Vicars and patrons to part

Press, 23 June 1978, Page 12

Vicars and patrons to part

By

BADEN HICKMAN

in the

“Guardian.” London

The Church of England has set about demolishing patronage, the system by which clergymen have been appointed for more than 1500 years, and is attempting to replace it with a democratic appointments scheme. The reign of the parish squires is about to end.

The Benefices Measure, a weighty legal document drawn up by ecclesiastical lawyers for the General Synod, sets out in detail how it is proposed that the Established Church should cast off an anachronism w’hich has outlived its usefulness. It could also give Roman Catholics a possible role for the first time since the Reformation. The measure almost cer-

tainly means the end of absolute patronage, the right to appoint a clerk in Holy Orders to a living, which is still held by a remarkable variety of temporal bodies such as the Smiths crisps firm, Oxford University, the Society of Merchant Venturers of Bristol, Leeds Cor* poration, and iron works, landowners and a racecourse company . One in five of England’s 10,000 parish clergymen are still appointed by patrons.

The new proposals offer two alternative methods of appointment, and it will be for individual parishes to choose which they will use. The first choice open to parishes — appointment by registered patrons — permits patrons to retain an ac-

tive interest, but makes it necessary for them to secure the consent of the bishop and the local parochial church council, before choosing their man. The second method — appointment by selectors —• is a radical change. Under it the appointment would be made by a group of three, the bishop (or his representative) and two representatives of the parish. If a parish opts for the second sch’eme the measure provides that the decision will be irreversible, and the patron’s rights will be lost for ever.

For the lawyers it is an ecclesiastical field day. The end of the ancient system, called for by the synod in 1975, demands a major piece of legislation, designed to get rid of the plethora of separate Acts and Measures, and the opportunity to re-

move existing legal anomalies.

At present, for instance, Roman Catholics are able to own patronage in the Church of England, but cannot exercise the right of appointment. Someone else does it for them. But those of other denominations, — and those of none — are not barred in the same way. The new provisions are in* tended to apply to Roman Catholics equally with other non-Anglicans, and it is left to the synod meeting at York next month, to consider if this is the right course in the new ecumenical climate.

The role of the Crown, it seems, will remain intact. About 6 per cent of the parishes are in the patronage of the royal household, but the measure, as drafted, does not affect these.