Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a Rector and a Vicar? Well.....
A Rector was originally the incumbent of a parish who received all the tithes and customary offerings and dues. He was responsible for the upkeep of the chancel and rectory, and for the provision of vestments and service books. When an ecclesiastical body, such as a monastery, annexed a benefice it became nominally the rector and appointed a deputy called a Vicar (from the Latin vicarius - meaning ‘substitute’ or ‘deputy’) to administer the parish. However the Great Tithes went to the monastery as Rector, and the Small Tithes to the Vicar. After the reformation many monastic estates fell into lay hands and subsequently Lay Rectors became common; they had the right to nominate the vicar but had to seek the bishop’s approval. They also inherited the obligation to keep up the chancel and vicarage.
Tithes were virtually abolished in 1936 and a Vicar is now appointed to all new livings. The designation Rector now being applicable to the incumbent of a new joint benefice or united parish, or on the creation of a team ministry, even where none of the constituent parishes had a Rector in the immediate past.
And..... A Parson was originally a Rector, though the term is now applied also to a Vicar. Before the seventeenth century a Curate was any minister who had the cure of souls, especially a deputy who was in full charge of a parish, but could be removed by his employer. Since then the term has come to mean an assistant to an incumbent or an unbeneficed clergyman. A Perpetual Curate was the minister of a parish in which the Great Tithes had been annexed by an ecclesiastical body or lay person.
Now that’s cleared that up - I think!