MESSAGE FROM THE WARDENS
Dear member of the All Saints family,
As we mentioned last week, there are some important meetings happening this week including the Special PCC Meeting with the Archdeacon of Chester and a Simeon Trust Trustee as the next stage of the vacancy search and the Standing Committee meeting. However, as I write this, the meetings have not yet happened, so we will report back on them next week.
In the meantime, we thought it would be helpful to give a summary of the responsibilities of the various leadership teams in the church, how they fit together and who is in them.
The first thing to say is that this overview will not be comprehensive and some roles have a legal underpinning – so please look at the Church of England website for the full details.
Secondly, it may well seem a bit dull. But the aim is to give an understanding to see how it all fits together and so that if you want to contact the relevant person on an issue, this provides a starting point to find out who that would be. A separate page has the names of those involved in each team.
- The first team is the PCC – the Parochial Church Council, which is elected by the congregation at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting, the APCM.
The PCC has the responsibilities including:
- along with the vicar to promote the mission of God in its parish.
- legally, the PCC is responsible for the finances of the parish
- for the care and maintenance of all church buildings and their contents.
The PCC membership included those members elected, plus the Wardens and Readers licensed to the Parish, those elected to the Deanery Synod, the curate and a member of staff.
- The Standing Committee carries out the business of the PCC between PCC meetings, as agreed by the PCC. The Standing Committee’s role is therefore subservient to the PCC. The members include the Vicar, Wardens, PCC Chair and Secretary and the Treasurer.
- The Wardens are the senior lay representatives of the parish. They are elected at the APCM. They are actually officers of the Bishop and are a point of contact for the Bishop in the parish.
Their responsibilities include:
- they are the foremost in representing the laity and in co-operating with the vicar
- they have a duty to maintain order and decency in the church and churchyard particularly during a service.
- In cooperation with the vicar, churchwardens are generally responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the parish.
- The Leadership Team is not a Church of England statutory team. It was set up after our attendance at a number of day conferences run by The Lead Academy, which were facilitated by the Diocese. Its role is to provide a focus, with the vicar, in ministry, pastoral care and outreach.
- In the interregnum, Revd John Benson has been given the role of overseeing the services. He works with the Readers and broader worship team to plan and design them.
In an interregnum, the Churchwardens have the responsibility, working with the Rural Dean, for the life and work of the church. Our Rural Dean is Revd Hennie Johnston who is Vicar at St. Mark’s Saltney & Lache. She has been very helpful in giving her name to the resolution to suspend services and is available as we need her. Part of the guidance says that the wardens should be supported by members of the church in the responsibilities during the interregnum and we are very grateful for all the work carried out by the various teams mentioned above, and in particular John Benson for overseeing the services.
The PCC has overall responsibility for the selection process for the new vicar, as we have described in a previous message.
Please do pray for all those who have responsibility in the church, including those mentioned above – we read in James Ch 1 v5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
We have a generous God who has provided many people to share the responsibility of running the church and we are very grateful to Him.
With best wishes and prayers for God’s blessing,
Andy Creeth and John Chester, Churchwardens