General Synod

Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Draft Measure

The legislation has been revised by a Revision Committee and will be resubmitted to Genearl Synod along with some illustrative material.

There are a number of distinct but related issues involved in this legislation:

• The introduction of Clergy Terms of Service
• The introduction of statutory Ministerial Development Review
• The introduction of Captability Procedures
• The gradual cessation of Clergy Freehold in favour of the new Common Tenure
• The transfer of Parsonage Houses from being Benefice Property to being held on trust by the Diocesan Parsonages Board
• The introduction of national guidelines for appointments etc
• The introduction of Human Resoures officers or departments to facilitate the new provisions.

Most of these matters have been commented on in some depth previously and reference should be made first of all to the Clergy Terms of Service page.

The issue of Parsonages is particularly contentious. An appeal has been made to the Charity Commission to investigate the proposed legislation. See the letter from the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford to the Commission.