The annual meeting of parishioners
These meetings are an important part of the government of the Church of England, where most of the trustees for each parish are elected. Your parish must hold its Annual Meetings no later than 31st May each year.
Your incumbent will convene an Annual Meeting of Parishioners to elect churchwardens for your parish. It is often amalgamated with the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) - see below.
PLEASE NOTE: The participation criteria for a Meeting of Parishioners is slightly different from that of an APCM - anyone who lives within the parish boundary may attend and vote at the annual meeting of parishioners. Please see below the participation criteria for the APCM.
Annual Parochial Church Meeting
Your incumbent will convene an Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) to elect your parish's Deanery Synod representatives and PCC members.
PLEASE NOTE: Only people who are listed on the church's electoral roll may participate in the APCM.
At this meeting, the church's members should receive an Annual Report - click here for details of what to include in this report.
Useful resources
Download the documents below to help you plan and run your annual meeting:
| Document | Notes | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of Annual Meeting of Parishiners | To inform your parishioners of the date and purpose of the meeting. | |
| Church Warden nomination form | Please distribute these before the Annual Meeting of Parishioners to give enough time for people to nominate their preferred candidate for Church Warden. | |
| Notice of Annual Parochial Church Meeting | To inform your parishioners of the date and purpose of the meeting. | |
| Electoral Roll application | Anyone wishing to vote at your APCM needs to complete and submit this in advance. | |
| Notice of Electoral Roll revision | This must be completed two to four weeks before your APCM | |
| Notice of new Electoral Roll preparation | This must be completed two to four weeks before your APCM | |
| Electoral Roll certificate | Your PCC needs to submit a copy of this to the secretary of the diocesan synod and display a copy in your church for at least two weeks | |
| PCC nomination form | A nominee to serve on a PCC must be on your parish electoral roll and be proposed and seconded by other parish members on the electoral roll. They must meet the eligibility criteria described here | |
| Deanery Synod nomination form | A nominee to serve on a Deanery Synod must be on your parish electoral roll and be proposed and seconded by other parish members on the electoral roll. Other eligibility criteria are the same as for a PCC member. | |
| Election Result notice | Your PCC should display this in your church for at least two weeks after the annual meetings to inform parishioners of the outcome of the elections for Churchwardens, PCC members and Deanery Synod members. | |
| APCM Date calculator | You can use this spreadsheet to enter the date of your Annual Meetings, and it will calculate for you the length of time that your Electoral Roll will be open for revision, and the earliest and latest dates that you need to display your official notices for the Annual Meetings. |
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| Annual meeting checklist | This checklist lists the principle documents and notification tasks you need to complete as part of the Annual Meeting process. |