Clergy Terms of Service
In 2002, the government directed that office holders and clergy within the Church of England should be given most of the rights afforded to employees within the scope of the law. Clergy already benefitted from many of the provisions but in some areas, reform was needed to bring working conditions into line. To do this, the Archbishop’s Council set up a working group which developed new ecclesiastical Terms of Service legislation.
The aim of the legislation is to “help clergy to grow in their ministry by providing fair terms of service, support, development and to ensure a just framework of accountability” and to provide protection for clergy who do not currently have the freehold. All clergy will therefore retain their legal status as Office Holders and will be afforded a range of rights, responsibilities and accountabilities, similar to employment rights, which will be clarified through this legislation.
The legislation was approved by General Synod and granted Royal Assent, and The Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure 2009, and the accompanying Regulations, came into effect on 31 January 2011. On this date, those clergy without the freehold or on fixed-term appointments (except team rectors) were automatically transferred to Common Tenure.
(Those clergy with the freehold will in due course be invited to indicate whether they wish to move onto Common Tenure. Those who do not wish to do so will continue to hold their appointment on their existing terms, though any new appointments will all be made under Common Tenure).
All clergy who are automatically transferring have been issued with a draft Statement of Particulars (SoP), which outlines the practical arrangements for the appointment and details the rights and responsibilities of the office holder and the Diocese in relation to each other. Recipients of a Statement of Particulars need to check that they agree with the contents and if not, contact Debbie Child, acting Diocesan Secretary, by Wednesday 9 February 2011. If there is no contact, we will assume that the draft Statement of Particulars is accurate and will issue the final version.
If you have any questions about the legislation, your Statement of Particulars or anything else to do with Common Tenure, please refer to the documents below or contact Debbie Child on (01274) 650521.
A clergy handbook to accompany the new regulations is in production and will be sent out as soon as possible. In the meantime, many of its contents are listed below with the appropriate links to give easy access.
Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure 2009
Common Tenure on two sides of A4
Comparison of Freehold with Common Tenure
Capability Procedure - Code of Practice
Capability Procedure - Supporting Advice
Grievance Procedure - Code of Practice
Grievance Procedure - Supporting Advice
Clergy Discipline Measure - Code of Practice
Common Tenure - Frequently Asked Questions