Making Changes to your Church

Last Updated on Wednesday, 31 October 2012 12:47

Here you will find advice on the process required by law to make changes to your church. Church buildings, their contents and grounds, are protected by the legal process known as Faculty Jurisdiction. Under this legislation, any alteration, repair, or extension to a church building, or any change to the contents of a church whether by addition or removal of items, needs to be legally approved by the granting of a Faculty. The process enables churches to continue adapting their buildings and grounds to suit new forms of worship and mission and to facilitate an increasing range of activities.

Increasingly, churches are being used as venues for cultural, community and commercial uses from cafes to farmers’ markets, advice centres, concerts, exhibitions, fairs and even post offices. Many are the only remaining public building a community has access to and Faculty Jurisdiction enables listed churches to continue to grow and meet new needs. Without it, the burden placed upon local planning authorities and the desire of heritage bodies to preserve historical fabric would mean few changes would be allowed to take place.

Faculty Jurisdiction encourages churches to combine the best of their heritage with imaginative and faith-based solutions that serve their communities and preserves the spirituality, fabric and contents of their buildings for future generations.

What is a faculty?

Faculties are the Church’s equivalent of planning permission. The Church of England is exempted from parts of the normal permission process with regard to Listed Building Consent because the faculty process takes their place. The Faculty Jurisdiction system extends to all consecrated churches and churchyards, whether they are listed or not.  Everything in or on the land is included within the jurisdiction, as are the fabric, ornaments and furniture of the church. The jurisdiction also extends to unconsecrated land surrounding, or adjacent or ancillary, to a church, and to certain buildings which, though unconsecrated, are licensed by the bishop for public worship. In cases where proposals will alter the external appearance of a church or anything within its curtilage, planning permission from the Local Authority may also be required.

When is a Faculty required?

Some minor works do not require a faculty. Formerly known as de minimis works, a list of areas that do not require a faculty is produced by the Chancellor of each diocese. A copy of the Chancellor's General Guidance or de minimis rules for the Diocese of Sheffield can be found by clicking here.

For all other changes, it is essential that the faculty process is followed for the following reasons:

• It acknowledges churches to be living buildings and allows them to continue to adapt and evolve new ways of worship and mission. Without the system, many changes that facilitate growth would not be permitted.
• It ensures that the long-term interests of parishoners, past, present and future are served.
• It avoids changes which may quickly fall out of fashion or are undertaken without due consideration to the long-term growth and benefit of the church.
• Any person carrying out works without a faculty may be liable to a civil action for trespass to land or goods and a criminal prosecution under the Criminal damage Act 1971.
• A PCC would equally be in breach of trust if it dissipated its funds on the cost of works not authorised by a faculty.

The role of the DAC

The functions of the DAC are set out in Schedule 2 of the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991. They are:

1) To act as an advisory body on matters affecting places of worship in the diocese and, in particular, to give advice when requested by any of the persons specified in paragraph two below on matters relating to:

• The grant of faculties.
• The architecture, archaeology, art and history of places of worship.
• The use, care, planning, design and redundancy of places of worship.
• The use and care of the contents of such places.
• The use and care of churchyards and burial grounds.

2) To review and assess the degree of risk to materials, or of loss to archaeological or historic remains or records, arising from any proposals relating to the conservation, repair or alteration of places of worship, churchyards and burial grounds and the contents of such places.

3) To develop and maintain a repository of records relating to the conservation, repair and alteration of places of worship, churchyards and burial grounds and other material (including inspection reports, inventories, technical information and photographs) relating to the work of the committee.

4) To issue guidance for the preparation and storage of such records.

5) To make recommendations as to the circumstances when the preparation of such a record should be made a condition of a faculty.

6) To take action to encourage the care and appreciation of places of worship, churchyards and burial grounds and the contents of such places, and for that purpose to publicise methods of conservation, repair, construction, adaptation and re-development.

7) To perform such other functions as may be assigned to the committee by any enactment, by any Canon of the Church of England or by resolution of the diocesan synod or as the committee may be requested to perform by the bishop or chancellor of the diocese.

Members and advisers offer their services to churches free of charge. Specialist advice can be sought in a range of areas including re-ordering, building regulations, heating, electrical works, churchyards, environmental projects, bells, furniture, stained glass, sound systems, organs and AV. Please contact the DAC Secretary, Dr Julie Banham, if you wish to arrange for specialist advice or a DAC visit.

Telephone: 01709 309121 (Monday - Wednesday)

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How to apply for a faculty

Any church considering changes to the fabric or contents of their buildings should first apply to the DAC for advice and to obtain a DAC Certificate. A DAC Certificate supports the technical, practical and heritage aspects of your proposal. The legal part of the process follows when the Chancellor considers your application and it is s/he who grants the faculty. Note that the issuing of a DAC Certificate does not guarantee the granting of a faculty. The Chancellor may request further information, add conditions, or reject the petition. Thus, it is essential that work does not commence prior to a faculty being granted. If there is an emergency, please contact Julie Banham, the DAC Secretary or Andrew Vidler, the Registrar who will seek to obtain an interim or emergency order from the Chancellor on your behalf. A retrospective petition will then be submitted in the normal way to legalise the work that has been carried out.

For dates of DAC meetings, more advice and application forms click on the How to apply for a Faculty link on the left of the page.

Attachments:

File	order	Last Modified
Statement of Needs -examples		10/04/13 11:33
Statement of Needs Template		10/04/13 11:33
Statement of Significance Template		10/04/13 11:31
Procurement and Tendering Guidelines		10/04/13 11:29
Chancellor's list of minor works		31/10/12 12:44