CAPTION: Bishop Jackie at the inauguration of the new Two Rivers Mission Community Joint Council
Joint Councils Could Be “Logical Next Step” For Parishes Working Together Across a Mission Community
A North Devon Mission Community says forming a joint council has resulted in simplification and less administration for the nine parishes involved.
The Two Rivers Mission Community moved to a joint council, rather than duplicating everything across nine PCCs. It was inaugurated by the Bishop of Crediton at a service earlier this year.
Team Rector Gary Owen said, “We’ve been increasingly working together as a mission community over many years. Forming a joint council was the natural next step.
“The Diocesan staff were very helpful in steering us through the legal process involved. Every church has retained control of its own finances, building and local mission.
“The joint council provides an easy way for us to manage services and plan mission and generally take counsel together.
A joint council enables parishes to work together without losing their autonomy and identity
“It simplifies admin, allowing us to do things once instead of ten times over. We’ve opened a joint bank account so mission community expenses and employment of staff can be done jointly instead of being vested in just one PCC.”
Parishes have previously found it difficult to find a legal way to share resources between two or more PCCs whilst remaining separate parishes.
At the same time mission communities have faced problems if they try to set up a mission community council which is both a body corporate and a charity.
Without such a body corporate, a mission community cannot hold funds or employ people without those who sign the documents becoming personally liable for any legal issues which occur.
Fortunately, it is now possible for two or more parishes to create a body corporate which is also a charity, and which enables parishes to share governance. This includes the ability to form a legally constituted mission community council.
This body is called a ‘joint council’ and is created by the annual meetings of two or more parishes deciding to transfer some or all of the functions of their PCCs to the joint council.
Parishes can use such a council to legally share whatever functions of their PCCs they desire. This includes the possibility of putting all their PCCs into abeyance and having one council to run all the parishes.
However, no matter how much or how little is transferred, the identity and integrity of every parish involved is fully protected. All of the parishes still exist, they all still have to have annual meetings and the annual meeting of any parish can end the arrangement and reinstate their own PCC.
If a mission community needs a council which can hold funds and employ people without taking serious risks for personal liability, a joint council can again provide this facility.
Such a council can also be used to make joint decisions on any matters which have been transferred to it by the individual parishes. Again, the individual parishes continue to exist and have the power to end the agreement.
As well as Two Rivers Mission Community, there is now a joint council in Plymouth and two small parishes in mid-Devon have created a joint council to act in place of the PCC of both parishes.
A further example is where several parishes have used the facility to create a governance structure for a ‘Fresh Expression’ of Church serving all the parishes involved.
Anyone who is interested in receiving further details or having a conversation about what might be possible for their parishes or mission community should contact Ed Moffatt in the Synod Office ed.moffatt@exeter.anglican.org.
