportunity to return to his Anglican roots, and in a vocational manner designed to fit!"

"In reflecting back on his twenty years as verger of St.Mary's, Kerrisdale, John is immensely grateful to have worked for, and alongside, a number of rectors: Bill Stephens, Matthew Johnson, Kevin Dixon, Paul Borthistle, and the current rector, Jeremy Clark-King."

Click on this link to read the entire September edition of Topic. Notice John's picture in the upper right corner of the front page. His story begins on page 8.

I emailed John and asked him if he would be at the conference in Burlington this year. I also asked him to comment on his ministry, looking back on his tenure at St. Mary's Kerrisdale.

He wrote back, saying: "Thank you for your email. I will indeed be attending the conference in Burlington in September. Unfortunately, I have not been able to attend the last few conferences and I am looking forward to this year's event and to catch up with old friends and new. I am pleased to see the conference being held in another Canadian city and recall, with fondness, hosting the annual conference in Vancouver in 2000."

"I have been given an amazing gift, the gift of being called by God to be the Verger of St. Mary's Kerrisdale Church in Vancouver. A gift of being part of an amazing community for this past twenty years. From the daily interaction with parishioners and neighbours, to the weekly interaction with the Kerrisdale Community Meal guests and volunteers, I have been so richly blessed by virtue of these experiences. And, blessed so many times by the gifts (often unwittingly given) by all whom I have had, and continue to have the opportunity to know and to interact with."

"I am grateful each and every day for the many opportunities which I have been given, while living out my call as the Verger of St. Mary's Kerrisdale. The opportunity for personal growth, continually learning to live more fully into the Life of Christ. The St. Mary's Kerrisdale community has supported and motivated me in that personal growth. I am also grateful that I have the privilege and opportunity to offer my various gifts to this place of worship and community, and to work with so many incredible people every day."

"I experience grace as a direct result of being blessed with sharing so many humbling experiences with the people regularly involved within our St. Mary’s Kerrisdale community and congregation. Along with those many others who come and go from St. Mary's Kerrisdale, sharing their experiences of joy, despair, loss, hope and love. All of these combined, are the very foundations of what the amazing community of St. Mary’s Kerrisdale truly is...the people of God, hand in hand, doing His work on this earth."

"I encourage all vergers to always be open to how God works in, through and with us each day of our lives. The verger ministry of hospitality and worship is so crucial to an active parish's survival. I have discovered in my 20 years as a vocational verger, that an openness to God's abundance and love provides rewards beyond that which we can ask or imagine."

Kind regards,

John Taylor, Verger
St Mary's Kerrisdale Church
Vancouver, BC V6M 1P5



Register for the 2014 Annual Conference
 being held September 25th through 28th in Burlington, Ontario by clicking on the big red button below. Registration deadline is September 15th for consideration of full participation.  After that, if you register for the conference, you may not be able to attend all the sessions and/or the banquet.
Register online today and check vergers.org for contact information on the alternative hotel: the Best Western Plus Burlington Inn and Suites.  Use the promotional code "verg" conference. 



Abstract:  The VGEC conference in Burlington beginning on September 25th will be a great opportunity to meet one of the more experienced vergers on the North American Continent. He was the host committee chair for the VGEC 2000 conference in Vancouver, BC. He began his current job in 1994. "20 years a verger" describes John Taylor. Meet him in Burlington and congratulate him on his tenure.

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Friday, September 5, 2014

Church of England Guild of Vergers 2014 Conference at Elim Centre in Malvern


By Ken Holloway, VGEC News Manager with Stephen Haude, Verger at St. Peter's, Hammersmith

The Church of England Guild of Vergers (CEGV) now holds its conference in Malvern, Worcestershire every year. This year 55 vergers and clergy attended the event in the middle of the Malvern Hills, two and one half hours NW of London.

West Malvern is a village and a civil parish on the west side of the north part of the Malvern Hills at the western edge of Worcestershire. Due to its altitude (up to 750 ft. above sea level) West Malvern has panoramic views of the rolling Herefordshire countryside. The village has a church, St. James, built in 1840 and a primary school (St. James Church of England Primary). The church is the site of the grave of Peter Mark Roget - author of Roget's Thesaurus.
St. James Church, West Malvern

Stephen Haude of St Peter's, Hammersmith, London, UK reports on this year's conference. He is one of three CEGV members who will attend our VGEC conference in Burlington, Ontario, just 20 days away. Be sure to find Stephen and company and offer your hands - "across the pond."

Stephen's first-hand observations of the CEVG conference are a delight:

"Our CEGV Conference was held over 5 days (4 nights) at our usual venue in the beautiful Malvern Hills. It is said to have the finest views in England. The Elim Conference Centre is a lovely country house with modern facilities, en suite rooms and wonderful food with all meals provided. Apart from the lecture room, we have full use of the beautiful historic church a few yards away where we hold all our services."

"The services covered all types of worship including Morning Prayer, Eucharist, Benediction, Choral Evensong, Compline and Taize. We tend to be on the 'high' side with incense etc. This is good experience for those of us who are 'middle of the road' when in our own churches. We try to give everyone a job to do at sometime during conference services, acolytes, crucifer, incense, verging, reading and singing (I was cantor - how I made the poor souls suffer)."

"We had interesting talks on the Psalms, 'The Bible in One Hour' by Revd Dr Simon Taylor and a wonderful performance by the famous Clown Priest, the Revd Roly Bain, known as the Holy Fool. This red-nosed apparition walked a tightrope whilst juggling and spinning plates. His whole act was threaded with a Christian message while our sides ached with laughter."

"The Verger's Arms" aka "The Brewer's Arms"
"During our free time some vergers took advantage of the outdoor heated pool. In the evening we would stroll half mile down the country lane to a traditional English pub (which we re-named The Verger's Arms) for some liquid fortification. It was a good conference with tremendous fellowship. I will be among the three of us who will be flying over the Pond to be with you all in Burlington. We can hardly wait!"





Register for the 2014 Annual Conference
 being held September 25th through 28th in Burlington, Ontario by clicking on the big red button below. Registration deadline is September 15th for consideration of full participation.  After that, if you register for the conference, you may not be able to attend all the sessions and/or the banquet.
Register online today and check vergers.org for contact information on the alternative hotel: the Best Western Plus Burlington Inn and Suites.  Use the promotional code "verg" conference. 



Abstract:  Imagine five days of liturgical exploration including, Morning Prayer, Eucharist, Benediction, Choral Evensong, Compline and Taize. All right we can see you scratching your head. So go ahead, look up Taize. And, mind you, don't stop in at The Verger's Arms Pub unless you ID as a verger. All this reported in this week's story on the Church of England Guild of Vergers annual conference at Elim Conference Center in the Malvern Hills.

Monday, September 1, 2014

VGEC Board Nominations for October, 2014 Election


Great Grandmothers of various VGEC nominating committee members taking a break to pose for the VGEC photographer while campaigning for the 19th amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Nominating and Voting Process

At this year's Annual Meeting on Saturday, September 27th at 8:30am EDT in Burlington, Ontario during the VGEC Annual Conference (September 25th-28th), we will be electing 3 members to serve on the VGEC board. The nomination process has identified six candidates for these three positions. The nomination and election process has and will proceed according to the following rules set forth in the VGEC by-laws:

Article V – Board of Directors hereafter referred to in these bylaws as the “Board.”

The governing body of the Guild at times apart from the Annual Meeting of the entire Guild shall consist of a nine member Board of Directors. Members of the board shall be elected in sets of three annually in staggered terms at the Annual Meeting. Members may be reelected for a second three term. After completing two full terms, a member must observe at least a one year absence before additional board service. Each member of the board shall have one vote.

The Board of Directors shall elect from the its nine members a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, for a one-year term, following the annual meeting.

Nominating Committee: The nominating Committee of the Guild shall be composed of five members appointed by the Board. A Chair shall be elected by the nominating committee. Not more than two members of the Nominating Committee shall be members of the existing Board. The Nominating Committee shall meet six months prior to the annual meeting of the Guild and shall recommend a slate of candidates. The slate shall be submitted to the membership thirty days in advance of the annual meeting. At any annual meeting, a nomination for the Board from the floor may be made by submitting the candidate’s name to the chair of the nominations committee no later than thirty minutes before the start of the meeting.

Nominations: At the annual meeting, the Board (if required) shall be elected by the members. Prior to the meeting, the names of those on the Nominating Committee shall be communicated to all members, who shall have the opportunity to suggest possible names for any officer or board position. A candidate shall be elected by a majority vote of those voting in person. If no one candidate has a majority of those present and voting, a runoff election shall be held and a candidate shall be elected by a majority vote.

Board Candidates - 2014

Candidates for election to the Board at the 2014 VGEC Conference in Burlington Ontario are (in alphabetic order):

Terrance William Hughes Parish Church of St. Luke Burlington, Ontario, Diocese of Niagara

One of five children, three sisters, one brother (Roman Catholic priest). I was raised Roman Catholic and attended St. John the Baptist Catholic School and church, served as an altar boy and attended Delta Secondary School. Father died in 1964 at the age of 51. I left high school with grade 10 education and went to work as a steelworker. I stopped attending church. In 1967 met my wife Chris. Her family were very devoted Anglicans and I began attending services with them. I was accepted into the Anglican Community and we were married in 1968 at St. Luke’s. We have three boys and six grandchildren. I joined the fire service in 1974 and went back to school (part time). I completed courses in residential architecture and fire safety and prevention. Worked fire, rescue until 1998, promoted to fire prevention. Retired in 2001, then worked on contract with City of Burlington, Traffic and Parking Services. Left in 2003 and joined Upper Canada Title as a freelance Title Searcher. Stilled employed part time.

At St. Luke’s, I served as a sides person for many years and served a term on Parish Council. I began as verger in training in 1998 and installed as verger in 1999. I also volunteered at The Carpenter Hospice for three years. I have been a member of the Vergers Guild since 2006.


Ann Davis McClain St Peters Episcopal Church - Paris, Kentucky, Diocese of Lexington

My name is Ann Davis McClain. I have a double first name, Davis being my middle name. People refer to me as Ann Davis. I am a cradle Episcopalian, having attended St. Peter's in Paris, Kentucky my entire life. I am a retired banker, wife, mother, and most importantly, a grandmother!

In my Diocese of Lexington, I am treasurer, secretary, Leadership Training member, deputy to General Convention in 2015, 2012 and 2009. I am a former elected member of our Executive Council for several terms.

At the Parish level, I am a former Senior warden (at a time when we had no rector), Junior warden, Clerk and Treasurer, having been on our vestry numerous times. Currently, I am a Lay Eucharistic Minister, Altar Guild Chairman, Backpack Program Chairman, communion bread maker, part-time volunteer in church office, and Verger since 2007.

I tend to be very organized and diligent about any work I might need to do. If elected, I will join the group with full force, ready to work.


R. Michael Sanchez Christ Episcopal Church Lake Oswego, Oregon, Diocese of Oregon

I am the Music Director at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Oregon City, Oregon. Prior to that, I was the Verger and Asst. to the Minister of Music at Christ Church Episcopal Parish in Lake Oswego, Oregon. This October would've marked my 3rd year as Verger at Christ Church (a ministry which I started). Although I am still new to St. Paul's, I am having ongoing discussions with the Rector regarding starting a Verger ministry, and so far he seems quite receptive to the idea.

I am a part of the Communications and Technology Committee for the VGEC, and I have enjoyed my work there tremendously. I have a love of technology and for working with people, so this was a natural way for me to help our beloved organization. Currently, I serve as webmaster and as "that guy who sends you weekly E-Mails from the VGEC."

As part of the VGEC Board, I would continue my work on the Communications and Technology Committee as well as faithfully executing other Board duties. The VGEC has been such a magnificent organization to be a part of, and I am looking forward to continuing my work in whatever capacity I am called.


Scott Austin Smith Christ Church Cathedral Nashville, Tennessee, Diocese of Tennessee

Born in 1964 in Memphis, Tennessee, I grew up near to grandparents who taught me that going to church was an important part of being actively involved with my community. My brother and sister and I attended St. Luke’s Methodist Church and at my grandfather’s request, I became an acolyte at age seven.

In 1981, I discovered my love for computers and technology at Memphis University School and started a career at age 17 in IT consulting which is what I continue to love and do today. God has blessed me with a career and hobby that I truly love doing.

I moved to Nashville at age 18 to attend Vanderbilt University, and I attended West End Methodist Church for a while. It was not until 1994 that I stumbled into Christ Church and fell in love with the antique nature of the room and space. On that first Sunday, an usher asked me to be one of the oblation bearers. I was hooked!

Through a strange series of events, I became an usher and eventually became head usher in about 1999. During that time, I always enjoyed watching and observing the liturgy from the background. In 2004 to 2005, the head verger, Roy Gottfried, began coming to the back of the nave and hanging out with me more and more. It turns out, he played pickup basketball with my older brother when he was at Vanderbilt. This proves how small a town Nashville really is! One Sunday in 2006, Roy asked me, “Why are you back here ushering when you can come be a sacristan and verger? That’s where the action is!” I agreed to serve one Sunday with him, and at the end of the liturgy I became, “Verger in Training!” I was hooked again! At some point, I joined the VGEC and started the Training Course with Bill Gleason as my course mentor. In 2008, I attended my first VGEC Annual Conference in Burlington, Vermont and I really loved the experience of being with so many like-minded people and I enjoyed getting to know many of you who I now call my friends.

Through the years, I have thoroughly enjoyed my volunteer work with the VGEC. The committees and VGEC board have done many exciting and wonderful things. We rebuilt the vergers.org web site. We have one of the best online Membership Management Systems of any organization our size. We have a growing following on social media and our Verger’s Voice Blog has become hugely popular. We launched the Guild Shop online store on Amazon and have been using those tools to grow and build the guild. We launched the “got vergers?” awareness campaign and have become a highly visible and respected organization in the Episcopal Church and throughout the Anglican Communion worldwide.

Last year, I was honored to be chair of the host committee for the 25th Annual Conference of the VGEC and I was appointed to a one year board seat created by the adoption of our new bylaws and vestry-like board structure. The board elected me president at our first board meeting in 2013. I now hope to be elected to my first 3-year board seat in 2014. We have a lot of exciting things to work on, and I hope to be able to help!


C. John Townsend Church of the Good Shepherd Nashua, New Hampshire, Diocese of New Hampshire

John is a cradle Episcopalian, born and raised in the Diocese of New Hampshire. He was baptized at Christ Church, Exeter and confirmed at St, Christopher’s Church, Hampstead, before moving away to boarding school as a youth. While at Mount Hermon School, in Northfield, Massachusetts, he served as Acolyte for the Episcopal chaplain of the school, as Deacon at the multi-denominational services, and as Chorister in three different choirs. Returning to New Hampshire to attend the University of New Hampshire, he received a B.S. in Hotel Administration, and a B.A. in Linguistics. During that time, he attended St. George’s Church in Durham, and St. Thomas’s Church in Dover, where he assisted with the Youth Group and played on the Interdenominational Softball team. He also served as an Ad Hoc member of the Seacoast Convocation’s Task Force for Christian Education. He then traveled to Valencia, Spain for a semester abroad, and returned to the United States more than four years later, having worked as a teacher of English, as well as in the Accounts Payable office of the newly opened factory of Ford Motor Company (Ford EspaƱa, S.A.) in Almussafes, (Valencia), Spain.

Upon returning to the United States, John settled again in southern New Hampshire, returned to school to earn a degree in Nursing from Rivier College, and became a Registered Nurse, working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua. He joined the Church of the Good Shepherd, in Nashua in 1986, quickly becoming involved in parish life. He became a member of the Fellowship Committee, a role he continues to this day. He served a three year term on the Vestry, serves as a Eucharistic Minister, a Eucharistic Visitor and as Acolyte Master of the Youth Acolyte Corps. He was appointed Verger in 2001, serving under then Head Verger, L. Paul Jauron. He completed the Vergers’ Training Course and received his verge in San Diego, in 2009. John has since worked with the Altar Guild, and the lead Eucharistic Minister to revamp and modernize the customaries of the Altar Guild, the Eucharistic Ministers, Eucharistic Visitors and the Acolyte Corps. He is also working with a new Verger, who is currently completing the Vergers’ Training Course. John also serves as a delegate to the Southern Convocation, where he recently presented a short program on the Vergers Ministry, and to the Diocesan Convention.


Cindy Ware Christ Church Cathedral Lexington, Kentucky, Diocese of Lexington

I grew up in Warsaw in northern Indiana. My family helped start St. Anne's Episcopal Church, which was begun as a small mission church and later achieved parish status. After college, I moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and then Louisville, Kentucky. I presently live in Lexington, Kentucky, and have been an independent Long-Term Care Insurance Broker for 21 years. I have been married to Jim Ware for 28 years, and we have one son, Daniel, who is an architect in Lexington.

Jim and I have attended Christ Church Cathedral since our marriage in 1986. I have been a member of the Vestry (three year term), Director of the Altar Guild (three year term), and became a Verger in the fall of 2009. I became a Fellow of the Vergers' Guild at the conference in Cleveland in 2011, and later that year was named Head Verger of the Cathedral. My duties include training, supervising and scheduling of our nine-person Verger corps, and numerous lay readers and chalice bearers. I have formulated customaries for all services and work closely with the Dean of the Cathedral in planning and executing all services, including regular Sunday services, and special services: Holy Week, ordinations, weddings, and funerals.

I am honored to be considered a candidate for the Board of the VGEC. I believe I offer a love for the Episcopal Church, excellent organizational skills, the ability to work as part of a team, and a desire to learn even more about the joy of being a Verger.