Charleen just sent this to me. Sharing with you in case you are interested or find it helpful Because we have been brought up in this country with separation of Church and State, we may not understand exactly what the Church of England (C of E) was and what its duties and responsibilities were during Colonial times. *Duties and Responsibilities of the Church of England ministry during Colonial Times.* Besides administering to the spiritual needs of its members, the clergyman, clerks and vestrymen of the Parish also served the community in much the same way as our modern county administrators, and health and welfare departments. The clergy, his clerk and sometimes an actual tax collector, collected taxes. The vestrymen (usually landed gentry) set the amount of tax and what it would be based on. The C of E kept track of births (baptisms were sometimes taxed), marriages (always taxed) and deaths in the Parish Records. Taxes were collected to run the church and take care of the poor. Vestry Records contain lists of taxes collected and from whom (revenue); some deaths, and "welfare" information, such as payments to people caring for indigents; the church paying for caskets and burials for the indigent; the sick, disabled or orphans being placed in people's homes with an allowance for their care; etc.; also, various donations to the church, and craftsmen who worked on the church (expenses). Starting with the 1662--Act of the Assembly: Ministers were required to prove that they were ordained by an English bishop, and all others were prohibited from teaching or preaching, publicly or privately. (One instance was in 1682 when Francis Makemie, a Presbyterian minister landed in New England; preached a sermon; and was jailed within "a very short period of time".) Religion in the colonies was established by law; the union of church and state put the church under the political control of the state. Doris of http://www.dmkheritage.com/store/