Annual Meetings

These notes interpret the Church Representation Rules and are provided for guidance, but reference should be made to the Rules as necessary.

The Church Representation Rules state

Rule 6(1):
In every parish there shall be held not later than the 30th April in each year the annual parochial church meeting (the “annual meeting”).

Rule 6(2):
All lay persons whose names are entered on the roll of the parish shall be entitled to attend the annual meeting and to take part in its proceedings, and no other lay person shall be so entitled.

Rule 7(1):
The annual meeting shall be convened by the minister of the parish by a notice in the form set out in section 4 of Appendix I to these rules affixed on or near to the principal door of every church in the parish, and every building licensed for public worship in the parish, for a period including the last two Sundays before the day of the meeting.

Rule 11(9):
The result of any election by an annual meeting shall be announced as soon as practicable by the person presiding over the election, and a notice of the result shall in every case be affixed on or near the principal door of every church in the parish and every building licensed for public worship in the parish, and shall bear the date on which the result is declared. The notice shall remain affixed for not less than fourteen days.

Synodical Government Measure 1969 as amended
© The Archbishops’ Council 1984–2003

The Churchwardens Measure 2001, which came into force on 1 January 2002, states:

Section 1:

The churchwardens of every parish shall be chosen from persons who have been baptised and —

whose names are on the church electoral roll of the parish;
who are actual communicants;
who are twenty-one years of age or upwards; and
who are not disqualified. [Note: download the nomination form below for details of disqualifications]

Section 4:

The churchwardens of a parish shall be chosen annually not later than the 30th April in each year.
Subject to the provisions of this Measure the churchwardens of a parish shall be elected by a meeting of the parishioners.
Candidates for election at the meeting must be nominated and seconded in writing by persons entitled to attend the meeting and each nomination paper must include a statement, signed by the person nominated, to the effect that that person is willing to serve as a churchwarden and is not disqualified.
A nomination shall not be valid unless —

the nomination paper is received by the minister of the parish before the commencement of the meeting; and
in the case of a person who is not [normally] qualified, the bishop’s permission was given ... before the nomination paper is received by the minister of the parish.

If it appears to the minister of the parish that the election of any particular person nominated might give rise to serious difficulties between the minister and that person in the carrying out of their respective functions the minister may, before the election is conducted, make a statement to the effect that only one churchwarden is to be elected by the meeting. In that event one churchwarden shall be appointed by the minister from among the persons nominated, the name of the person so appointed being announced before the election is conducted, and the other shall then be elected by the meeting.
Section 5:

A joint meeting of —

the persons whose names are entered on the church electoral roll of the parish; and
the persons resident in the parish whose names are entered on a register of local government electors by reason of such residence,
shall be deemed to be a meeting of the parishioners for the purposes of this Measure.

© Crown Copyright 2001

The Annual Meeting

It is normal for the Election of Churchwardens and the Annual Parochial Church Meeting to be held at the same time. However, the Statutory Notice for the APCM as laid down in the Rules makes no provision for the Election of Churchwardens, so there have to be two notices. The Statutory Notice as laid down by the Rules is available below; also available are a Notice and a nomination form which satisfy the new Churchwardens Measure. Both Notices have to be displayed for a period of at least fourteen days including the two Sundays before the Meeting.

Note also that the Election of Churchwardens can be attended by people who are not on the Electoral Roll. They can attend and vote, but are not entitled to attend the APCM and they may be excluded from that meeting. By the same token, there is nothing to stop a parish allowing such people to attend the APCM, and this may be pastorally advantageous.

Borough or District Electoral Registration Officers are not permitted to supply a Full [unedited] Register of Electors for the purposes of determining the eligibility of anyone to vote in the Election of Churchwardens. Parishes can purchase the Edited Register, but this is by definition not complete. If there is doubt about the validity of someone’s vote, a suitable procedure could be:

the minister should object to the conduct of the election by show of hands, and the election should be conducted with ballot papers. Ballot papers must be signed on the back.
the vote should be taken and ballots counted
if ballots of doubtful validity will have a material effect on the result of the vote, declaration of the result should be deferred until the eligibility of the voter has been verified. This can be done by inspecting the Full Register which must be made available by the Electoral Registration Officer, usually at the Council Offices or often at main libraries.

From 2002, prospective churchwardens must be members of the electoral roll; in prior years residence in the parish was sufficient. That year marked the start of the six-year qualifying period for terms of office. Unless an annual meeting determines otherwise, churchwardens elected in 2002 must retire in 2008, if they do not do so before then; those who have served continuously from 2002 to 2008 must then have two years “off” and become eligible for the office again in 2010.

Electoral Roll

The electoral roll is a list of names and addresses of every person who can vote in the annual parochial church meeting. A new roll was created last year, 2007, and so therefore this year the electoral roll is only to be amended with any new names that have been added or taken off.

Notices of revision should be posted 5-6 weeks before the annual parochial church meeting on or near the main church door, see download below with a copy of the existing roll. This should be displayed for 14 days. Anyone who wishes to join the roll, not existing members, need to fill in an application form and return it to the Electoral Roll Officer The Electoral Roll Officer will then make the appropriate changes and then display the revised roll between 15-28 days before the annual parochial church meeting. The list should remain displayed until the date of the meeting. Changes can be made to names and addresses on the roll at this point but no new names can be added until the completion of the annual parochial church meeting.

Note that from 1 January 2004, no-one over 18 can be elected to the PCC until they have been members of the Roll for six months. This does not apply to young people under the age of 18, who can be elected to the PCC from their 16th birthday.

The Deanery Synod

The next election to the Deanery Synod occurs this year 2008. The number of representatives will be determined by referring to the Electoral Roll which was completely revised in 2007.

Figures for working out the number of lay representative from a parish to deanery synod

Number on electoral roll:
1-25
26 – 100
101 – 200
201 – 300
301 – 400
401 – 500
501-700
701-900
901-1100
1101 plus

Number of lay representatives:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Between formal election years, vacancies for Deanery Synod representatives may be filled by appointment by the PCC.

Electing the Parochial Church Council

Some people are ex-officio members of the PCC:

The parish priest, and any ordained minister or deaconess or layworker licensed to the parish;
Any other clergy in a team ministry;
The churchwardens (and deputy wardens, if permitted);
Any readers whom the Annual Meeting has appointed to the PCC;
Members of the Roll who are members of higher synods

Any lay member in the above list can also be a member as an elected lay representative. For example, an existing elected member could become churchwarden in the middle of their term of membership. That member would fill one of the places in the elected membership as well as an ex-officio position. However no person may have more than vote (except the chairman when a casting vote is needed). A person who is appointed to an ex-officio position may choose to resign their elected membership and have that vacancy filled by someone else, but there is no requirement to do so.

The 2004 Rules lay down the number of elected lay representatives on the Parochial Church Council:

Electoral Roll		PCC Members
Not more than 50		Six
51–100		Nine
101–200		Twelve
Over 200		Fifteen

The above figures will apply to elections from 2005 onwards unless the Annual Meeting in 2004 passed a resolution varying them. Given that the transition to these membership numbers may not be completed until 2007, it is advisable NOT to amend them further until any transitional arrangements have been completed. If parishes wish to amend them, examples are included below.

Note that the revision of the Electoral Roll in 2007 may indicate that the size of the PCC must change before any existing transitional arrangements are completed. It’s possible to make this change as long as you remember that continuing members keep their existing retirement dates.

Whatever number is settled on for the PCC, you cannot truncate the terms of any existing members. So although any change should be completed as soon as possible — immediately if it can be — you may need to phase changes in (in which case it will all be completed in three years).

If your PCC is reduced in number by the Rules

Elect a third of the new size in each year. Each newly-elected third will be smaller than the number of members who retire.

If your PCC was enlarged

The two “thirds” of the PCC continuing on the PCC and retiring in subsequent years will be too small. You need to elect a number of members equal to the new total less the number of continuing members. Then, draw lots among those just elected to find who serves for three years, and who will enlarge the other thirds to the new larger number.

Example: PCC enlarged from nine members to fifteen

Three members retire in 2007, three in 2008 and three in 2009. The number to be elected this year is five to retire in 2010, and two more for each of the other thirds of the PCC (to raise them from three to five each), making nine in total. Having elected nine members, draw lots to find the five who serve for three years, two who serve for two years and two to serve for one year. In 2008, elect the third of the PCC who retire (five members).

Amending the number of PCC members

A different number can be substituted for Rolls of up to 50 or up to 100 members; and a different increment can be specified for the larger PCCs. If a parish’s Electoral Roll might be expected to fluctuate around one of the break-points, changing the size of the PCC each year, this should certainly be considered! It should still be possible to split the PCC into thirds, so numbers should be carefully chosen. Thus the following would be valid (among lots of other alternatives):

Electoral Roll		PCC Members
Not more than 50		Six
51–100		Twelve
101–200		12+3=15
Over 200		15+3=18

Electoral Roll		PCC Members
Not more than 50		Nine
51–100		Nine
101–200		9+0=9
Over 200		9+0=9

This second example is suitable for parishes which are expected to fluctuate around 100 or 200 members.

Any amendment in PCC numbers cannot take effect immediately; an amendment made by a resolution at an APCM cannot take effect until the next Annual Meeting. If you are subject to transitional arrangements because your PCC was reduced in number, this may cause additional complications.

The transitional arrangements are made clear in the Synodical Government (Amendment) Measure 2003 which amended the Church Representation Rules. They are not included in the Rules themselves and the maroon CHP publication is open to misinterpretation.

Parishes who elected the entire PCC annually up to 2004

If you did not pass a resolution in 2004 to continue with this method of electing the PCC, from 2005 you must have operated a triennial PCC where members serve for three years with a third of them retiring each year.

If you continued with an annual PCC after 2004, the decision not to introduce a triennial PCC must be reviewed at least once every six years — a resolution to continue with an annual system must be passed before 2011 (that is, 2010 is the last year for such a resolution). If no resolution is passed, a triennial PCC must be introduced in 2011.

Changing back to an annual PCC from a triennial one is difficult as the term of office of any member cannot be truncated.

Downloads available

You will find here copies of the following forms:

Rule 7(1) Notice (Notice of Annual Meeting)
Rule 11(9) Notice (Notification of Results of Elections)
Notice of the Election of Churchwardens
Notice of the Preparation of New Electoral Roll
Rule 2(1) Notice (Annual Revision of the Electoral Roll)
Application for Membership of the Electoral Roll (Rule 1(2))
Form of nomination of Churchwardens
Form of nomination for Election to PCC
Form of nomination for Election to Deanery Synod
Application for Postal Vote

You may reproduce any of the forms locally. The Electoral Roll Application form is designed to be printed back-to-back (so that the notes will appear on the back of the form) and then cut in half to provide A5 forms. The churchwardens’ nomination form can either be printed in the same way; or the back can be used for local notes about the duties of churchwardens. The other nomination forms are A5.

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