Pastoral Measure 1983 (repealed)

20 Establishment of team ministries. E

(1) A pastoral scheme may make provision for the establishment of a team ministry for the area of any benefice, and such a scheme shall provide—

(a) for the sharing of the cure of souls in that area by the incumbent of the benefice which, if it is not or would not otherwise be a rectory, shall be a rectory and one or more other ministers who shall have the title of vicar and a status equal to that of an incumbent of a benefice; and

(b) for the pastoral care of persons in that area by those who are to share the cure of souls therein together with all other persons who are from time to time authorised by licence or permission of the bishop to serve in that area as members of the team.

The persons who are to share the cure of souls in the said area shall constitute the team chapter, and the team chapter together with the other persons referred to in the scheme by virtue of paragraph (b) of this subsection shall constitute the team.

(2) The office of rector in a team ministry shall, according as the scheme may provide, be either a freehold office or an office to be held by each holder thereof for such term of years as may be specified in the scheme; but the fact that the office is held for a term of years shall not affect its other attributes as a benefice and, in particular, the rector shall be a corporation sole and as such hold the property of the benefice during his term of office.

(3) The office of vicar in a team ministry shall be an ecclesiastical office constituted by the scheme and shall be held by each holder thereof for such term of years as may be specified in the scheme or fixed in accordance therewith by the bishop’s licence; and the vicar shall, during that term, have the same security of tenure of his office as an incumbent of a benefice, and shall not be affected by a vacancy in the benefice of the rector.

(4) A pastoral scheme establishing a team ministry may designate the first rector (who may be the existing incumbent) or the first holder of any office of vicar but, subject to any such provision,—

(a) the rector shall be presented or collated to the benefice, as the circumstances require, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 and the provisions of the scheme made thereunder;

(b) the vicar or vicars shall be chosen in accordance with paragraph 2 of that Schedule, shall be appointed to the office by licence of the bishop under seal and, unless the bishop otherwise directs, shall be publicly admitted in a church in the area.

(5) Where a pastoral scheme designates a person as the first holder of the office of vicar in a team ministry, the bishop shall offer to issue a licence appointing him to the office, and if that person does not accept the offer within one month after it is made to him, the designation shall cease to have effect.

(6) The term of years for which the office of rector or vicar in a team ministry is held may, subject to any provision in a pastoral scheme, be extended by licence of the bishop under seal for a further term or further terms not exceeding, in the case of any one extension, the length of the original term, but any such extension shall be personal to the rector or vicar concerned and not affect the term of office of subsequent holders.

(7) The rector in a team ministry shall have a general responsibility for the cure of souls in the area of the benefice, which may be subject to any special cure or special responsibility given to a vicar as hereinafter provided, and shall be responsible for the leadership of the team; and the scheme may make further provision as to the relationship of the rector and other members of the team ministry.

(8) A vicar in a team ministry shall by virtue of his office, but subject to his licence, have authority to perform in the area of the benefice all such offices and services as may be performed by an incumbent, and the scheme or, subject to the scheme, the bishop’s licence may—

(a) assign to a vicar a special cure of souls in respect of a part of the said area and, if appropriate, the name of vicar of a church in that part;

(b) assign to a vicar a special responsibility for a particular pastoral function;

(c) provide that any such special cure or responsibility shall be independent of the rector’s general responsibility;

(d) assign to a vicar a general responsibility to be shared with the rector for a cure of souls in the area as a whole;

and, if any such provision as aforesaid is made by the bishop’s licence, it may (subject to the scheme) be varied or revoked, with the consent of the rector and the vicar concerned, by a subsequent licence under seal. [F1 Provided that a woman who is a vicar in a team ministry shall not by virtue of this subsection have authority to preside at or celebrate the Holy Communion or pronounce the Absolution in a parish to which a resolution in the form set out as Resolution A in Schedule 1 to the Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993 applies]

(9) The Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measures 1963 and 1974 shall apply to vicars in a team ministry as if they were incumbents of the benefice for the area of which the team ministry is established.

(10) The rector in a team ministry shall convene meetings of the team at regular intervals for the purpose of discussing and reaching a common mind on all matters of general concern or special interest to the team ministry and shall preside when present and in his absence a vicar appointed by him as deputy chairman shall preside.

(11) Sub-paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (5) and (6) of paragraph 4 of Schedule 3 shall apply to parochial church meetings and parochial church councils in the area of a benefice for which a team ministry is established, and for the election of district church councils and churchwardens, and, if the area comprises more than one parish, for establishing a team council and empowering that council to exercise certain powers.

(12) Where two or more benefices are, or are to be, held in plurality, and a team ministry is established or is to be established for the area of one of those benefices, a pastoral scheme may provide for extending the operation of the team ministry, so long as the plurality continues, to the area of any other benefice so held, and subsections (7), (8) and (11) and the provisions of Schedule 3 therein referred to shall have effect as if the references to the area of the benefice were references to the combined area of the benefices concerned.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 20(8) inserted (1.2.1994) by 1993 Measure No. 2, s. 10, Sch. 3 para.6; Instrument dated 31.1.1994 made by Archbishops of Canterbury and York