CHURCH MANAGEMENT ("GOVERNANCE")
Who's in charge here?
By law the parish church is governed according to strict rules and certain key people give their time and effort to making it all happen.
The Rector
The Rector (some churches have a "vicar") is the Parish Priest, who is responsible for the spiritual life of the parish, and the pastoral concerns of parishioners. The Rector also has many legal responsibilities and is assisted in all this by the PCC and Churchwardens.
Churchwardens
We have two churchwardens. Their job is to support the Rector, but also to represent the laity (that is, people who are not clergy) and to ensure the proper running of the parish. They are elected by the members of the parish but are actually legally responsible to the bishop.
The Parochial Church Council (PCC)
The PCC is the committee that co-ordinates the affairs of our church. It has about 20 elected members and is chaired by the Rector. Two officers with special responsibilities are the Treasurer and the PCC Secretary.
The PCC generally meets 8 times each year, and although they are particularly responsible for finance and the upkeep of the Church building (and the Church Hall), they also discuss many aspects of church life.
The PCC is responsible for Safeguarding policy and appoints a Safeguarding Officer. All PCC members are required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
Read our Safeguarding statement here Safeguarding at St. John's