Annual Parish Meeting

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.	PDF Word
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.	PDF Word
Notice of Annual Parochial Church Meeting	To inform your parishioners of the date and purpose of the meeting.	PDF Word
Electoral Roll application	Anyone wishing to vote at your APCM needs to complete and submit this in advance.	PDF Word
Notice of Electoral Roll revision	This must be completed two to four weeks before your APCM	PDF Word
Notice of new Electoral Roll preparation	This must be completed two to four weeks before your APCM	PDF Word
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	PDF Word
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	PDF Word
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.	PDF Word
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.	PDF Word
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.	Excel
Annual meeting checklist	This checklist lists the principle documents and notification tasks you need to complete as part of the Annual Meeting process.	PDF

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