Since its founding, St. John’s, like other Maryland parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington (EDOW), has been organized under the authority of the Maryland Vestry Act—a statute enacted in 1798! Earlier this year Maryland enacted a new law that largely repeals the Vestry Act and encourages Maryland EDOW parishes to become “religious corporations” under modern Maryland law, just as parishes elsewhere in Maryland have done for the last several decades.
The changes prompted by this new law will affect only the “corporate and temporal” affairs of the Church, bringing its legal status up to date and aligning it with current Maryland law (rather than the outdated Vestry Act).
Based on recommendations from the Governance Coordinating Committee (GCC) and the Co-Chancellors, parishioners will be asked at the 2025 Annual Parish Meeting to approve changes to assure St. John’s conformity with the amended Maryland law. The changes will be explained in detail in future Crossroads articles and at a Vestry forum in early 2025.
