– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 February 1964.
Mr John Arbuthnot
, Dover
I beg to move,
That the Churchwardens (Appointment and Resignation) Measure 1964, passed by the National Assembly of the Church of England, he presented to Her Majesty for Her Royal Assent in the form in which the said Measure was laid before Parliament.
Much of the law relating to the appointment of churchwardens is contained in the Canons of 1603. Consequently, craft Canons dealing with this matter were included in those put forward by the Commission in 1947. When these came to be discussed, however, it was realised that there were a number of unresolved difficulties consequent on the considerable changes that have taken place in the last 360 years. It was therefore thought desirable to postpone consideration of these Canons until a Measure had been passed which would iron out some, if not all, of these anomalies.
This Measure does nothing very revolutionary, but it does meet some of the questions, such as: how does a churchwarden resign? The Measure lays down the number and qualifications of churchwardens. At present, churchwardens need not be members of the Church of England. The Measure now provides that they must be actual communicant members of the Church of England, except where the bishop shall otherwise permit. The Measure also makes it clear that the office of churchwarden is vacated if the churchwarden ceases to reside in the parish or to have his name on the electoral roll. It also provides for appeals in the case of arguments or disputes, for which there is at present no provision.
At no time was there a Division on the Measure in the Assembly, and the Ecclesiastical Committee has reported upon it that it is expedient and ought to proceed.
Sir Spencer Summers
, Aylesbury
Perhaps my hon. Friend would answer a question on the new qualifications for churchwardens. Doubtless the name of any individual would be brought forward only if he had past experience and was a communicant member of the Church, but if, during his year of office, the individual failed to communicate, are we to understand that he would thereby be automatically precluded from having his name brought forward in the subsequent year.
Mr John Arbuthnot
, Dover
I understand that that need not necessarily be so, as it is possible for a bishop to permit people to be churchwardens who are not members of the Church of England. There have been cases where, as there were insufficient communicant members of the Church of England of sufficient ability to be churchwardens, public-spirited members of other Churches have consented to act. I therefore think that the answer would be "No."
Sir Spencer Summers
, Aylesbury
I am not sure that I agree. If I may clarify the point I made in the context of a person being deemed to be a communicant member, is it a question of once and once only? Is it a question of once in a certain period? What is the criterion, rather than it being a matter of members of other churches being suitable persons to fill a vacancy? Does being held to be a communicant member rely on any question of time, or is it merely a matter of once in the past?
Mr John Arbuthnot
, Dover
Once a year.
The Ecclesiastical Committee is a parliamentary committee established by an Act of Parliament in 1919 to consider measures passed by the General Synod of the Church of England.
The committee is appointed for the duration of a Parliament and consists of 15 members drawn from the House of Commons and the House of Lords who are nominated by the Speaker and lord chancellor respectively.
An example of an issue which was considered in recent years by the Ecclesiastical Committee is the proposal from the Church of England that it should be allowed to appoint women priests.
Matters concerning the Established Church of England are dealt with at Question Time by a parliamentary representative of the Church Commissioners.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
