Frequently Asked Questions - Pastoral Matters

Frequently Asked Questions - Pastoral Matters

• How do we find out whether new housing being built near the village is in our parish?

  The Pastoral Department can supply maps showing parish and benefice boundaries. Changes to boundaries may be made by a Pastoral Order following consultation with the parishes affected and other interested parties. You can also find out which parish a property is in on the A Church Near You website, by entering the post code in the parish finder.

• What is a benefice?

  A benefice is one or more parishes in the care of an incumbent, who may be a Rector or a Vicar. In modern terms there is no difference between a Rector and a Vicar.

• Our benefice has a long name which lists all the parishes. We have agreed a shorter name that we use on the magazine and benefice paperwork, can we make it legal?

  If all the PCCs have agreed, it is very simple to change the benefice name by a Bishop's Order under the Pastoral Measure, using a shortened consultation procedure.

• In our multi-parish benefice the PCCs all discuss the same topics, is there a better way of doing things so that there are fewer meetings and it is easier to work together on matters of common interest?

  The PCCs can resolve to form a Joint PCC (often known as "the Benefice Council") by a Scheme under the Church Representation Rules. The JPCC can deal with all matters of common interest, reducing the workload on the individual PCCs. A model CRR scheme may be obtained from the Pastoral Secretary.

• What is a Team Ministry?

  A Team Ministry is usually created as a result of a union of benefices. The new benefice will be in the pastoral care of two or more clergy in a Team Ministry; a Team Rector and one, or more, Team Vicars. In this diocese team clergy are customarily licensed to the whole Team although they usually divide the workload so that each parish knows who is "their vicar". Sometimes a Team Vicar may have a responsibility across the benefice for a particular area of work – e.g Youth Work. A Team Ministry will usually have a Team Council which works like a Joint PCC (see above) in addressing matters of common interest to all the parishes in the Team.

• What is a Group Ministry?

  In a Group Ministry a group of two or more benefices work together. The clergy have a legal duty to assist each other to make the best provision for pastoral care of the whole area. Each of the clergy has authority to perform offices and services in the other benefices but must act in accordance with the directions of the incumbent concerned.

• We have heard that a new mission post is being created in our area, under a Bishops Mission Order; what does this mean?

  A Bishops Mission Order (BMO) enables the Bishop to affirm mission initiatives that foster a new and distinctive Christian community (likely to be a “fresh expression of church”). It may include a number of parishes and ecumenical partners, for example a BMO could be made for collaborative work between several parishes and their ecumenical partners to form a Christian community in an area of new housing development.

• Our Vicar is leaving. The Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee has recommended that presentation should be suspended. What does this mean and why is it happening?

  The Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee may recommend suspension of presentation as a step towards pastoral re-organisation suggested by the Deanery Strategic Plan. Instead of the patrons selecting a candidate to present to the Bishop for induction as Incumbent, the Bishop will appoint a Priest-in-Charge.

  Diocesan good practice is that the appointment process for a Priest-in-Charge will be the same as for an Incumbent; the patrons and representatives of the PCC will be invited to take part in the selection process. Often a Priest-in-Charge will later be appointed first incumbent as part of the Scheme for pastoral re-organisation.

  Sometimes presentation to a small benefice will be suspended so that a half-time post of parish priest can be combined with a sector ministry responsibility or a House for Duty appointment. The DMPC will also recommend suspension of presentation for legal reasons where it has been agreed that the parsonage house is to be relocated.

• Who does what during the vacancy and where can we obtain advice and help?

  There is a Vacancy Information Pack for churchwardens of parishes that are in a vacancy which can be downloaded here.

• A neighbour has asked to buy a small part of the churchyard; there are no burials in the area. Is this OK?

  Part of a churchyard may be sold following a Pastoral Scheme to appropriate the land for another use (e.g. as a garden) and remove the legal effects of consecration. There will usually be a joint valuation and the purchaser will pay the legal costs and an administrative charge. The proceeds of sale will be vested in the Board of Finance but may be released for capital purposes in the parish.

• There are five parish churches in our benefice. One is in a very small village, and the congregation would prefer to travel to the next village most Sundays to be part of a larger worshipping community. We don't want to close the church. What can we do?

  The status of a church may be changed by a Pastoral Scheme designating it as a Chapel of Ease. A Chapel of Ease is consecrated and does not have churchwardens, but it may have "Deputy Wardens", nor are there the same requirements for regular Sunday worship. Chapels of Ease need not be licensed for marriages although many of those that were previously parish churches are. If there is no other church in the parish the Pastoral Scheme may also unite the parish with one of its neighbours. The PCC of the new united parish may form a local church committee as a sub-committee of the PCC to look after purely local issues for the Chapel of Ease (e.g cleaning, grass cutting). A model PCC resolution to form a local church committee can be obtained from the Pastoral Secretary.

• One of the parish churches in our benefice has a tiny congregation of older people who have given a lifetime of support. Sadly, they are no longer able to continue as churchwardens or parish officers. We may have to close the church; what would happen?

  If requested to do so by the PCC, the Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee (DMPC) will publish proposals to close the church for regular public worship; usually the proposals will also unite the parish with one of its neighbours. There will be a new PCC for the united parish. When the church is closed for regular public worship it will pass into the ownership of the Diocesan Board of Finance, and the Re-use of Closed Churches Working Group (a sub-committee of the DMPC) will be responsible for its care whilst an alternative use is sought.

• The URC church in our parish is in poor repair and the congregation wants to sell it and use the parish church. How can we formalise the situation?

  There is a model format for a Church Sharing Agreement under the Sharing of Church Buildings Act 1969. The approval of the DMPC and the Diocesan Board of Finance is required. The Diocesan Registrar can provide help and advice.