churchwarden

American  

[church-wawr-dn] / ˈtʃɜrtʃˌwɔr dn /

noun

1. Anglican Church. a lay officer who looks after the secular affairs of the church, and who, in England, is the legal representative of the parish.

2. Episcopal Church. a lay church officer who, with other members of the vestry, is in charge of the temporal management of the parish.

3. a long-stemmed clay pipe for smoking.

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churchwarden British  

/ ˌtʃɜːtʃˈwɔːdən /

noun

1. Church of England Episcopal Church one of two assistants of a parish priest who administer the secular affairs of the church

2. a long-stemmed tobacco pipe made of clay

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Etymology

Origin of churchwarden

1400–50; late Middle English chirche wardeyn

Example Sentences

"Some of the old guard were worried about theft, but we were determined to be open and available to the whole community," says churchwarden Robert Allen.

From BBC • Oct. 10, 2019

Here is a Sunday school superintendent, churchwarden and self-appointed president of a piety league, who religiously highlights the faults in others while constantly trying to pursue his own advancement through “good deeds”.

From The Guardian • Jan. 7, 2017

But we took advantage of 21st-century technology and called churchwarden Chris Moss, who came to show us around.

From Washington Post • Nov. 6, 2015

Or that, perhaps, his churchwarden ended up shattering, upon meeting the floor, three years ago in January.

From New York Times • Mar. 4, 2012

Received by Thankfull Thorpe, churchwarden in the year 1675, of Richard Sharpe of Bennenden, the summe of one pound for shouting of a hare.”—“Arch.

From Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature by Bardsley, Charles W.