Churchwardens Measure 2001
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Year | 2001 |
| Citation | measure 2001 No. 1 |
Churchwardens Measure 2001
2001
A Measure passed by the General Synod of the Church of England to make fresh provision with respect to churchwardens in the Church of England.
[10th April 2001]
1 Number and qualifications of churchwardens
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Measure there shall be two churchwardens of every parish.
(2)(a) Where by virtue of a designation made by a pastoral scheme or otherwise a parish has more than one parish church, two churchwardens shall be appointed for each of the parish churches, and this Measure shall apply separately to each pair of churchwardens, but all the churchwardens shall be churchwardens of the whole parish except so far as they may arrange to perform separate duties in relation to the several parish churches.
(b) A church building or part of a building designated as a parish centre of worship under section 29(2) of the Pastoral Measure 1983 (1983 No. 1) shall, subject to subsection (4) of that section, be deemed while the designation is in force to be a parish church for the purposes of this subsection.
(3) The churchwardens of every parish shall be chosen from persons who have been baptised and—
(a) whose names are on the church electoral roll of the parish;
(b) who are actual communicants;
(c) who are twenty-one years of age or upwards; and
(d) who are not disqualified under section 2 or 3 below.
(4) If it appears to the bishop, in the case of any particular person who is not qualified by virtue of paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (3) above, that there are exceptional circumstances which justify a departure from the requirements of those paragraphs the bishop may permit that person to hold the office of churchwarden notwithstanding that those requirements are not met. Any such permission shall apply only to the period of office next following the date on which the permission is given.
(5) No person shall be chosen as churchwarden of a parish for any period of office unless he—
(a) has signified consent to serve as such; and
(b) has not signified consent to serve as such for the same period of office in any other parish (not being a related parish) or, if such consent has been signified and the meeting of the parishioners to elect churchwardens of that other parish has been held, was not chosen as churchwarden of that other parish.
In this subsection ‘related parish’ means a parish—
(a) belonging to the benefice to which the first-mentioned parish belongs; or
(b) belonging to a benefice held in plurality with the benefice to which the first-mentioned parish belongs; or
(c) having the same minister as the first-mentioned parish.
(6) In relation to the filling of a casual vacancy among the churchwardens the reference in subsection (5)(b) above to the same period of office shall be construed as a reference to a period of office which includes the period for which the casual vacancy is to be filled.
2 General disqualifications
(1) A person shall be disqualified from being chosen for the office of churchwarden if he is disqualified from being a charity trustee under section 72(1) of the Charities Act 1993 (c. 10) and the disqualification is not for the time being subject to a general waiver by the Charity Commissioners under subsection (4) of that section or to a waiver by them under that subsection in respect of all ecclesiastical charities established for purposes relating to the parish concerned.
In this subsection ‘ecclesiastical charity’ has the same meaning as that assigned to that expression in the Local Government Act 1894 (c. 73).
(2)(a) A person shall be disqualified from being chosen for the office of churchwarden if he has been convicted of any offence mentioned in Schedule 1 to the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (c. 12).
(b) In paragraph (a) above the reference to any offence mentioned in Schedule 1 to the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 shall include an offence which, by virtue of any enactment, is to be treated as being included in any such reference in all or any of the provisions of that Act.
(3) A person shall be disqualified from being chosen for the office of churchwarden if he is disqualified from holding that office under section 10(6) of the Incumbents (Vacation of Benefices) Measure 1977 (No. 1).
(4) All rules of law whereby certain persons are disqualified from being chosen for the office of churchwarden shall cease to have effect.
3 Disqualification after six periods of office
Without prejudice to section 2 above, a person shall be disqualified from being chosen for the office of churchwarden when that person has served as a churchwarden of the same parish for six successive periods of office until the annual meeting of the parishioners to elect churchwardens in the next year but one following the date on which that person vacated office at the end of the last such period:
Provided that a meeting of the parishioners may by resolution decide that this section shall not apply in relation to the parish concerned.
Any such resolution may be revoked by a subsequent meeting of the parishioners.
4 Time and manner of choosing
(1) The churchwardens of a parish shall be chosen annually not later than the 30th April in each year.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Measure the churchwardens of a parish shall be elected by a meeting of the parishioners.
(3) 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 under section 2(1), (2) or (3) above.
(4) A nomination shall not be valid unless—
(a) the nomination paper is received by the minister of the parish before the commencement of the meeting; and
(b) in the case of a person who is not qualified by virtue of section 1(3)(a), (b) or (c) above, the bishop's permission was given under section 1(4) above before the nomination paper is received by the minister of the parish.
(5) 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.
(6) During any period when there is no minister—
(a) subsection (4) above shall apply with the substitution for the words ‘minister of the parish’ of the words ‘churchwarden by whom the notice convening the meeting was signed’; and
(b) subsection (5) above shall not apply.
(7) A person may be chosen to fill a casual vacancy among the churchwardens at any time.
(8) Any person chosen to fill a casual vacancy shall be chosen in the same manner as was the churchwarden whose place he is to fill except that, where the churchwarden concerned was appointed by the minister and the minister has ceased to hold office, the new churchwarden to fill the casual vacancy shall be elected by a meeting of the parishioners.
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