Synodical Government Measure 1969

[F1 Qualifications for election E

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 3 substituted (1.1.2020) by Church Representation and Ministers Measure 2019 (No. 1), s. 1(3), Sch. 1 (with Sch. 3); S.I. 2019/1460, art. 2

50 (1) A lay person is qualified for election for a diocese by the diocesan electors of that diocese if he or she meets— E

(a) each of the first, second and third conditions, and

(b) one of the fourth, fifth and sixth conditions.

(2) The first condition is that the person has received Communion according to the use of the Church of England, or a Church in communion with it, at least three times in the twelve months preceding the relevant day [F2 ; and the person is to be treated as meeting the first condition for the purposes of these Rules if the person would have met it but for matters connected with coronavirus (within the meaning of the Coronavirus Act 2020)].

(3) The second condition is that the person—

(a) is confirmed or ready and desirous of being confirmed, or

(b) comes within paragraph 1(b) of Canon B 15A (communicant member of Church which subscribes to doctrine of Holy Trinity).

(4) The third condition is that the person is aged 18 or over on the relevant day.

(5) The fourth condition is that the person's name is, as at 6.00 a.m. on the relevant day—

(a) on the roll of a parish in the diocese, or

(b) in the case of a cathedral church which is not a parish church, on the community roll of the cathedral church.

(6) The fifth condition is that, in a case where the area of the diocese includes Westminster Abbey, St. George's Chapel, Windsor or the cathedral church of Christ in Oxford, the person has at any time in the period of two months beginning one month before the relevant day, been declared by the dean to be a habitual worshipper.

(7) The sixth condition is that the person has, at any time in the period of two months beginning one month before the relevant day, been declared by the leader of a mission initiative in the diocese to be part of the worshipping community involved in the initiative.

(8) A person who is on the roll of more than one parish must choose one of those parishes for the purposes of this Rule.

(9) A person who is part of the worshipping community involved in a mission initiative which is in more than one diocese, or who is part of the worshipping community involved in mission initiatives in different dioceses, must choose one of the dioceses concerned for the purposes of this Rule.

(10) The “relevant day” means—

(a) the date of the dissolution of the Synod, or

(b) in the case of an election to fill a casual vacancy, the date on which nomination papers are issued.

(11) Where a diocese is divided into two or more areas under Rule 51, a person who is qualified for election for that diocese—

(a) may be a candidate for any one of those areas, regardless of whether the parish or cathedral church whose roll includes the person's name is in that area, but

(b) may not be a candidate for more than one of those areas at the same time.]

Textual Amendments

F2 Words in Sch. 3 rule 50(2) inserted (15.7.2021) by The Church Representation Rules (Amendment) Resolution 2021 (S.I. 2021/825), paras. 1(2), 2