Parish administration

Other useful links

• ACAS
• Parish Resources: PAYE

Please do not hesitate to contact the team directly if you have more detailed questions, or if you feel more personalised guidance would be useful.

• Natasha Clement, Head of People: natasha.clement@rochester.anglican.org

APCMs and electoral rolls

The necessary forms for Annual Parochial Church Meetings can be found on the Parish Resources website

Parishes should always use this site as their reference point for these forms, as it will be updated if requirements change at any point.

Don't forget to notify the Diocesan Office of any changes to your Deanery Synod representatives and parochial officers. This information is vital for other elections and keeping our database up to date.

Other useful links:

• Parish Resources: PCCs and APCMs
• PCC Membership Eligibility

Electoral Rolls

Guidance on Church of England electoral rolls and the associated privacy notice can be found here:

• Guidance on the Electoral Roll and GDPR
• Electoral Roll Privacy Notice

If you need further assistance, please contact:

• Suzanne Rogers, Pastoral and Synodical Administrator: suzanne.rogers@rochester.anglican.org

PCCs and PCC Secretaries' Handbook

Each parish has a Parochial Church Council (PCC) which acts as the decision-making body for many of the church’s activities.

It includes, among others, the Incumbent, a Lay Chair and a PCC Secretary (some also include other parish officers such as Churchwardens and PCC Treasurers).

Many of the roles and functions of the PCC can be found in the PCC Secretaries’ Handbook, below, which gives a clear interpretation of the Church Representation Rules in matters such as Parish Council meetings and Annual Parochial Church Council and Parishioners’ Meetings.

Additional information, including many of the forms set out for financial and safeguarding governance, can be found on the Parish Resources website.
 

• PCC Secretaries Handbook

If you need further assistance, please contact: governance@rochester.anglican.org
 

Legal support

The legal team is available to support parishes to ensure their statutory legal requirements are met.

Aound 500 ecclesiastical and charitable trusts and parish properties are vested in the Diocesan Board of Finance (DBF) as a Diocesan Authority Custodian Trustee. The majority are excepted from registration with the Charity Commission.

For the great majority of these trusts, the Parochial Church Council (PCC), or the incumbent and churchwardens of the parish concerned, are the managing trustees and are responsible for the day-to-day management of the trust affairs and property; however the DBF’s consent is required for legal transactions. 

The Diocesan Board of Finance's approval will be required for the following:

• Acquisitions or disposals, sale or lease, of property held under the provisions of the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956.
• Sales or leases of property held under the Incumbents and Churchwardens (Trusts) Measure 1964 or specific trust deeds. 
• Expenditure of proceeds of sale of the above. 
• Applications to the Charity Commission for Schemes or Orders. 
• Applications to the Charity Commission under sections 74 and 75 of the Charities Act 1993 (small charities provisions).
• Release of capital, where allowed by the trust deed. 
• Vesting of new trusts.

Parochial Church Councils, incumbents and churchwardens wishing to enter into any legal transaction involving trust or PCC property are advised to seek guidance from the Diocese's Legal Team, at an early stage in their planning, with regard to the provisions of the relevant trust deed, the PCC (Powers) Measure and the requirements of the Charities Act. 

They can also provide general advice and guidance to parochial officials on charities not vested with the Board upon which they have become ex-officio trustees by virtue of their ecclesiastical office. General advice is also given to those attempting to resolve problems with non-ecclesiastical charities.

For further support, please contact:

• Geoff Marsh: property.legal@rochester.anglican.org

Parish records

Our parishes have a long and rich history and church records are a unique and valuable record of the history and development of a parish. They are therefore of great importance for the church, the Diocese and the local community.

It is essential that the historic records are looked after properly and securely so that they can be preserved for future generations.  Incumbents and churchwardens are legally responsible for the records of a church and the Diocese has put in place a number of measures to help with the management of both historic and current records.

Other useful links:

• Care of parish records - keep or bin? (Church of England)

FInding someone - The Diocesan Contact Management System (CMS)

The Diocesan Contact Management System (CMS) allows you to search for people who hold roles within the Diocese, its parishes and other settings.

All clergy, lay ministers/workers and parish officers are able to request access to the Contact Management System 

The following documents will help you register and use the directory:

Register for a CMS login
CMS user guide

If you need any further assistance, please contact:

• Keith McLennan, IT Manager - Keith.McLennan@rochester.anglican.org

A Church Near You

AChurchNearYou.com, is the Church of England's church-finder tool. It is hugely successful and receives more than 10 million page views a year – 80 per cent of these are from people visiting the site for the first time.

All of the 16,500 churches in the CofE have a page on the website - that includes your church! 

• Churches can log in and edit these pages, adding photos, services and events and information about the life of the church. Follow the steps on our Editor Help Centre to claim your church’s page if you are not yet using the site.
• Churches can also use the site as their main website for free. By following these simple steps, you can point your domain towards your A Church Near You page, so you can still use your existing URL to encourage people to find out more about your church. 
• As an Editor, you also get access to all Church of England campaign material, hymn and music resources, as well as customisable videos to promote your events and encourage generous giving.

Other functions include the ability to add a gallery, news stories and news sheets and to see your analytics on your church's page, showing you how many people have visited your page this week, month and year when logged in.

For more help visit:

• Editor help centre  - lots of help and advice to guide you through all the A Church Near You features.
• Read eight reasons why your church should be using A Church Near You
• You can also contact the Diocesan Communications Team on: communications@rochester.anglican.org