TEN WAYS TO RESIST PARISH REORGANISATION

This is a summary of advice from Save The Parish. It is written to offer help and support to Incumbents, Churchwardens, PCC Members, congregations and parish residents who are presented with plans for pastoral reorganisation - as is currently proposed in Kerrier Deanery in west Cornwall (click here to read about the background).   Click here to read the updated Kerrier Deanery Plan.

The key message: even if you’re feeling tired and exhausted by efforts to save your church from parish reorganisation, PCC mergers and Joint Councils, it is possible to fight back. The more energetically a pastoral reorganisation is resisted, the more likely the fight back is likely to succeed. 

It’s very important to record any consultation that takes place – and your objections.  If the diocese does not engage in proper process, that will be good grounds for objection. 

Here are key ways to resist 

  1. Agree a position with your PCC. A united PCC is a force to reckon with. The PCC has unique statutory powers and responsibilities with which to determine the future of the parish, and has the right to seek the support of the Charity Commission. 

  1. Keep a precise timeline of events and documents relating to any suggestions of reorganisation and/or actual proposals. This includes notice of calling meetings, accurate minutes, record voting figures for your PCC resolutions, etc.  Record disagreement.  If the diocese fails to properly go through the processes, or fails to reply to or take into account your objections, you can complain in writing to the Church Commissioners.   

  1. Organise locally so that people know what’s going on.  Even if they don’t go to church every Sunday,  there will be many people living in your parish who don’t want to see the church closed. Bring together everyone who is concerned.  Many people  will have forebears buried in the churchyard.  Seek support from the Parish Council, local heritage organisations, environmental groups, bellringers, Women’s Institute, the Rotary, schools, youth groups and so on. You could also contact your MP. 

  1. Set up a “Friends of ….” group independent from the PCC (and therefore protected from acquisition by the diocese).  This can focus attention on your church’s history e.g. in Sancreed, its links with the Newlyn artists. 

  1. Aim to get large numbers of objections sent in – in the first stage to the Bishops. Any parishioner, indeed anyone in England, can object to a Pastoral Reorganisation.   The dioceses do not expect large numbers of objections.   

  1. Consider whether serious pastoral harm is being done by the scheme.  If your parish is e.g. a traditional Anglo-Catholic parish being forced to become part of a group under the control of a ‘resource church’, this contravenes the requirement (Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011, s.3) that the traditions of the parish must be one of the factors to be considered when formulating a scheme for pastoral reorganisation. The parish concerned can appeal forcefully against the proposed scheme. 

  1. Engage with local media.  Let people know what’s going on. So many people don’t realise. 

  1. Consider your parish share.   The parish share is a voluntary contribution from the PCC to the Diocesan Board of Finance.  Parishes have no legal obligation to pay a penny in parish share.  Another suggestion is to get agreement from the PCC to place the parish share, or part of it, into a separate fund and withhold it until any dispute with the diocese is resolved.  The PCC could make the diocese aware that the funds are available, subject to agreement.   

  1. Let the bishops know.  It is likely that the Archdeacon will have learned of any opposition to pastoral reorganisation affecting your parish.  But it is still worth formally notifying the bishops of your concerns.  This is also important if the parish share is not going to be paid in full, because the diocesan finance director will be aware of that.   

  1. Take legal advice.  The Registrar of your diocese has an equal obligation to give you advice, as it does to the bishop. They are the Diocesan Registrar, not the bishop’s Registrar, and are partly funded by the Church Commissioners.  It is perfectly possible to make use of them. Jos Moule is the Registrar to the Diocese of Truro. The Registry advises both the clergy and laity, and deals with various matters concerning the Diocese and the Church of England. 

Email:  truroregistry@vwv.co.uk Telephone:  0117 314 5420 

 

THE BACKGROUND: PASTORAL REORGANISATIONS 

a.  How can it be done? 

  • By a Pastoral Church Buildings Scheme 

  • for any reorganisation including closing a church 

  • made by Church Commissioners 

  • By Pastoral Scheme 

  • for any reorganisation except closing a church 

  • made by Church Commissioners 

  • By Pastoral Order 

  • for minor reorganisation usually not affecting legal rights of parishioners 

  • made by the bishop 

  • By Pastoral Order (Short procedure) 

  • for minor reorganisation usually not affecting any legal rights 

  • made by the bishop (with consent of interested parties) 

  • For mission initiatives alongside parish system 

  • Made by the bishop.  

b.  What is the process? 

  • The diocese seeks the views of “interested parties” via Archdeacons and the Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee (DMPC) 

  • The diocese recommends proposals to the bishop (who can make a Bishop’s Mission Order or a Pastoral Order if all interested parties have agreed). 

  • You should see that any comments made by the PCC are passed on fairly to the bishop by the DMPC. 

  • Draft Scheme or Order published (anyone may object to Church Commissioners) 

  • If there are objections the Church Commissioners decide whether the Scheme or Order should go ahead. 

  • The bishop makes a Pastoral Order unless the Church Commissioners decide it should not be made. 

  • Objectors may seek Leave to Appeal against the Commissioners’ decision on a Pastoral Scheme or Pastoral Church Buildings Scheme. 

  • The Church Commissioners make a Scheme unless they decide it should not be made or there is a successful appeal against their decision that it should be made. 

c.  Objections 

The Mission, Pastoral & Church Property Committee of the Church Commissioners (MPCPC)considers objections to proposed pastoral (parish) reorganisation and some clergy housing and glebe transactions. 

  • Objections are legally called representations. 

  • Representations may also be made in support 

d.  Do I have a right of objection? 

  • Anyone has a right to object to a proposed Pastoral Scheme or Pastoral Order to carry out pastoral reorganisation 

  • Only named interested parties have a right to object to clergy housing proposals made under the Church Property Measure 2018 

e.  How will I know about a proposed reorganisation or transaction? 

For pastoral reorganisation: 

  • All current proposals are published on the Church Commissioners’ website . 

  • Named interested parties will be sent notices by letter or email. 

  • Notices will be put up at churches. 

  • Notices will appear in local newspapers for church closures or schemes affecting burials or churchyards. 

For clergy housing: 

  • Letters or emails will be sent to interested parties. 

f.  Clergy Housing and Glebe 

The MPCPC has 3 roles relevant to parishes 

  • Approving some parsonage and glebe transactions 

  • Considering objections to some clergy housing matters 

  • Giving advice. 

The MPCPC has to approve any parsonage transaction and sales or long leases of glebe where a diocese 

  • Has not sought advice from a professional agent; or 

  • Does not wish to follow the agent’s advice, or 

  • the proposed transaction is to a connected party. 

Objections 

  • Patrons, incumbents and PCCs (only) may object to parsonage transactions 

  • Clergy on common tenure may object to the sale of the house which they occupy with their post/ 

  • The MPCPC can adjudicate on whether or not a transaction should proceed where there are objections. 

g.  What happens to a church building if it closes? 

The local diocese will normally seek a suitable alternative use and report to the Commissioners who will decide what happens to the building. This process is explained in more detail in a CofE leaflet ‘What happens when a church building closes?’ 

The possible outcomes are: 

  • Preservation by the Churches Conservation Trust   

  • Conversion to a suitable alternative use 

  • Demolition. 

The Commissioners will carry out public consultation on their proposals.  If there are objections to a proposal, these will be considered by the MPCPC who decide whether the proposals should go ahead. 

Most closed churches are found a suitable new use – some of the more common are: 

  • Worship by another Christian body, Cultural or community use (such as a community centre, library or museum), Residential, Arts centre or theatre, Office use, Monument 

Where an unsuitable building is being replaced, the proceeds from its disposal are applied towards the cost of the new place of worship.  Otherwise, two-thirds of the money goes to the diocese, while the other third helps finance both the Church’s share of funding the Churches Conservation Trust and also the care of other closed churches whose future is yet to be settled. 

 

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