Code of Practice for Senior Church Appointments

(i)        the processes by which appointments are made should be widely known and understood;

(ii)        the processes should not undermine episcopal authority but should involve a proper degree of consultation  -

with clergy and laity directly affected, including synodically elected representatives;

with the wider Church (including, where appropriate, leaders of other Churches in England;

in the community, to reflect and fulfil the national role of the Church of England.

(iii)        this consultation should be primarily directed at defining:

the nature, duties and responsibilities of the post to which the appointment is to be made and the context in which it is set, and the gifts, skills and personal characteristics to be looked for in the person appointed;

(iv)       it should also include identification of the names of individuals considered suitable for appointment;

(v)        the vacancy should be made known so that names can be suggested or applications received;

(vi)       the final choice of appointee should continue to rest, in the case of non-Crown appointments, with the diocesan bishop;

(vii)       in each case, the method of appointment should be capable of adaptation to the post in question, be robust enough to cope with changing circumstances, and be designed to secure the best appointment possible.

(a)        the recommendations to the Crown for the appointment of a suffragan bishop should continue to be made by the diocesan bishop (after consultation with and with the concurrence of the Archbishop of the Province) and

(b)        openness about the processes of appointment should be matched by strict confidentiality on the part of all those concerned in the consideration of individuals and about how the processes have operated in particular cases. This is important if those who may be candidates for senior posts are to retain their confidence in the processes themselves.

(i)         before a vacancy occurs, the retiring holder of the post should be asked for his or her comments on the nature and needs of the post as they see them;

(ii)                when the vacancy is announced, the diocesan bishop should arrange for consultation about the nature, emphasis and requirements of the next phase of the particular ministry and of the characteristics to be sought in the person to be appointed. Those consulted should include –

a)           all area and suffragan bishops, the dean or provost, archdeacons, the chairmen of the diocesan houses of clergy and laity, rural deans and lay chairmen of deanery synods affected, the diocesan secretary, the elected representatives of the diocese on the General Synod, and members of the bishop’s council;

b)         any one else with a significant and direct interest in the appointment (such as, in the case of an archdeacon, the Diocesan Chancellor and Registrar and the chairman and secretary of the Diocesan Board of Finance; in the case of a provost, the residentiary canons and the members of the Cathedral Council; or in the case of an archdeaconry held with a residential canonry, the dean or provost concerned);

c)         where appropriate (eg in the case of a suffragan bishop or a provost) representatives of the local community and other Churches;

(iii)       the bishop will also wish to consider the appointment in the context of the wider needs of the Church of England, and to consult

a)         the Archbishops’ Appointments Secretary; and

b)         where appropriate, the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary

(iv) following this consultative process

(a)        a synopsis of the responses received and a draft job description should be prepared for discussion in the bishop’s staff meeting and endorsement by the bishop’s council (or the Cathedral greater council as appropriate);

(b)        in the event of disagreement, the diocesan bishop should settle the nature of the ministry to be undertaken, the job description and the kind of qualities that should be looked for in any possible candidates;

(c)        these details, once settled, should be sent to those referred to in (ii) above and to any others he considers appropriate by the diocesan bishop, who may also extend an invitation to        them to suggest to him, in complete confidence, names for consideration;

(d)               the diocesan bishop will himself be in touch with the Archbishops’ Appointments Secretary and eg other diocesan bishops, and, as appropriate, with the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary [cf (ii) (b) above] about possible names for consideration.

(i)                  how any vacancy can best be made known in order to enable the names of potential candidates to be put forward. Means of publicising the vacancy include the diocesan newsletter, the Clergy Appointments Adviser’s vacancy list and an announcement in the Church press. Some of all of these may be appropriate depending on the nature of the appointment.

(ii)                other aspects of how the process leading up to an appointment is to be conducted, including such issues as the role of any advisory group (cf paragraph 7) in it, the need for obtaining detailed information about possible candidates, and whether one or more candidates should be interviewed (and in that case his responsibility to any not appointed);

(iii)               whether to provide an opportunity for the person appointed to meet, after the offer of the appointment but before he or she accepts the offer, those with whom he’she will have in future to work most closely.

i) after discussion with the diocesan bishop, the dean (or provost), in close consultation with the chapter and other leading lay and clerical representatives of the Cathedral, should consider and prepare for his agreement a statement setting out the needs in the post for the next phase of ministry and the kind of gifts that should be looked for in the person to be appointed. Where, however, the canonry in question is linked with a diocesan post, the diocesan bishop should take the lead in preparing this statement, but in close consultation with the dean (or provost), chapter; and other lay and clerical representatives of the Cathedral;

(ii) in the light of (i) a job description should be prepared and agreed, together with a profile of the kind of person it should be appropriate to appoint and for what tenure;

(iii) the diocesan bishop should then gather potential names for appointment, including any put forward by the dean/provost and chapter; and/or by the Archbishops’ Appointments Secretary or by the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary;

(iv) the diocesan bishop, having identified the person he felt it appropriate to appoint, should consult informally with the dean/provost concerned before extending an invitation to the candidate in question;

(v)  before the appointment is offered to the preferred candidate, he or she should meet the bishop, and the members of the cathedral chapter and other senior colleagues with whom he or she should work.