vestry

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A room in or attached to a church where the clergy put on their vestments and where these robes and other sacred objects are stored; a sacristy.
• noun A room in a church used for meetings and classes.
• noun A committee of members elected to administer the temporal affairs of a parish.
• noun A business meeting of parishioners in a parish.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A room, or sometimes a separate building, attached to a church, where the vestments of the clergy, and sometimes the sacred vessels and other treasures of the church, are kept.
• noun In non-liturgical churches, a room or building attached to a church, and used for the Sabbath-school, the weekly prayer-meetings, religious services, etc.; a chapel.
• noun In English ecclesiastical law, and in American colonial law: A meeting of the inhabitants or ratepayers of a parish for the despatch of the official business of the parish.
• noun A meeting or a board consisting of representatives of the ratepayers at large, all of whom are entitled to vote in their election.
• noun In the Prot. Epis. Ch. in the United States of America, a committee (chosen annually by the members of the congregation) who, in conjunction with the churchwardens, manage its temporal affairs.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun A room appendant to a church, in which sacerdotal vestments and sacred utensils are sometimes kept, and where meetings for worship or parish business are held; a sacristy; -- formerly called revestiary.
• noun (Ch. of Eng.) A parochial assembly; an assembly of persons who manage parochial affairs; -- so called because usually held in a vestry.
• noun (Prot. Epis. Ch.) A body, composed of wardens and vestrymen, chosen annually by a parish to manage its temporal concerns.
• noun in the city of London, and certain specified parishes and places in England, a body composed of householders who pay poor rates. Its duties include the repair of churches, care of highways, the appointment of certain officers, etc.
• noun a select number of persons chosen in large and populous English parishes to represent and manage the concerns of the parish for one year.
• noun (Ch. of Eng.) a vestry. See def. 2, above.
• noun an officer chosen by the vestry, who keeps a record of its proceedings; also, in England, one who keeps the parish accounts and books.
• noun the meeting of a vestry or vestry board; also, a meeting of a parish held in a vestry or other place.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A room in a church where the clergy put on their vestments and where these are stored; also used for meetings and classes; a sacristy
• noun A committee of parishioners elected to administer the temporal affairs of a parish

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun in the Protestant Episcopal Church: a committee elected by the congregation to work with the churchwardens in managing the temporal affairs of the church
• noun a room in a church where sacred vessels and vestments are kept or meetings are held