Team and Group Ministries Measure 1995

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citationmeasure 1995 No. 1
Year1995


Team and Group MinistriesMeasure 1995

A Measure passed by the General Synod of the Church of England to make further provision with respect to team and group ministries.

[28th June 1995]

I Amendment of Pastoral Measure 1983

Part I

Amendment of Pastoral Measure 1983

S-1 Team ministries.

1 Team ministries.

(1) Section 20 of the Pastoral Measure 1983 (establishment of team ministries) shall have effect subject to the following amendments.

(2) In subsection (1) in paragraph (b) for the words ‘licence or permission of the bishop’ there shall be substituted the words ‘a provision contained in a licence or permission of the bishop’.

(3) In subsection (2) for the words from the beginning to ‘specified in the scheme’ there shall be substituted the words ‘The office of rector in a team ministry shall be held by each holder thereof for the specified term of years’.

(4) In subsection (3) for the words from ‘such term of years’ to ‘bishop's licence’ there shall be substituted the words ‘the specified term of years’.

(5) After subsection (3) there shall be inserted—

(3A) A person ordained to the office of deacon who is authorised under subsection (1)(b) by licence of the bishop—

(a) to serve in a team ministry as a member of the team; and

(b) for the purposes of the team ministry to perform, so far as consistent with the office of deacon, all such offices and services as may be performed by an incumbent,

shall serve for the specified term of years; and any such person shall, during that term, have the same security of tenure of his office as an incumbent of a benefice, and shall not be affected by a vacancy in the benefice of the rector.

(3B) Any other person who is authorised under subsection (1)(b) by licence of the bishop to serve in a team ministry as a member of the team shall serve for a term of years to be specified in the licence, but no person shall be authorised as aforesaid unless he has been nominated for that purpose by the rector with the consent of a majority of the other members of the team and of each parochial church of council concerned:

Provided that it shall not be necessary for the person concerned to be nominated for that purpose by the rector as aforesaid where that person is authorised to serve in a team ministry for a period immediately following a period of service in the team ministry.’.

(6) In subsection (6)—

(a) after the word ‘ministry’ there shall be inserted the words ‘or for which a deacon to whom subsection (3A) applies is authorised to serve in a team ministry’;

(b) for the words ‘length of the original term’ there shall be substituted the words ‘specified term of years’;

(c) for the words ‘or vicar concerned’ there shall be substituted the words ‘, vicar or deacon concerned’.

(7) After subsection (8) there shall be inserted—

(8A) A pastoral scheme establishing a team ministry or, subject to the scheme, the bishop's licence may assign to any member of the team who is not a member of the team chapter a special responsibility for pastoral care in respect of a part of the area of the benefice, so far as consistent with that member's office; and, if any such provision as aforesaid is made by the bishop's licence, it may (subject to the scheme) be varied or revoked by a subsequent licence under seal.’.

(8) In subsection (9) after the words ‘vicars in a team ministry’ there shall be inserted the words ‘and deacons in a team ministry to whom subsection (3A) applies’.

(9) After subsection (9) there shall be inserted—

(9A) The Ecclesiastical Offices (Age Limit) Measure 1975 shall apply to deacons in a team ministry to whom subsection (3A) applies as if they were vicars in the team ministry and, accordingly, no person shall be capable of being authorised by licence of the bishop to serve in a team ministry as such a deacon if at the time of the issue of the licence he has attained the age of seventy years.’.

(10) In subsection (10) for the words from ‘shall preside’ to the end there shall be substituted the words ‘, unless a pastoral scheme otherwise provides, the rector shall preside, except that if he requests otherwise or is absent a deputy chairman appointed by the meeting shall preside’.

(11) After subsection (10) there shall be inserted—

(10A) Any member of the team in a team ministry may, by notice in writing, request the rector to convene a team meeting under subsection (10) to be held within the period of twenty-eight days following the service of the notice; and, if the rector fails to comply with such a request, that member may himself convene the meeting.’.

(12) At the end there shall be inserted—

(13) Where the rector in a team ministry established for any benefice receives a statutory notice concerning ecclesiastical property in the benefice, he shall—

(a) keep every member of the team informed of matters arising from the notice;

(b) afford every member of the team an opportunity to express views thereon before taking any action in response to the notice; and

(c) have regard to those views before taking any such action.

(14) Where a benefice for which a team ministry is established becomes vacant the bishop may appoint a person holding the office of vicar in the team ministry to act as rector in the team ministry for the purposes of subsections (3B), (7) and (10), and any person so appointed shall be deemed to hold the office of rector in the team ministry for the purposes of those subsections while the benefice remains vacant.

(15) In this section ‘specified term of years’ in relation to a team ministry means such term of years as may for the time being be specified for the team ministry for the purposes of subsections (2), (3) and (3A) by a pastoral scheme or pastoral order; and in the case of a team ministry for which no term of years is so specified seven years shall be deemed to be the specified term of years for the purposes of those subsections.

(16) In this section—

‘ecclesiastical property’ has the same meaning as in section 12(3) of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 ;

‘statutory notice’ means a notice given in pursuance of any enactment or of any instrument made under an enactment.’.

(13) Section 20 of the 1983 Measure, as amended by this section, is set out in Schedule 1 to this Measure.

S-2 Team ministries established under Pastoral Measure 1968.

After section 20 of the 1983 Measure there shall be inserted—

S-20A

20A ‘Team ministries established under 1968 Measure.

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, in the case of a team ministry established for the area of any benefice under a pastoral scheme made and confirmed by Order in Council under the Pastoral Measure 1968(b), that is to say, provisions for the pastoral care of persons in that area by those who are to share the cure of souls therein together with all other persons who are from time to time authorised by licence or permission of the bishop to serve in that area as members of the team.

(2) The persons who are to share the cure of souls in the said area shall constitute the team chapter, and the team chapter together with the other persons deemed to be referred to in the scheme by virtue of subsection (1) shall constitute the team.

(3) The pastoral committee of each diocese shall, as soon as possible after the passing of the Team and Group Ministries Measure 1995, send to the secretary of the parochial church council of every parish comprised in the area of a benefice in the diocese for which a 1968 Measure team ministry is established a notice stating that written representations to the effect that subsections (1) and (2) should not apply to the team ministry may be made to the pastoral committee within the period of six months immediately following the date on which the notice was sent, and require him to affix a copy on or near the principal door of every church in the parish and every building licensed by the bishop for public worship in the parish.

(4) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to any team ministry until the expiration of the period of six months immediately following the date on which the notice referred to in subsection (3) was sent to the parishes concerned and if, within the said period of six months, written representations as aforesaid with respect to a 1968 Measure team ministry are received by a pastoral committee—

(a) the pastoral committee shall forthwith refer the representations to the Commissioners, and the Commissioners shall then as soon as possible consider the representations and determine whether or not subsections (1) and (2) are to apply to the team ministry; and

(b) subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to the team ministry unless and until the Commissioners determine that they are to apply to it.’

S-3 Alteration of team and group ministries.

3 Alteration of team and group ministries.

(1) Section 22 of the 1983 Measure (provisions which may be included in pastoral scheme) shall have effect subject to the following amendments.

(2) In subsection (1)—

(a) after paragraph (b) there shall be inserted—

‘(bb) alter a team ministry by providing for the right of presentation of the rector to be transferred to a patronage board constituted by the scheme or to the diocesan board of patronage;

(bbb) alter a team ministry by providing for the vicars therein to be chosen by the body entitled to present the rector, in accordance with paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 3;’;

(b) for paragraph (c) there shall be substituted—

‘(c) with the consent of the rector or vicar concerned, change the office of a rector in a team ministry from a freehold office to an office held for the specified term of years or alter the term of years for which an office of rector or vicar in a team ministry is held to accord with the specified term of years;’;

(c) after paragraph (c) there shall be inserted—

‘(cc) specify the term...

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