Faculties

A Faculty is a consultative process that churches need to take if they intend to make any alterations within the church or to place any monument, memorial etc within the church or on Church Trust property. Faculties are dealt with in Chapter 5, Part 1 of Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 of the Parish Administration Ordinance 2008 and the Regulations re Alterations. The Faculty process The process for applying for a faculty has recently been simplified by Archbishop-in-Council. The information below is to be used as a guide only and is an interpretation of the Faculty regulations. Items that do not require a faculty Previously there were items that didn’t require a faculty but needed the Regional Archdeacon’s approval. This has now been changed to approval of the minister and a two thirds majority of the parish council. These items are listed under clause 1 of the Regulations. Items that require a faculty Rule 5.5 of Schedule 1 or Rule 5.4 of Schedule 2 of the Parish Administration Ordinance 2008 states: It is not lawful – to alter, add to or take away from the fabric, utensils, ornaments or furniture of a church, or to place any monument, memorial or tablet in or on any part of a church or church trust property but the parish council may permit any alteration or addition to be made to an existing monument, memorial or tablet in a burial ground except with the approval of the Archbishop by a faculty or other form of permit. Paragraph c. refers to columbaria. This has been removed as it is dealt with under Part 3 of the ordinance. The process to seek approval for any of the above alterations is as follows: The minister and two thirds of the parish council must give their approval. A notice is to be placed in the newssheet for two consecutive weeks. A copy is to be supplied to the Registrar at the same time. Sample wording is available below. The notice is to indicate full details of the proposal, and to state that any objections must be in writing and lodged with the Registrar within 21 days from the date the notice is first given (see paragraph 3 below). If no objections have been received and the matter concerned is not a memorial, the parish council can proceed with the changes. Process if an objection is received If an objection is made by a parishioner of the church or a parishioner of a congregation which meets in the church, the matter is to be referred to the Registrar for decision by the Regional Bishop (or Regional Archdeacon if there is no Regional Bishop). The Registrar may convene a meeting of the parishioners for the purpose of facilitating discussion on the application and the objection with a view to resolving any dispute to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. Only the minister and parishioners of the church or parishioners of a congregation which meets in the church are entitled to vote on any matter put to the meeting. Once the objections have been resolved and depending on the outcome of the above meetings, the parish council can then proceed with the changes. Memorials In the case of memorials, a faculty from the Archbishop will be required, and will be issued if the Archbishop agrees. Steps i to iv under the heading ‘Items that require a faculty’ still need to be followed. At the conclusion of the 21-day period the Faculty Request notification form needs to be completed and submitted to the Registrar for approval by the Archbishop. Faculty Request notification form Word format and PDF format Please note this form is only needed if the faculty is a memorial Sample wording for a Faculty notice Below is a sample for the wording of the faculty notice that needs to be inserted in your newssheet. The template is locked so you can easily move through the form but it can be unlocked so you can make any changes, if needed. If you have any trouble opening the word file a PDF format is below. This will be read only, but the wording is there for you to re-produce. The notice is to indicate the full details of the proposed changes. If there are any plans or drawings these should be on display or made available for parishioners, and indicated in the notice. Please remember that a copy of the newssheet needs to be sent to the Registrar at the same time. Sample wording for a faculty notice Word format or PDF format

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