DOWNLOADABLES
Forms and documents
GIFT AID FORM
Gift Aid is a scheme available to charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs). It means they can claim extra money from HMRC.
The charity or CASC can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you donate. That's as long as you’ve paid the basic rate of tax and make the donation from your own funds. That means Gift Aid can increase the value of your donations by 25%, so you can give even more to the causes you care about.
ELECTORAL ROLL
Electoral Rolls need to be revised annually. With the new changes to the Church Representation Rules, names no longer need to be removed from the roll during the course of the year; they only need to be added. Names are still removed, as appropriate, at the annual revision.
Once in every six years the preparation of new church electoral rolls takes place, which means that everyone must come off the roll and re-apply. The next occasion for the preparation of new rolls is in 2025.
PCC APPLICATION
The legal role of the PCC is set out in two pieces of formal legislation. These are “the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956” as amended and “the Church Representation Rules” (contained in Schedule 3 to the Synodical Government Measure 1969 as amended). The first of these two defines the principal function, or purpose, of the PCC as “promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church”. Additionally PCC members are officially Charity Trustees and as such must qualify to act as such. (See appendix 2) To that end all PCC members will be required to sign a Member Trustee Eligibility Declaration upon election to the post
CHURCH WARDEN APPLICATION
Churchwardens are elected annually under the provisions of the Churchwardens Measure 2001 by the Annual Meeting of Parishioners, as the senior laypeople of the parish and congregation. Their term of office is one year, and they may serve for up to six consecutive terms of office, unless the Annual Meeting passes a resolution to set aside this rule.
They are the Bishop’s officers, and are admitted to office each year by the Archdeacon, on behalf of the Bishop. Their first responsibility is to the Bishop, usually via the Archdeacon. They, with the parish priest, are generally responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the parish.
Churchwardens are vital to the health and wellbeing of our church communities. It is an important and, at times, a demanding role.
DEANERY SYNOD APPLICATION
In the Church of England a deanery synod is a synod convened by the Rural Dean (or Area Dean) and/or the Joint Lay Chair of the Deanery Synod, who is elected by the elected lay members. It consists of all clergy licensed to a benefice within the deanery, plus elected lay members. The Synodical Government Measure 1969 makes it a statutory body.
It acts as an intermediary between the parochial church councils of each parish in its deanery and the synod of the diocese as a whole. In England its lay members also elect the deanery's lay representatives to its diocese's synod (every three years by either plurality or STV) and its diocese's members of the House of Laity in the General Synod of the Church of England, every five years by a system of Single Transferable Vote.
FIT AND PROPER PERSON DECLARATION
PCC Members are a charity trustees. They must therefore sign this form confirming that they are not disqualified as a matter of law from acting as a charity trustee and, by signing they confirm that they meet HMRC’s requirements to be considered a “Fit and Proper Person”