What is a church Electoral Roll?
- The Electoral Roll is, in effect, our membership roll, indicating those who are happy to be considered members of St Barnabas Church.
Who should apply to be on it?
- You qualify to be on the Electoral Roll of the Parish of St Barnabas if you are:
o baptised and aged 16 years or over
o a lay member of the Church of England
o either resident in the parish, or regularly worship in the parish – including via Facebook
Why have an Electoral Roll?
- It is your St Barnabas’s register of electors, the list of those qualified to attend and to vote at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) where the elections take place for:
o the Parochial Church Council (PCC)
o the parish’s representatives on the Deanery Synod
- Any person entitled to attend the Annual Parochial Church Meeting may raise any question of parochial or general church interest.
What difference does the Electoral Roll make?
- By enrolling you become a voting member of the Church of England and so help to ensure that all the synodical councils of the Church – the Parochial Church Council, the Deanery Synod, the Diocesan Synod, and the General Synod – are fully representative of its members.
Synodical government gives an opportunity for partnership between bishops, clergy and laity in the life of the Church:
- First, the system is intended to enable church people at every level to be in touch with the Church as a whole and to play their part in decision-making.
- Second, the system is intended to ensure that the laity have their place in every aspect of church life, including its doctrine and services.
What the Electoral Roll means for us here at St Barnabas:
- The Church of England takes our Electoral Role count to be a representation of our congregation size and therefore our feasibility as an ongoing church – the larger our electoral role, the more likely we will be permitted to remain as a functioning church with our own vicar.
The size of our Electoral Roll determines the number of Deanery Synod representatives we are entitled to elect. These representatives in turn elect members of the Diocesan Synod from within the deanery.
