The annual meeting shall be convened by the minister of the parish by a notice in the form set out in section 4 of Appendix 1 to these rules affixed on or near to the principal door of every church in the parish and every building licensed for public worship in the parish, for a period including the last two Sundays before the day of the meeting.

The annual meeting shall be held at such place on such date and at such hour as shall be directed by the previous annual meeting, or by the parochial church council (which may vary any direction given by a previous annual meeting) or in the absence of any such direction as shall be appointed by the minister.

During the vacancy of the benefice or curacy or when the minister is absent or incapacitated by illness or any other cause, the vice-chairman of the parochial church council, or if there is no vice-chairman, or if he is unable or unwilling to act, the secretary of or some other person appointed by that council shall have all the powers vested in the minister under this rule.

The annual meeting shall be held at a place within the parish unless the parochial church council decide otherwise.

The minister of a new parish created by a pastoral scheme, or, in the absence of the minister, a person appointed by the bishop, shall as soon as possible after the scheme comes into operation convene a special parochial church meeting, and, subject to paragraph (6) of this rule, the provisions of these rules relating to the convening and conduct of the annual general meeting shall apply to a special meeting convened under this paragraph.

A special meeting so convened and held in the month of November or the month of December may, if the meeting so resolves, be for all purposes under these rules the annual meeting for the succeeding year, and a special meeting so convened shall in any event be for all such purposes the annual meeting for the year in which it is so convened and held.

The minster, if present, or, if he is not present, the vice-chairman of the parochial church council, or, subject to paragraph (2) of this rule, if he also is not present, a chairman chosen by the annual meeting shall preside thereat.

Where a parish is in the area of a benefice for which a team ministry is established, and a vicar in that ministry is entitled to preside at an annual meeting of that parish by virtue of a provision in a pastoral scheme or the bishop’s licence assigning to the vicar the duties, or a share in the duties, of the chairmanship of the annual meeting of that parish, then, if both he and the vice-chairman of the parochial church council are not present at that meeting, but the rector in that ministry is present, the rector shall preside thereat.

In case of an equal division of votes, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote F12unless it is a case where rule 10(8) applies; but no clerical chairman shall have a vote in the election of the parochial representatives of the laity.

The council shall cause a copy of the said audited accounts and the said audited statement to be affixed on or near the principal door of every church in the parish and every building licensed for public worship in the parish at least seven days before the annual meeting.

Such accounts and statement shall be submitted to the annual meeting for approval. If approved, they shall be signed by the chairman of the meeting, who shall then deliver them to the parochial church council for publication, and the parochial church council shall forthwith cause them to be published and affixed F13for a period of at least fourteen days on or near the principal door of every church in the parish and every building licensed for public worship in the parish and at such other conspicuous place or places in the parish as the parochial church council think appropriate F14and shall cause a copy to be sent to the secretary of the diocesan board of finance.

The annual meeting shall appoint the auditors to the council.

Any person entitled to attend the annual meeting may ask any question about parochial church matters, or bring about a discussion of any matter of parochial or general interest, by moving a general resolution or by moving to give any particular recommendation to the council in relation to its duties.

The annual meeting shall have power to adjourn and to determine its own rules of procedure.

The secretary of the parochial church council (or another person appointed by the meeting in his place) shall act as a clerk of the annual meeting, and shall record the minutes thereof.

The qualification of a person to be elected a sidesman is that his name is entered on the roll of the parish.

No person shall be elected under the last preceding rule unless he has signified his consent to serve or there is in the opinion of the meeting sufficient evidence of his willingness to serve.

F24Subject to the provisions of any scheme made under rule 10A and for the time being in force this rule shall apply to all elections at annual meetings.

All candidates for election at an annual meeting must be nominated and seconded by persons entitled to attend the annual meeting, and in the case of parochial representatives of the laity, by persons whose names are entered on the roll of the parish. A candidate shall be nominated or seconded either before the meeting in writing or at the meeting.

If the number of candidates nominated is not greater than the number of seats to be filled, the candidates nominated shall forthwith be declared elected.

If more candidates are nominated than there are seats to be filled, the election shall take place at the annual meeting.

No clerk in Holy Orders shall be entitled to vote in the election of any parochial representatives of the laity.

Each person entitled to vote shall have as many votes as there are seats j to be filled but may not give more than one vote to any one candidate.

Where owing to an equality of votes an election is not decided, the decision between the persons for whom the equal numbers of votes have been cast shall be taken by lot.

The result of any election by an annual meeting shall be announced as soon as practicable by the person presiding over the election, and a notice of the result shall in every case be affixed on or near the principal door of every church in the parish and every building licensed for public worship in the parish, and shall bear the date on which the result is declared. The notice shall remain affixed for not less than fourteen days. F26Thereafter the secretary of the parochial church council shall hold a list of the names and addresses of the members of the council which shall be available for inspection on reasonable notice being given by any person who either is resident in the parish or has his name on the electoral roll, but the secretary shall not be bound to provide a copy of such list.

Names and addresses, of parochial representatives of the laity elected to the deanery synod shall be sent by the secretary of the parochial church council to the diocesan electoral registration officer appointed in accordance with rule 23A of these rules and to the secretary of the deanery synod.

The annual meeting may make a scheme which provides that the election of parochial representatives of the laity to the parochial church council or to the deanery synod or to both that council and that synod shall be conducted F28by the method of the single transferable vote under rules, with the necessary modifications, made by the General Synod under rule 33(4) and for the time being in force.

The annual meeting may make a scheme which provides that any person entitled to attend the annual meeting and vote in the elections of parochial representatives of the laity to the parochial church council or to the deanery synod or to both that council and that synod may make application in the form set out in section 4A of Appendix I for a postal vote.

Where applications for postal votes have been received by the date specified in the notice convening the annual meeting and where the number of candidates nominated for an election referred to in paragraph (2) of this rule is greater than the number of seats to be filled, the annual meeting shall appoint a presiding officer who shall not be a candidate in the election. Voting papers shall be distributed to each person present at the meeting entitled to vote and completed papers shall be returned into the custody of the presiding officer before the close of the meeting. The presiding officer shall ensure that persons who have made application for a postal vote shall be sent or have delivered a voting paper within 48 hours of the close of the meeting such paper to be returned to the presiding officer within such period of not less than 7 days nor more than 14 days from the date of the meeting as the presiding officer shall specify.

No scheme under this rule shall be valid unless approved by at least two-thirds of the persons present and voting at the annual meeting nor shall it be operative unitl the next ensuing annual meeting. Every such scheme shall, on its approval, be communicated to the . . . F31 bishop’s council and standing committee F32of the diocesan synod which shall consider the scheme, determine whether or not the scheme shall come into operation and inform the secretary of the parochial church council of its decisionF33and, if the determination is that the scheme should not come into operation, the reasons for that determination in writing..

If elections of churchwardens take place at meetings of parishioners under section 3 of the M1Churchwardens (Appointment and Resignation) Measure 1964 either because there has been no joint consent under section 2 of that Measure or because there is no minister, the elections shall be conducted, announced and notified in the same manner as elections under F34rule 10 except that all persons entitled to attend the meeting of parishioners other than the minister shall be entitled to nominate and vote at such elections of churchwardens.

Any person chosen, appointed or elected as a churchwarden of a parish, being an actual communicant member of the Church of England whose name is on the roll of the parish, shall as from the date on which the choice, appointment or election, as the case may be, is made be a member of the parochial church council of the parish by virtue of this paragraph until he is admitted to the office of churchwarden, and he shall thereafter continue to be a member of that council by virtue of sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (1) of this rule unless and until he ceases to be qualified for membership by virtue of that sub-paragraph.

Where a group ministry is established the incumbents of all benefices in the group F43every priest in charge of any benefice therein and where the area of the group ministry includes the area of a benefice for which a team ministry is established, all the vicars in that ministry shall be entitled to attend meetings of the parochial church councils of all the parishes in the area for which the group ministry is established. They shall be entitled to receive documents circulated to members of councils of which they are not themselves members and to speak but not to vote at meetings of such councils.

Where two or more benefices are held in plurality and a team ministry is, or is to be, established for the area of one of those benefices, then, if a pastoral scheme provides for extending the operation of the team ministry, so long as the plurality continues, to the area of any other benefice so held, paragraphs (1)(bb) and (3) of this rule shall have effect as if the references to the area of the benefice were references to the combined area of the benefices concerned.

Representatives of the laity on the parochial church council of a parish shall hold office from the conclusion of the annual meeting until the conclusion of the next annual meeting of the parish:

Persons who are members of a parochial church council by virtue of their election as lay members of a deanery synod shall hold office for a term beginning with the date of their election and ending with the 31st May next following the election of their successors.

A scheme for the election of any district church council or councils under the preceding paragraph shall provide for the election of representatives of the laity on to such council, for ex-officio members and for the chairmanship of such council and shall contain such other provisions as to membership and procedure as shall be considered appropriate by the annual meeting.

Such a scheme may also provide for the delegation by the parochial church council to a district church council of such functions as it may specify and subject to the scheme the parochial church council may delegate to a district church council such of its functions as it shall think fit F51but not including (in either case) the functions of a parochial church council as interested parties under Part I of the Pastoral Measure F521983F53or the functions of a parochial church council under Part II of the Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986.

F54A scheme may provide for the election or choice of one or two deputy churchwardens . . . F55, and for the delegation to him or them of such functions of the churchwardens relating to F56any church or place as the scheme may specify, and the churchwardens may, subject to the scheme, delegate such of their said functions as they think fit to the deputy churchwarden or churchwardens.

A special parochial church meeting of a parish to which this rule applies may be convened for the purpose of deciding whether to make such a scheme, and where such a meeting is convened the foregoing provisions shall have effect with the substitution for references to the annual meeting of references to the special meeting.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F60

Where a pastoral scheme establishing a team minstry, or an instrument of the bishop made by virtue of that scheme, makes, in relation to a parish in the area of the benefice for which the team ministry is established, any provision which may be made by a scheme under this rule, no scheme under this rule relating to that parish shall provide for the scheme to come into operation until on or after the date on which the provisions in question of the pastoral scheme or of the instrument, as the case may be, cease to have effect.

A scheme under this rule may by varied or revoked by a subsequent scheme thereunder.

Every member of the team of a team ministry shall have a right to attend the meetings of any district church council elected for any district in a parish in the area of the benefice for which the team ministry is established.

This rule shall be without prejudice to the appointment, in parishes with more than one parish church, of two church-wardens for each church under section F6227(5) of the M2Pastoral Measure 1983.

In this rule “place of worship” means a building or part of a building licensed for public worship.

Subject to the scheme and to any pastoral scheme or order made under paragraph 13 of Schedule 3 to the said Measure F66and to paragraph 20 of Schedule 2 to the Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986, the parochial church council of any such parish may delegate to the joint council such of its functions, other than its functions as an interested party under the said Part 1, as it thinks fit.

The joint council shall meet from time to time for the purpose of consulting together on matters of common concern.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F68

A special parochial church meeting of a parish to which this rule applies may be convened for the purpose of deciding whether to join in making such a scheme, and where such a meeting is convened the foregoing provisions shall have effect with the substitution for references to the annual meeting of references to the special meeting.

Where a pastoral scheme or order, or any instrument of the bishop made by virtue of such a scheme or order, establishes a joint parochial church council for two or more of the parishes in a single benefice or two or more of the parishes in benefices held in plurality, no scheme under this rule relating to those parishes shall provide for the scheme to come into operation until on or after the date on which the provisions of the pastoral scheme, pastoral order or instrument, as the case may be, establishing the joint parochial church council cease to have effect.

Where the provisions of a pastoral scheme or order for the holding of benefices in plurality are terminated under section F7018(2) of the Pastoral Measure 1983, any provision of a scheme under this rule establishing a joint parochial church council for all or some of the parishes of those benefices and the other provisions thereof affecting that council shall cease to have effect on the date on which the first mentioned provisions cease to have effect.

A scheme under this rule may be varied or revoked by a subsequent scheme thereunder to be.

Subject to the scheme and to any pastoral scheme relating to the team council made under F74paragraph 4(3) of Schedule 3 to the said Measure F75and to paragraph 19 of Schedule 2 to the Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986, the parochial church council of any such parish may delegate to the team council such of its functions, other than its functions as an interested party under the said Part I, as it thinks fit.

The team council shall meet from time to time for the purpose of consulting together on matters of common concern.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F77

A special parochial church meeting of a parish to which this rule applies may be convened for the purpose of deciding whether to join in making such a scheme, and where such a meeting is convened the foregoing provisions shall have effect with the substitution for references to the annual meeting of references to the special meeting.

Where a pastoral scheme establishing a team ministry, or an instrument of the bishop made by virtue of that scheme, establishes a team council for that ministry, no scheme under this rule relating to that ministry shall provide for the scheme to come into operation until on or after the date on which the provisions of the pastoral scheme or of the instrument, as the case may be, establishing the team council to have effect.

A scheme under this rule may be varied or revoked by a subsequent scheme thereunder to be.

If the area of a group ministry includes the area of a benefice for which a team ministry is established, a scheme under this rule shall provide for the vicars in that ministry, as well as the rector, and all the other members of the team to be members of the group council.

Paragraphs (2) to F81(7) of rule 17A shall apply in relation to a scheme under this rule as they apply in relation to a scheme under this rule as they apply in relation to a scheme under that rule with the modification that for the references toa team ministry and a team council there shall be substituted references to a group ministry and a group council respectively F82except that the functions of a parochial church council under Part II of the Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986 may not be delegated to a group council.

In addition to the annual meeting the minister of a parish may convene a special parochial church meeting, and he shall do so on a written representation by not less than one-third of the lay members of the parochial church council; and the provisions of these rules relating to the convening and conduct of the annual meeting shall, with the necessary modifications, apply to a special parochial church meeting.

All lay persons whose names are entered on the roll of the parish on the day which is twenty-one clear days before the date on which any special parochial church meeting is to be held shall be entitled to attend the meeting and to take part in its proceedings, and no other lay person shall be so entitled.

A clerk in Holy Orders shall be entitled to attend any such meeting and to take part in its proceedings if by virtue of rule 5(3), (4) or (5) he would have been entitled to attend the annual meeting of the parish had it been held on the same date, and no other such clerk shall be so entitled.

On a written representation made to the archdeacon by not less than one-third of the lay members of the parochial church council, or by one tenth of the persons whose names are on the roll of the parish, and deemed by the archdeacon to have been made with sufficient cause, the archdeacon shall convene an extraordinary meeting of the parochial church council or an extraordinary parochial church meeting, and shall either take the chair himself or shall appoint a chairman to preside. The chairman, not being otherwise entitled to attend such meeting, shall not be entitled to vote upon any resolution before the meeting.

In any case where the archdeacon is himself the minister, any representation under paragraph (1) of this rule shall be made to the bishop, and in any such case the references to the archdeacon in paragraph (1) of this rule shall be construed as references to the bishop, or to a person appointed by him to act on his behalf.

Paragraphs (2) and (3) of rule 18 shall apply in relation to an extraordinary parochial church meeting under this rule as they apply in relation to a special parochial church meeting under that rule with the modification that for the word “special” in paragraph (2) there shall be substituted the word “extraordinary”.