Pastoral Measure 1968
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Pastoral Measure 1968
A MEASURE passed by The National Assembly of the Church of England to make better provision for the cure of souls and for the use, preservation or disposal of redundant churches, to amend the law relating to pluralities, to enable certain pastoral functions of bishops relating to property to be delegated, and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[30th May 1968]
Part I
Procedure for making Pastoral Schemes and Orders
Pastoral Committees
1 Constitution and procedure of Pastoral Committees.
(1) The Diocesan Conference of every diocese shall as soon as possible appoint a committee to be known as the Pastoral Committee of the diocese concerned.
(2) The constitution and rules of procedure of Pastoral Committees shall be those set out in Schedule 1 to this Measure.
(3) The Pastoral Committee of a diocese shall present annually to the Diocesan Conference a report of its activities during the preceding year.
(4) The Diocesan Reorganisation Committees appointed under section 1 of the Diocesan Reorganisation Committees Measure 1941 and the Pastoral Committees appointed under section 1 of the Pastoral Reorganisation Measure 1949 shall cease to exercise any functions and, when they have made their final reports to the Diocesan Conferences, shall cease to exist.
2 Duties of Pastoral Committees.
(1) It shall be the duty of the Pastoral Committee of a diocese from time to time as may be directed by or agreed with the bishop to review the arrangements for pastoral supervision in the diocese or any part thereof and, in cases where they consider it desirable, to make recommendations to the bishop in accordance with the next following section for any of the matters for which provision may be made under Part II or Part III of this Measure (other than section 36 thereof) by a pastoral scheme or pastoral order.
(2) The Pastoral Committee shall at all times—
( a ) have particular regard to the making of provision for the cure of souls in the diocese as a whole, including the provision of appropriate spheres of work and conditions of service for all persons engaged in the cure of souls and the provision of reasonable remuneration for such persons;
( b ) have regard also to the traditions, needs and characteristics of individual parishes.
Procedure for schemes and orders affecting a single diocese
3 Formulation and submission to bishop of draft proposals.
(1) Before deciding to make any recommendations to the bishop, the Pastoral Committee shall so far as may be practicable ascertain the views of the interested parties.
(2) In this Part of this Measure ‘interested parties’, in relation to any recommendations, proposals or draft scheme or order, means—
( a ) incumbents of any benefices which would be affected by the implementing thereof, including vicars in a team ministry established for any such benefice;
( b ) the patrons of any such benefices;
( c ) the parochial church councils of any parishes which would be so affected;
( d ) the archdeacons and rural deans of any archdeaconries and rural deaneries which would be so affected or to which any such benefices or parishes belong; and
( e ) the local planning authority or authorities concerned:
Provided that if the recommendations, proposals, scheme or order is or are limited to creating, naming, altering or dissolving archdeaconries and rural deaneries, no patrons of benefices shall be included among the interested parties, and, in the case of proposals and orders under section 13, the local planning authority or authorities shall not be included.
For the purposes of this subsection a change in the patronage of a benefice shall be deemed to affect that benefice and the parish or parishes thereof.
(3) In the case of interested parties being incumbents or vicars in a team ministry or parochial church councils, the Committee shall, before reaching their decision, afford to each incumbent or vicar and to each council or their representative an opportunity, if desired, of meeting the Committee or a sub-committee or representative thereof:
Provided that, in the case of a recommendation for a union of benefices or otherwise for the dissolution of any benefice or for the holding in plurality of any benefice or benefices, or the establishment of a team or group ministry for any benefice or benefices, or the abolition of any office of vicar in a team ministry, the incumbent of the benefice or each of the benefices or the holder of the office of vicar shall have an opportunity of meeting the Committee itself (as distinct from a sub-committee or representative thereof), if he so desires.
(4) Before deciding to make a recommendation that a declaration of redundancy be made in respect of any church, the Committee shall also ascertain the views of the Council for the Care of Churches, and shall obtain from them information about the historic and architectural qualities of that church and other churches in the area and the historic and aesthetic qualities of their contents.
(5) When the Committee have decided to make recommendations, they shall formulate them in draft proposals and submit them to the bishop, and shall annexe to the draft proposals (in a case to which the last foregoing subsection applies) the comments and information furnished by the Council for the Care of Churches, and the bishop may, with the agreement of the Committee, make such amendments of the draft proposals as appear to him desirable.
(6) If the bishop approves the draft proposals either with or without amendments, he shall submit the proposals as approved to the Commissioners, who shall send copies thereof to the interested parties, informing them that, if the Commissioners prepare a draft scheme or draft order in pursuance of the proposals, they will be given an opportunity of making representations with respect thereto.
The bishop shall also send to the Commissioners, with the proposals, the annexe (if any) containing the comments and information furnished by the Council for the Care of Churches.
4 Amendment of proposals and preparation of draft scheme or order by Commissioners.
(1) The Commissioners shall consider any proposals submitted to them as aforesaid and may make, with the agreement of the bishop given after consultation with the Pastoral Committee, such amendments thereof as appear to them desirable.
(2) If the proposals provide for a declaration of redundancy and also provide, in the circumstances mentioned in section 46 or section 47 of this Measure,—
( a ) for the demolition of the church to which the declaration relates, or
( b ) for the church being put to a use involving architectural or structural changes in the church,
the Commissioners shall consult the Advisory Board.
(3) If it appears to the Commissioners that the implementing of the proposals, with such amendments (if any) as may have been made under subsection (1) of this section, would be within the powers exercisable under Part II or Part III of this Measure (other than section 36 thereof) by a pastoral scheme or order, they shall proceed as follows:—
( a ) if the implementing of the proposals or any of them would require the exercise of powers only exercisable by a pastoral scheme, the Commissioners shall prepare a draft scheme to give effect to the proposals; or
( b ) if all the proposals could be implemented by the exercise of powers by a pastoral order (being powers mentioned in section 38 of this Measure), they shall prepare a draft order to give effect to the proposals:
Provided that—
(i) the Commissioners may, with the agreement of the bishop given after consultation with the Pastoral Committee, decide to proceed with some but not all of the proposals, and in that case this subsection shall apply as if they were the only proposals;
(ii) if some but not all the proposals concerned could be implemented by a pastoral order, the Commissioners may prepare a draft order to give effect to those proposals, or some of them, and prepare a draft scheme to give effect to the other proposals.
5 Notice and publication of draft schemes or orders.
(1) The Commissioners shall serve a copy of any draft scheme or order prepared under the last foregoing section on each of the interested parties, together with a notice stating that written representations with respect thereto may be made to the Commissioners not later than a date specified in the notice, being a date not less than twenty-eight days after the service of the notice.
(2) If a draft scheme provides for a declaration of redundancy, the Commissioners shall—
( a ) also serve a copy thereof on the Advisory Board;
( b ) publish in one or more newspapers circulating in the locality affected by the scheme a notice stating the objects of the draft scheme and naming a place or places within the locality where a copy thereof may be inspected, and stating that written representations with respect to the draft scheme may be made to the Commissioners not later than a date specified in the notice, being a date not less than twenty-eight days after the first publication of the notice in such a newspaper;
and the requirements of paragraph ( b ) hereof shall also apply to a draft scheme providing for any of the matters mentioned in section 30 of this Measure.
(3) The Commissioners shall, in the case of every draft scheme, send copies of...
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