Our Constitution

CONSTITUTION FOR CHURCH LANGLEY CHURCH
2006 (i) - As amended January 2006
With Parish Of Church Langley Standing Orders amended January 2007

Purpose
We seek to be One Faithful United Christian Church for all the people of Church Langley.


The wider church
We seek the best possible relationships with the wider Christian church. In furtherance of this aim we belong directly to three organised networks of mutual fellowship, support and oversight, namely the Church of England, the Baptist Union, and the United Reformed Church. Specifically, we seek to serve faithfully as the Church of England Parish Church for Church Langley, as a member church of the Baptist Union, and as a member church of the United Reformed Church. We seek good working relationships with our fellow Christians in the Methodist Church through our membership of the West Essex United Area of Methodist and United Reformed Churches. We also seek good working relationships with our fellow Christians in the Roman Catholic Church, and with all other Christian churches locally, nationally and internationally.
Members and ministers at Church Langley Church will respect the doctrines, practices, traditions and developing traditions of each of the churches named here.

Baptism
Members and ministers at Church Langley Church may adhere to the teaching on baptism of the Church of England or the Baptist Union or the United Reformed Church or the Methodist Church, and may lead and participate in rites of baptism accordingly at Church Langley Church services.

Services
There will be a 10am service every Sunday of the year. One third of these services will be services according to the traditions and rules of the Baptist Union or the United Reformed Church or the Methodist Church. The remainder will be services according to the rites of the Church of England. 10 am services will normally be services of Holy Communion, save that once a month the service may be non-eucharistic. On Sundays when the 10am service is not a service of Holy Communion, a service of Holy Communion shall be held at some other time of the day.

Other services may be organised.

The invitation to receive Holy Communion will be to all those who are communicant members in good standing of any Christian Church which subscribes to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Scripture readings will normally be those of the Revised Common Lectionary unless otherwise decided by the minister leading the service.

Ministry
We recognise “the priesthood of all believers” and “every member ministry”: that all are called to serve God in the church and in the world.
We recognise that some are called to serve within the church as “pastors” of the church, and we recognise the importance of this ministry for the good of the whole church. Those selected, trained and ordained to this specific ministry are often called “ministers” or “priests”, but neither word should distract from “the priesthood of all believers” and “every member ministry”.
For the benefit of Church Langley Church, and to establish securely our relationships with the wider church, Church Langley Church has a “bench” of three pastors, namely: the vicar or “priest in charge” of the Church of England parish of Church Langley, the Baptist minister at Church Langley Church, and the minister for the United Reformed Church at Church Langley Church.
The vicar or “priest in charge” of the Church of England parish of Church Langley will be appointed, will relate to the wider church, will help Church Langley Church relate to the wider church, and will coordinate other ministries locally (including other priests, deacons and readers licensed to the parish), according to the norms of the Church of England.
The Baptist minister at Church Langley Church, being an ordained Baptist minister recognised by the Baptist Union, will be called directly by Church Langley Church, or appointed to the role by Church Langley Church in cooperation with another Baptist church locally. The Baptist minister at Church Langley Church will relate to the wider church, will help Church Langley Church relate to the wider church, and will coordinate other ministries locally, according to the norms of the Baptist Union. In particular, Church Langley Church and its Baptist minister acting together may appoint an assistant or associate minister or a lay pastor to serve at Church Langley Church under the supervision of the Baptist minister.
The minister for the United Reformed Church at Church Langley Church will be an ordained minister of either the United Reformed Church or the Methodist Church, called according to the norms of the United Reformed Church and the West Essex United Area of Methodist and United Reformed Churches to serve as the minister for the United Reformed Church at Church Langley Church. The minister for the United Reformed Church at Church Langley Church will relate to the wider church, will help Church Langley Church relate to the wider church, and will coordinate other ministries locally, according to the norms of the United Reformed Church.

Membership
There are two routes into formal membership of Church Langley Church, each dependent on baptism and public profession of faith, as follows. (For the purposes of this section only, baptism is taken to mean any baptism recognised as baptism by any one of the churches named in the section on baptism above.)
(i) Episcopal confirmation
Any baptised and confirmed member of the Church of England or of a church in communion with the Church of England who lives in Church Langley or who attends Church Langley Church regularly over a period of six months will become a member of Church Langley Church on application.
(ii) Interview and election
Any baptised person professing repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ may apply for membership of Church Langley Church “by interview and election” (or equally may apply for their membership to be transferred from another church to Church Langley Church - a process which is also completed “by interview and election”). The applicant will normally be visited by two members appointed for the purpose, and presented to the membership by those members, and if duly elected into membership by the existing membership will become a member on public profession of faith at a subsequent service of Holy Communion.
Each applicant for membership should choose one of these two routes into membership.
Continuation of membership or readmission into membership is dependent upon receiving Holy Communion at Church Langley Church, or at home if housebound, at least three times a year.

Congregation Meetings and Annual General Meeting
Congregational meetings will be held at least once per quarter, and will be open to all.
One such meeting each year will serve as the Annual General Meeting. This meeting will take place on or before 30 April in each calendar year.
Every congregation meeting will be announced at each Church Langley Church service on the two Sundays immediately preceding the date of the meeting.
Any portion of any meeting which is to consider an application for membership will be open to members only.

Congregational Eldership
The Annual General Meeting of Church Langley Church will select, by ballot, six members of Church Langley Church to serve as a congregational eldership, to share with the ordained ministers, lay pastors and licensed readers in the responsibilities of Christian leadership at Church Langley Church.

Once elected an elder shall serve for 3 years. At each Annual General Meeting one third of the elected elders shall retire by rotation. A retiring elder may not stand for re-election if they have served in the congregational eldership immediately following all six of the preceding Annual General Meeting

The ballot shall be conducted as follows:

1. A nominee for eldership must be proposed and seconded by a total of two members of Church Langley Church (i.e. one proposer, one seconder)
2. A request for nominations shall be made at services on the Sunday next before 31 days before the Annual General Meeting.
3. Names of nominees willing and eligible to stand for election, together with the names of their proposer and seconder shall be given to the nominations secretary appointed by the elders at least 15 days prior to the Annual General Meeting.
4. The list of nominees shall be available for inspection for the two Sundays immediately prior to the Annual General Meeting.
5. If an election is required, all members of Church Langley Church in attendance at the Annual General Meeting shall be entitled to vote for one nominee per vacancy.
6. Voting shall be by secret ballot.

In the event of a casual vacancy occurring in the congregational eldership, the congregation meeting may decide either to hold a ballot to fill the vacant place until the next Annual General Meeting, or to leave the place vacant until the next Annual General Meeting.
The congregational eldership is the formal trustee body for all Church Langley Church funds, and shall act in all financial matters in accordance with this constitution.
Ordained ministers, licensed readers and lay pastors are not eligible for nomination to the congregational eldership.

Conduct of business at congregation meetings
Congregation meetings will normally be chaired by an ordained minister.
The conduct of business at congregation meetings should be prayerful and founded in mutual respect, as it constitutes an attempt to discern the will of God.
A matter will be considered settled if it has been formally proposed by one member and seconded by another, and a clear invitation to object has met no response.
If an objection is voiced, a matter may be settled by a simple majority vote unless an ordained minister, or any three members, stand up and call for a vote by houses.

Voting by houses
In the event that there is a need for a vote by houses, a matter shall only be considered settled if it has the assent of both:
(i) the structures of the Church of England appropriate for the consideration of the matter in hand; and
(ii) a meeting of those members of Church Langley Church who are members by virtue of interview and election and who have attained 18 years of age
except that:
in matters relating to the provision of Episcopal licensed Church of England ministry, or expenditure from the Church Langley Church Church of England Ministry Fund, assent is required only from the structures of the Church of England appropriate for the consideration of the matter;
and
in matters relating to the calling or appointment of an ordained Baptist or United Reformed Church or Methodist minister, or expenditure from the Free Church Ministry Fund, or the admission of members by interview and election, assent is required only from the meeting of those members of Church Langley Church who are members by virtue of interview and election and who have attained 18 years of age, a two thirds majority being required at that meeting for the resolution of any matter relating to the calling or appointment of an ordained minister.

Finance
Collections at Church Langley Church services, and all other income relating to Church Langley Church services, and general donations relating to Church Langley Church, shall be received into the Church Langley Church Common Fund.
The Church Langley Church Common Fund will be used to meet the direct costs of Church Langley Church services and other Church Langley Church projects, for supporting good causes locally nationally and internationally, and for funding Christian ministry as set out below.

Funding ministry
Church Langley Church recognises the responsibility of the Christian Church to cover the costs of certain Christian ministries, including the out-of-pocket and other expenses of ministers, ministerial training, ministers’ stipends and pensions, ministers’ housing, and the central administrative support provided by the Church of England, the Baptist Union, the United Reformed Church and the Methodist Church. To this end:
(i) from the Church Langley Church Common Fund, Church Langley Church will pay in full the Church of England Diocesan “Family Purse” (Quota) assessment, on the understanding that Church Langley Church is recognised and assessed by the Diocese as effectively “two thirds Anglican”, and also the local out-of-pocket expenses of Church of England ministry normally attributable to the parish in accordance with the guidelines of the Central Stipends Authority (principally postage, stationery, telephone and car mileage allowance);
(ii) for every payment made from the Church Langley Church Common Fund under section (i) above, a payment of one half of the same amount will be made from the same Church Langley Church Common Fund into a separate Church Langley Church Free Church Ministry Fund; this Free Church Ministry Fund will be used to support the recognised ordained ministries and organised lay ministries of The Baptist Union, The United Reformed Church and The Methodist Church, as determined from time to time by Church Langley Church;
(iii) if Church Langley Church wishes to make additional payments into the Free Church Ministry Fund in order to further support the purposes of that fund, then each such payment will be matched by a payment of twice the same amount to the Church of England Diocese as a contribution above quota towards Church of England ministry in the Diocese, or into a separate Church Langley Church Church of England Ministry Fund for future use for this purpose or for the purposes described in (i) above.

Financial Best Practice
Church Langley Church will follow best practice procedures appropriate to churches in the handling of cash and bank accounts, in the submission of accounts for independent inspection or audit, and in the presentation of accounts to the Annual General Meeting. The independent inspector or auditor will be appointed by the congregation meeting, and will immediately report any discrepancies in the accounts to the congregational eldership and to the congregation meeting. The financial year will be the calendar year: 1 January to 31 December.

Changes
A congregation meeting of Church Langley Church may make changes to this constitution by following the above rules for conduct of business at congregation meetings, including those relating to voting by houses if necessary, provided that:
(i) the immediately preceding congregation meeting, voting by houses if necessary, agreed that the matter be considered; and
(ii) the assent of the Church of England vicar or Priest in Charge has been obtained (or, in the case of a vacancy in this post, the assent of the archdeacon); and
(iii) advice has been sought from at least one minister of the Baptist church, one minister of the Methodist Church and one minister of the United Reformed Church, and any responses have been presented to the meeting; and
(iv) in the event that a vote by houses becomes necessary, the meeting of those members of Church Langley Church who are members by virtue of interview and election and who have attained 18 years of age supports the change with a two thirds majority; and
(v) for any change to the section of the constitution entitled “Baptism” or the section entitled “Baptismal Policy”, the assent of Potter Street Baptist Church has been obtained.

Initial and extraordinary arrangements
In the event that the number of members of Church Langley Church who are members by virtue of interview and election and who have attained 18 years of age is fewer than six, the membership of Potter Street Baptist Church shall have the rights normally afforded to such members of Church Langley Church until such time as such number rises to six or more.

Baptismal Policy
It is a correct interpretation of the statement on baptism above to assert that, following the rules on any given occasion of any one of the named churches:
the baptism of children who are too young to speak for themselves, which is practised in the Church of England, the United Reformed Church and the Methodist Church, but which can be difficult for Christians in some other traditions, and
the baptism, once only, upon profession of faith, of believers who have attained an age to speak for themselves, regardless of any previous baptism conducted in a different tradition before attaining such an age, which is practised by Christians in the Baptist tradition, but which can be difficult for Christians in some other traditions,
may both be practised at Church Langley Church, without prejudice to the status of the person so baptised as a member or potential member of Church Langley Church.
These two practices highlight a divergence of baptismal teaching and practice in different traditions, but we assert that we have much baptismal theology in common to celebrate, and that we will respect, and so far as possible celebrate, the integrity of each other's baptismal teachings and traditions.

Policy concerning leading services of Holy Communion
The celebration of the service of Holy Communion, also called the eucharist, the Lord's Supper, and the breaking of bread, is a central part of the life of Church Langley Church, in accordance with our Lord's command, “do this in remembrance of me”.
Church Langley Church wishes to affirm and celebrate the ministry of those who are called to lead services of Holy Communion at Church Langley Church.
At Church Langley Church, this ministry is governed by the sections on Ministry and Holy Communion above.
The ministry of leading services of Holy Communion according to the rites of the Church of England operates in a diocesan, national and even international context, and Church Langley Church wishes to affirm and celebrate this ministry and the shared process, overseen by the bishops of the church but in which the local church also has a role, whereby individuals are called, prepared for and ordained and licensed to this ministry.
The ministry of leading services of Holy Communion according to the traditions and rules of the Baptist Union is, according to the practice of the Baptist Union, ultimately a matter for the local church itself, and in order to affirm and celebrate the ministry of those called to this role, this local church adopts for itself the following policy, namely that those who may be invited to lead services of Holy Communion according to the traditions and rules of the Baptist Union at Church Langley Church are: any duly ordained minister of word and sacrament recognised by the Baptist Union; any person called to serve as an assistant or associate minister or a lay pastor at Church Langley Church in accordance with the section on ministry above; and any person who is a member of Church Langley Church by virtue of interview and election and who is currently serving in the congregational eldership of Church Langley Church, except that, out of respect for the different practices of the Church of England, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church in this matter, members of those churches will not be invited to this role, but may instead be commended for authorisation or ordination to the ministry of word and sacrament according to the practice of one of those churches.
Services of Holy Communion according to the traditions and rules of the Methodist Church or the United Reformed Church will for the time being be led by duly ordained ministers of word and sacrament from those churches only.

County Ecumenical Body
We look to the Church of England, the Baptist Union and the United Reformed Church for oversight and support, and welcome the fact that the leaders of these churches provide part of their oversight and support cooperatively through the provision of a Local Advisory Group and a five- to seven- yearly review of our life together as Church Langley Church.

Dissolution
The dissolution of Church Langley Church may be effected by Church Langley Church, on any specified date of its choosing, in accordance with the arrangements for changes to this constitution specified above (conditions (i) to (iv) applying as usual but condition (v) not applying).
The dissolution of Church Langley Church may be effected by the Church of England Parochial Church Council, on any specified date of its choosing, by advising a congregation meeting of Church Langley Church of its decision not less than six months in advance of the specified date.
The dissolution of Church Langley Church may be effected by a meeting of those members of Church Langley Church who are members by virtue of interview and election and who have attained 18 years of age, on any specified date of that meeting’s choosing, by advising a congregation meeting of Church Langley Church of its decision not less than six months in advance of the specified date, provided that the holding of such meeting to consider the question of dissolution has the support of at least one third of those entitled to attend such meeting and shall have been announced in advance complete with details of date time and location at a congregation meeting of Church Langley Church.
In the event of a decision in favour of the dissolution of Church Langley Church, the operation of the arrangements in this constitution will continue until the specified date. On the specified date, two thirds of the assets of the Church Langley Church Common Fund, and the whole of any Church Langley Church Church of England Ministry Fund, will pass to the Church of England Parochial Church Council; and the remaining one third of the assets of the Church Langley Church Common Fund, and the whole of the Church Langley Church Free Church Ministry Fund, will pass into the trusteeship of Church Langley Free Church, which will be established initially as an unincorporated association in common law and operate according to best practice as understood by the Charity Commissioners, the initial membership of Church Langley Free Church being those individuals who were members of Church Langley Church by virtue of interview and election at the time of its dissolution. The name Church Langley Church will not be used by any organisation for a period of at least ninety years from the specified date unless consent is obtained for this from all five denominations of the wider church named in this constitution.

STANDING ORDERS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND PARISH OF CHURCH LANGLEY
(not part of the constitution of Church Langley Church)
General
Applications for membership of Church Langley Church by virtue of episcopal confirmation will be organised in such a way that all such applications include an application to join the parish electoral roll.
Unless there is a call to the contrary, the annual parochial church meeting will be deemed to have taken place immediately following the Annual General Meeting of Church Langley Church, and to have:
(i) endorsed all the decisions of that meeting;
(ii) determined the membership of the Parochial Church Council for the year ahead to be all those members of Church Langley Church who are members of Church Langley Church by virtue of episcopal confirmation and are eligible to serve on the Parochial Church Council and were present at the Annual General Meeting of Church Langley Church or sent written apologies;
(iii) appointed all members of the Parochial Church Council to serve as “sidesmen”; and
(iv) appointed the independent examiner or auditor of accounts for Church Langley Church as the independent examiner or auditor of Parochial Church Council accounts.
Unless there is a call to the contrary, the first meeting of the new Parochial Church Council will also be deemed to have taken place immediately following the Annual General Meeting of Church Langley Church, and to have elected the churchwardens jointly to serve as lay vice-chair, secretary and electoral roll officer, and to have appointed the Parochial Church Council to serve as its own standing committee.
Unless there is a call to the contrary, a meeting of the Parochial Church Council will be deemed to have taken place immediately following every Church Langley Church congregation meeting and to have endorsed all the decisions of that meeting.

Appointing a new incumbent
The PCC:
prayerfully recognises its spiritual responsibility to work with the patron and the bishop in discerning the will of God in the process leading towards the appointment of a new incumbent for the parish of Church Langley
recognises its many practical and legal responsibilities in this process, which will include several PCC meetings from which the present incumbent is barred, and which in this parish are therefore meetings of anglican laity only (meeting sometimes with the archdeacon and sometimes without the archdeacon)
in the true spirit of Church Langley Church invites all lay members of Church Langley Church to join these meetings, in order that the process might become a valuable exercise in building up the church in this place
reserves the right to revert to an anglican-only meeting when appropriate or necessary according to the procedures set out in the constitution of Church Langley Church for voting by houses at congregation meetings
reserves these meetings for laity only in order to retain their particular value and purpose whilst committing itself to consultation in a different forum with the free church ministers at Church Langley Church
makes the above a standing order of the parish concerning the process of appointing a new incumbent