Churchwardens’ Corner: Terrier
Nix and Kay are on a terrier hunt.
The churchwardens were a bit worried as they couldn’t seem to locate the church terrier. We knew the whereabouts of Gracie the Labrador, Fripp the Bearded Collie, Cherry the Cavapoo and Peggoty the whippet but could not find the church terrier anywhere.
Rev Jane thought it might be in the filing cabinet in the vicarage but no one had been able to open that in years. There was no alternative, we needed to get into that filing cabinet and get in fast!
Along came John Haffenden with his trusty crowbar (large screwdriver actually) and basically demolished the filing cabinet.
“It’s here” said Rev Jane enthusiastically holding up a large file!
The history of the church terrier
Seriously, the church terrier is an important historical document. There are church terriers and inventories from many centuries ago listing everything the churches owned including any land. They make really fascinating reading so let’s hope that our terrier will be of interest to all the generations that follow us. Everything that we own as a church is written down in this folder and apparently the Archdeacon can ask to see it when he visits so we better get a move on bringing it up to date.
The other thing the churchwardens have been busy doing is bringing the church logbook up to date. Anything that is added to or removed from the church must be listed in the log book. It will contain all the details re cost, any grants received, name of builder, date of faculty etc.
This too one day will be of great interest to future generations. To make sure it will still be readable we shall be listing everything with a special pen used for archiving. Next step will be to get both the terrier, inventory and the logbook online.
Well, can’t sit here perusing church terriers all day, there’s a wobbly loo seat in the vestry that needs fixing… no rest for the churchwardens.
Nix and Kay
