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What Happens When a Church Building Closes?
Guidance for Parishes
This note explains how a church building is closed and its future decided. It is dealt with under the Mission
and Pastoral Measure 2011, church legislation which has the force of an Act of Parliament and is part of
the law of the land, giving the Church the means to allocate and redistribute clergy, money and buildings.
1.
The Closure Process
1.1
A consecrated church can only be legally closed for regular public worship by a pastoral
church buildings scheme made by the Church Commissioners.
1.2
Closure proposals involve both local and national consultation with interested parties.
This usually takes 3-4 months, but can take longer if people object.
1.3
Churches should carry on holding services because it is important not to prejudge the
result of a consultation. Occasionally, for safety reasons services might be suspended,
but this should only be done with permission from the Bishop.
1.4
The roles of individuals and bodies in the closure process are explained below.
Role of the Incumbent and PCC
1.5
If a parish is considering a closure, the DMPC secretary should be consulted; the
Archdeacon will also usually be involved:
• PCC Minutes should record any discussions or formal decisions, including any vote(s)
(with numbers for and against).
• The incumbent, PCC and patron are statutory interested parties who will be
consulted locally by the DMPC and nationally by the Commissioners.
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Role of the DMPC
1.6
Before the DMPC recommends closing a church to the Bishop, it has to:
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Gather and look at the views of interested parties including the clergy, PCC and
Patron.
Receive a report from the Church Buildings Council on the historic interest and
architectural quality of the building and contents.
Ask for the views of the local planning authority.
Role of the Church Commissioners
1.7
Once they receive the Bishop’s proposals for closure the Commissioners:
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1.8
Put them in legal form as a draft pastoral church buildings scheme.
Send copies to the interested parties and arrange for a notice to be fixed to the
church door.
Publish a notice in a local newspaper.
Post a copy of the draft scheme on the Commissioners’ web site at
http://www.ccpastoral.org/consultation
Anyone can send written comments to the Commissioners for or against the draft
scheme within 28 days. If no one objects, the Commissioners make the Scheme and
agree with the Bishop the date it comes into effect.
Committee Meetings
1.9
If there are objections, the Commissioners’ Pastoral Committee (made up of bishops,
clergy and laity from around the country) looks at them and will:
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Ask for the Bishop’s views and any further comments from those who wrote to
them for or against;
Decide whether it is necessary to hold a public hearing, usually at Church House,
Westminster to look at the case, or conduct a private meeting;
Decide whether the draft scheme should go ahead or not, or be sent back to the
Bishop to think about again; and
Explain their decision in a Statement of Reasons.
1.10 The test is whether the building is no longer needed for public worship. Any Scheme
which the Commissioners decide should go ahead can then be made, as long as none of
the objectors have been given permission to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council.
1.11 If a church closes and the parish is left without a parish church the bishop must license a
building (or part of one) for public worship. This will normally, but not necessarily, be in
the parish.
2.
3.
Marking closure
2.1
Once the date of formal closure has been decided, the parish can hold a final service to
mark the building’s past and memories associated with it.
2.2
When the building is vacated it should be left tidy and inflammable materials should be
removed to help prevent any sense of decay, deter vandalism and reduce fire risk.
What is the effect of closure?
3.1 There are various legal and practical impacts of closure:
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Building
•
“Ownership” of the building (and contents) transfer automatically to the Diocesan
Board of Finance (DBF) who are responsible for care and maintenance, insurance and
safekeeping of contents until its future is decided.
•
The church wardens should give details for all insurance policies for the building and
contents to the DBF. Although they have no financial obligation, the incumbent and
church wardens have a duty to help the DBF to supervise the building against damage.
•
The DBF can allow the building to be used occasionally for worship, including worship
by other Christian bodies, with the agreement of the Bishop and incumbent.
•
The Quinquennial Inspection process no longer applies but the building and contents
are still subject to faculty jurisdiction for the time being. They are no longer exempt
from listed building and conservation area control.
Contents
•
The churchwardens should agree on the annotated inventory of contents with the
DBF, making a note of any items that have been removed either for safe-keeping or
permanently, giving their original and new location.
•
Except for registers (see below) contents should remain in place until the building’s
future is decided, unless the DBF removes items temporarily for safekeeping. This can
be done without a faculty but full details must be sent to the incumbent, PCC,
Commissioners and local planning authority where relevant.
•
Contents should not be permanently disposed of at this stage contents as this could
affect future options for the building.
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Registers
•
Under the Marriage Act 1949 any current marriage registers of a closed parish church
should normally be sent to another church in the parish, or where the Bishop decides,
so they can eventually be sent to the Superintendent General.
•
Any baptism registers and other parochial records will normally be sent to the new
parish church. Sometimes it might be decided, with the agreement of the Bishop and
the PCC, for them to be placed in the diocesan record office, (this should always
happen where the parish is left without a parish church).
Churchyard
4.
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Closing the church building does not affect ownership of the churchyard. It remains
the PCC’s responsibility to care for the churchyard and insure it in respect of third
party or other risks.
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The incumbent and PCC should not enter into any Open Spaces Act or maintenance
agreements for the churchyard without prior consultation with the DBF and the
Church Commissioners, as this may jeopardise what happens to the building.
Seeking a Suitable Alternative Use
4.1 The “use-seeking period” usually lasts up to two years, by the end of which the
Commissioners have to decide on the building’s future.
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4.2 For listed buildings or those in a conservation area, the DMPC’s duty is to look for a
suitable new use and report to the Commissioners. For unlisted buildings it has to
develop proposals for the future of the building (which might include demolition).
4.3 When a use is found the Commissioners prepare and publish a draft pastoral church
buildings (disposal) scheme to decide on the building’s future, giving 28 days for anyone to
make comments. The Scheme will usually give permission for:
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the proposed use of the building (and any land included);
the way the church will be disposed of;
disposal of contents in line with the Bishop’s instructions.
4.4 If there are no objections the scheme can be made. Objections are looked at by the
Commissioners’ Church Buildings (Uses and Disposals) Committee who will decide,
after a public hearing, if the scheme should go ahead.
5.
Implementing a New Use
5.1 A Scheme usually comes into effect when any conditions such as planning permission or
listed building consent are in place. From this date:
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the property vests in the Commissioners (for sale) or the DBF (for
lease).
the legal effects of consecration no longer apply
the property is no longer subject to faculty.
Disposal of Contents
5.2 The Bishop’s instructions for contents might include:
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keeping them in the building
sending them to other churches in the local area
sending them to a diocesan treasury or local museum.
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Burials, tombstones, monuments and memorials
5.3 If land containing burials needs to be disposed of a Ministry of Justice Order will usually
allow these to remain in place if they should not to be disturbed. On very rare occasions
they might be removed and re-interred elsewhere on the Bishop’s instructions.
Covenants
5.4 Covenants will be included when the property is transferred and a copy will be sent to the
incumbent. This makes sure that:
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the property is only used for authorised purposes
it is protected from unauthorised changes or demolition
local people feel reassured and to enable public access to tend or visit any graves at
agreed times
human remains, tombstones, monuments or memorials are protected from being
disturbed.
5.5 Unless the building is being replaced by a new place of worship in the same benefice,
two-thirds of any net profits from the disposal go to the Diocesan Pastoral Account for
the mission of the Church and the remaining one-third goes towards financing the
Church’s share of funding the Churches Conservation Trust.
6.
If No Suitable Use is Found
6.1 Suitable uses are found in most cases but, if not, the Commissioners decide between
vesting the building in the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) or demolition.
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6.2 The Commissioners will prepare a draft scheme and carry out a consultation to decide
on the building’s future and look at any objections (see 4.4). In some contested
demolition cases the Government might have to hold a non-statutory public inquiry.
6.3 If the Scheme goes ahead, the building and contents will vest automatically in the CCT,
or the Commissioners or DBF will demolish the building and deal with the site (in the
case of site disposals, Paragraph 5 will generally apply to contents, covenants etc.).
7.
Closing a Church Building and Settling its Future in the Same Scheme
7.1 Sometimes the future of the church building is provided for in the same Scheme as
closure including, for example, if a new place of worship is being provided or a suitable
use has already been found. This avoids uncertainty around what will happen to the
building when it closes.
Further, more detailed guidance is available on the Commissioners’ website at www.ccpastoral.org. This
includes more information on each stage involved and on the public hearing process.
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