• Liturgy
• Pensions and Housing
• Themed services and events
• Clergy Appointments Adviser
• Bishops and Cathedral staff
• Ministry
• Remuneration and Conditions of Service Committee
• Clergy Payroll Services
• Common Tenure
• Archbishops' Secretary for Appointments
• Archbishops' Adviser on Bishops' Ministry
• Pastoral and Closed Churches
  • Pastoral Division
    • Pastoral Committee
    • Representations to the Pastoral Committee
    • Pastoral Division Staff
    • Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011
    • Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 Code of Practice
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committees
    • Pastoral matters - procedural and administrative
    • Impact of Common Tenure
    • Bishops' Mission Orders
    • Mission Scenarios
    • Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure
    • Parsonages and Glebe Administration
    • Planning Appeals & Court Judgments
    • Parsonages: A Design Guide
    • Parsonages and Glebe Diocesan Manual
    • Repair of Benefice Buildings Measure Code of Practice
    • Miscellaneous Provisions Measure
    • Value Linked Loans
    • Relevant Legislation
    • Church Property
    • Chancel Repair Liability
    • Links
    • Contact Us
  • Closed Churches
  • Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011
  • Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 Code of Practice
  • Committee Hearings
  • Contact Us
• Child Protection & Safeguarding
• PCC information

This page explains the work of the Pastoral Division of the Church Commissioners and diocesan colleagues involved in pastoral work

New arrangements for pastoral care are given legal effect under the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 by Schemes made by the Commissioners (Pastoral Schemes) or by Orders made by the bishop (Pastoral Orders). Sections 31-54 of the Measure cover the matters which may be dealt with by a Scheme while s.51 lists more minor matters which may be dealt with by an Order. S.17 of the Measure enables all matters capable of being dealt with by an Order to be dealt with by the diocese under a simplified procedure if all the interested parties agree in writing.

Part 7 of the 2011 Measure includes provisions for Bishops' Mission Orders (under S.80) which bishops can use to endorse and provide oversight of mission initiatives.

Please note two important changes brought about by the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011:

(i) under S.7(2) of the 2011 Measure, in matters where no church building is proposed for closure, the DMPC secretary must send a copy of the Bishop's signed proposals to the registered patrons of the affected benefices. This will additionally, where appropriate, trigger restriction of presentation under S.87(1) and s.87(3) - this principle also applies in connection with a proposed church closure matter under S.22(2) of the Measure which additionally contains matters provided for in sections 31, 32, 34, 35 and/or 36; and

(ii) under S.6(4) of the 2011 Measure (or S.21(3) where a church building closure is being proposed), any person holding office under Common Tenure whose current office will cease to exist should the matter proceed to completion and who is entitled to receive a remuneration (can be stipend; stipend + accommodation; or just accommodation) is deemed to be an interested party and must have any draft Pastoral Scheme or Pastoral Church Buildings Scheme served on them accordingly. However, under the provision of s.39(3) of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 it is mandatory for a Pastoral Scheme which would have the effect of causing any ecclesiastical office held under Common Tenure to cease to exist to include the provision in delaying the coming into effect of the Scheme for up to six months after it is made. Please therefore treat all persons on Common Tenure (irrespective of whether they are in receipt of remuneration) as an interested party as a matter of good practice. 

------------------------------------------------------------

The pastoral work falls into the two following main categories:

(1) Pastoral Church Buildings Schemes

(a) In any proposals involving the closure of a church building, the Commissioners will draft and publish the Scheme (i.e. where, for example, there is an union of benefices and parishes, and a proposed declaration of closure for regular public worship of a church building,  the Commissioners will be the ones drafting and publishing the draft Schemes).

(b) Local Planning Authorities are now only statutory interested parties in matters involving a church building closure. In addition Civil Parish Councils must now also be consulted in such instances (or, where there is no parish council, the chairman of the parish meeting). Additionally, as a matter of good practice, the Commissioners will also ask the diocese to provide them with details of the ward councillors of any parish in which any such church building is located, in order to also serve notices on them;

AND

(2) Pastoral Schemes and Orders

Diocesan colleagues will be drafting and publishing the statutory notices for draft Schemes and Orders, but only after any such draft has been approved by the Commissioners. They will also be circulating the completed Schemes, Orders and Instruments to the interested parties including anyone with an interest in a particular matter, e.g. a non-stipendiary minister looking after any of the affected parishes; representors. 

The Commissioners will need to approve any draft Scheme or Order before it is published to the statutory interested parties. Representations will need to be made to the Commissioners, with the Commissioners' Pastoral Committee adjudicating on them.

Anything that is capable of being achieved via a Pastoral Order can also be dealt with under a section 17 shortened procedure Order, subject to all the interested parties giving, or being deemed to have given, their consent (those not responding to formal notice of what is proposed are deemed to have consented).

To the right of this page are links to the various documents prepared by the Commissioners to enable diocesan colleagues to undertake their roles in connection with the preparation, publication and circulation of Pastoral Schemes and Orders. All of them, apart from the Desktop Manual which contains references to legal opinions provided to the Commissioners by their legal advisors, can be opened without a password. Diocesan colleagues will have access to the Desktop Manual via a restricted password that will be supplied to them by the staff of the Pastoral Division of the Commissioners.

The Pastoral Desktop Manual can be accessed here (password required).

Examples of draft proposals and s17 Orders to be used when drafting your proposals can be found under 'Resources' on the righ-hand side of this page. Appendix 1 of the Pastoral Desktop Manual contains skeleton draft Schemes and Orders.

 Step 1

When sending in draft Schemes or Orders to the Commissioners for approval, the supporting documentation must include:

• the signed Bishop's proposals
• Form P2
• Form P2A

The Commissioners' approval to the draft will have a covering letter explaining what happens next. A Form P2B will be sent electronically at that stage by the case officer here, indicating the Commissioners' approval date of the draft Scheme/Order. This form will effectively be a 'Progress and Action' sheet on the matter thereon in.

Step 2

When publishing draft Schemes or Orders to the interested parties (having got the Bishop's - Form P60, and, if applicable, the Crown's (Form P24 - where the Crown has a patronage interest in any of the affected benefices) and parsonages' colleagues approval - Form P61DPB) the processes are now the same in that there is a legal requirement for PCC secretaries to display details of the draft Scheme or Order at every church and licensed place of worship in the affected parishes (previously not required for a draft Order). Pack A relates to the standard letters used in the publication of the draft Scheme to the statutory interested parties, whilst Pack B relates to ones used with draft Orders.

 Pack A, to be sent by the diocese to all the interested parties will include:

• the draft Scheme
• P1000 - the statutory notice letter (contact us if it is an amend & re-issue)
• P74 - glossary of terms commonly used in pastoral reorganisation matters

Additionally, to the PCC secretaries:

• P72A - details on what needs to be done with the notices - "the yellow form"
• P76 - church door notice (CDN) - "the blue form"
• sufficient copies of the draft Scheme to display at all the churches and licensed places of worship as listed in your Form P76
• P77 - proof that the CDN was displayed as requested - "the green form"

At this stage you will need to send to the Bishop (only) letter P1000BP asking for his signature on the engrossment x 2 - he also gets a copy of the draft Scheme and letter P1000.

 Pack B, to be sent by the diocese to all the interested parties will consist of:

• the draft Order
• P1001 - the statutory notice letter (contact us if it is an amend & re-issue)
• P74 - glossary of terms commonly used in pastoral reorganisation matters

Additionally, to the PCC secretaries:

• P72A - details on what needs to be done with the notices - "the yellow form"
• P76 - church door notice (CDN) - "the blue form"
• sufficient copies of the draft Order to display at all the churches and licensed places of worship as listed in your Form P76
• P77 - proof that the CDN was displayed as requested - "the green form"

Where the Scheme involves the removal of the legal effects of consecration from part or all of a churchyard or burial ground, you must also get the specific section 44 notice published in one or more newspapers as required to cover all of the area(s) affected by the proposals using letters P75 and P76C.

 Step 3

The completed Form P2B will need to be submitted to the Commissioners at the end of the representation period before they will make a Scheme, or give their consent to an Order being made

BUT

If  the Commissioners receive any adverse representations they will notify the diocese and implement the procedure for considering the representations.

 Step 4

P106 is the covering letter used to send the completed Scheme and any Instrument to the interested parties and any others with an interest in the matter (with Form P108 being used in the case of a completed Order).

 Please get in touch with your usual contact at the Commissioners (please click here for their details) should you have any queries on the new procedures. 

 If you have a general enquiry or comments about these web pages please contact Fiona McKenzie.