Sharing of Church
Buildings (Jersey) Law 1973
A LAW to provide for the sharing and
using of church buildings by different Churches and for matters connected
therewith
Commencement
[see
endnotes]
1 Interpretation
(1) In
this Law, unless the context otherwise requires –
“building”
includes a part of a building;
“church building”
means a building used or proposed to be used by a Church or Churches to which
this Law applies –
(a) as a
place of worship;
(b) as a
church hall or centre available wholly or mainly for activities other than
worship;
(c) as a
youth club or centre or youth hostel;
(d) as a
residence or residences for ministers or lay workers:
Provided that –
(i) a sharing
agreement may provide for including any land (other than land used or
appropriated for use for burials) or outbuildings held or to be enjoyed with a
church building, and any easements or rights enjoyed or to be enjoyed with a
church building, and references to a church building shall in relation to that
agreement, be construed accordingly,
(ii) the
said expression shall not include any school;
“statutory or other
legal provision” means any Law, Act or Measure, any instrument or
document made or having effect under or by virtue of any Law, Act or Measure,
any other instrument or document affecting legal rights or obligations, any
trust (whether arising under a trust instrument or otherwise), and any rule of law,
being a Law, Act, Measure, instrument, document, trust or rule in force at the
passing of this Law:
Provided that the said expression
shall not include a lease or tenancy of a church building or any mortgage,
charge, covenant or rights affecting a church building and operating for the
benefit of persons other than a Church to which this Law applies, or any
general enactment regulating or affecting the use of land.
(2) For
the purposes of this Law a church building shall be deemed to be owned by a
Church if the building is held by any body or person, whether for a freehold or
leasehold estate, for purposes of that Church or on behalf of that Church, and,
in the case of a leasehold building, any reference to the conveyance or vesting
of the building shall be construed as a reference to the conveyance or vesting
of the leasehold estate.
(3) Any
reference in this Law to any Law, Act or Measure shall be construed as a
reference to that Law, Act or Measure as amended by any subsequent Law, Act or
Measure.
2 Agreements
for sharing church buildings
(1) It
shall be lawful, notwithstanding any statutory or other legal provision, for
any 2 or more Churches to which this Law applies to make agreements, through
the parties mentioned in this Article and in accordance with the provisions for
the sharing by them of church buildings, and to carry such agreements into
effect, and such agreements are in this Law referred to as “sharing
agreements”.
(2) A
sharing agreement may be made in respect of a single church building or 2 or
more church buildings in the same locality, and in respect of any existing or
proposed church building, and may provide for the shared building or any of the
shared buildings to be owned or continue to be owned by one only of the sharing
Churches or to be jointly owned by all or some of the sharing Churches.
(3) The
parties to a sharing agreement shall –
(a) as
respects the Church of England, be the Dean of Jersey and the incumbent of the parish
in which the building or buildings is or are or will be situated;
(b) as
respects any other Church, be such persons as may be determined by the
appropriate authority of that Church,
and shall also include, in
the case of an existing building, the person (if not otherwise a party) in whom
the building is vested and any trustees, and may also include, in the case of a
proposed building, any person in whom it is to be vested or who is to be a
trustee.
(4) A
sharing agreement shall not be made on behalf of the Church of England without
the consent of the Bishop of Salisbury and the Jersey Deanery Synod, and the
appropriate authority of any other Church to which this Law applies may require
the consent of any body or person specified by the authority to be given to
sharing agreements made on behalf of that Church.[1]
(5) Where
the See of Salisbury is vacant, or the Bishop of Salisbury is unable because of
illness or absence to give the Bishop’s consent
under Article 2(4), the Archbishop of Canterbury may appoint by an
instrument under the Bishop’s hand a suffragan or assistant bishop of the
diocese to act in place of the Bishop under the said paragraph for a period
specified in the instrument.[2]
(6) A
sharing agreement shall be under seal and shall be registered, in the case of
the Church of England, in the registries of the province and diocese, and, in
the case of other Churches, in the registry or office of the appropriate
authority, and the consents required as aforesaid shall be signified in writing
by the secretary or clerk of the body concerned or by the person concerned and
shall be registered with the deed.
(7) A
sharing agreement shall be binding on the successors to the parties, that is to
say, on the persons who would at any subsequent time be required to be parties
if the agreement were then being made, and any reference in this Law to the
parties to a sharing agreement shall be construed, as respects anything done at
a subsequent time, as referring to the said persons.
(8) A
sharing agreement may be amended by agreement of the parties thereto and with
the consents that would then be required to a new sharing agreement.
3 Trusts
of shared church buildings
(1) Where
a sharing agreement is made with respect to an existing or proposed church
building which is to be owned or continue to be owned by one only of the
sharing Churches, the trusts or purposes on or for which the building is held
or to be held shall include the purposes and provisions of the agreement, as
for the time being in force, and any instrument declaring those trusts and
purposes shall be deemed to have effect, or (in the case of a proposed building)
shall provide, accordingly.
(2) Where
a sharing agreement is made with respect to an existing or proposed church
building which is to be owned jointly by all or some of the sharing Churches,
that ownership shall be effected by vesting the building in trustees
representing those Churches to be held on trust to be used for the purposes of
the sharing agreement and in accordance with its terms and, subject thereto,
for such other charitable purposes of the sharing Churches as may be
appropriate, and the trust instrument relating to the building shall provide
accordingly.
(3) The
provisions of this Article are in addition to and not in derogation of the
provisions of the Loi (1862) sur les teneures en fidéicommis et l’incorporation d’associations.
4 Financial
and management provisions
(1) A
sharing agreement shall make provision with respect to the financial and other
obligations of the parties thereto in respect of the provision, improvement and
management of the church building or buildings shared or to be shared under the
agreement, and the powers of any body or person under any statutory or other
legal provision to apply money, whether by grant or loan, in respect of the
provision, improvement or management of church buildings of a Church to which
this Law applies shall be applicable in like manner in respect of any church
building shared or to be shared by that Church under a sharing agreement.
(2) The
powers of any body or person under any statutory or other legal
provision –
(a) to
acquire, hold, improve or manage church buildings of a Church to which this Law
applies, or any property to be used for or in connection with the provision of
such church buildings, or
(b) to
grant property for or in connection with the provision of such church
buildings, whether for a full consideration or for less than a full
consideration,
shall be applicable in
like manner in respect of any church building to which a sharing agreement
relates and which, under the agreement, is or is to be owned by that Church or
jointly owned by that Church and any other Church or Churches, and any such
power to hold church buildings shall include a power to be a trustee
(representing that Church) of such a jointly owned church building.
(3) The
responsibility for the management of a church building owned by one only of the
sharing Churches under a sharing agreement and of its contents shall remain
with the authorities of or trustees representing that Church, but that responsibility
shall be discharged in accordance with the provisions of the agreement and any
arrangements made thereunder, including provisions or arrangements for
consultation with any other sharing Church and for the payment of contributions
by any other sharing Church towards the expenses of management.
(4) Where
a sharing agreement provides for the joint ownership of the shared building by
all or some of the sharing Churches, the responsibility of the trustees for the
management of the building shall be in place of any responsibility of the
authorities of the sharing Churches as respects that building, including
responsibility under any statutory or other legal provision:
Provided that –
(a) the
trustees shall discharge that responsibility in accordance with the provisions
of the sharing agreement and any arrangements made thereunder, including
provisions or arrangements for consultation with any sharing Church which is
not a joint owner and for the payment of contributions by the sharing Churches
towards the expenses of management;
(b) the
agreement may provide that any movables required for the worship of any sharing
Church shall be the responsibility of the authorities of that Church.
(5) In
this Article, “management”, in relation to a church building, includes
the repair and furnishing of the building.
5 Sharing
of church buildings for purposes of worship
(1) A
sharing agreement shall make provision, in the case of a building used as a
place of worship, for determining the extent to which it is to be available for
worship in accordance with the forms of service and practice of the sharing
Churches respectively, and may provide for the holding of such joint services
on such occasions as may be approved by those Churches, and may dispense, to
such extent as may be necessary, with the requirement to hold certain services
of the Church of England on Sundays and other days.
(2) Notwithstanding
any statutory or other legal provision, a minister, reader or lay preacher of
one of the Churches sharing a church building under a sharing agreement may, by
invitation of a minister, reader or lay preacher of another such Church, take part
in conducting worship in that building in accordance with the forms of service
and practice of that other Church; but the rights given by this paragraph shall
be exercised in accordance with any rules or directions given by either Church
and to any limitation imposed by or under the sharing agreement.
(3) Subject
to the foregoing provisions of this Article, the participation of the
communities of the sharing Churches in each other’s worship shall be
governed by the practices and disciplines of those Churches in like manner as
if they worshipped in separate buildings.
6 Termination
of sharing
(1) A
sharing agreement shall contain provisions for terminating the sharing of the
church building or buildings, and such provisions may –
(a) if
the agreement relates to 2 or more buildings, provide for terminating the
sharing of any building before the others; and
(b) if
there are 2 or more sharing Churches, provide for the withdrawal of any Church
from the sharing of any church building, not being a Church which is the sole
owner or previous owner of the building,
and the sharing agreement
may make provision for financial adjustments as between the Churches, on such
termination or withdrawal, by payments out of moneys held for the purposes of
the sharing agreement or of any shared building or by other payments by one
Church to another.
(2) On
the termination of the sharing of a church building owned by one only of the
sharing Churches, the building shall be held on the trusts or for the purposes
on or for which it was held before the sharing agreement or would be held but
for the sharing agreement.
(3) On
the termination of the sharing of a church building jointly owned by all or
some of the sharing Churches, being a building which before the sharing
agreement was owned by one only of those Churches, the building shall, without
any conveyance or other assurance, vest in such of the trustees in whom the
building is vested as represent the Church who previously owned the building
and it shall be held and managed on the trusts or for the same purposes as
before, as nearly as may be.
(4) Where
the sharing of a church building jointly owned as aforesaid but not previously
owned by one only of the sharing Churches is terminated, the sharing agreement
and the trust instrument may provide for the disposal of the building
(including disposal to one of the sharing Churches) and for the application of
the proceeds to charitable purposes of the sharing Churches.
7 Churches
to which this law applies, and appropriate authorities thereof
(1) The
Churches to which this Law applies are the Churches specified in the first
column of the Schedule, the Church of England and all other Churches who give
notice under paragraph (3).
(2) The
expression “appropriate authority”, in relation to each of the
Churches specified in the first column of the Schedule, means the authority
specified in the second column of that Schedule in respect of that Church, and
if different authorities are specified in relation to different provisions of
this Law, means in each such provision the authority specified in relation
thereto.
(3) Any
Church for the time being represented on the General Council of the British
Council of Churches or on the governing body of the Evangelical Alliance or the
British Evangelical Council may give notice in writing to the General Secretary
of the British Council of Churches, or as the case may be, of the governing
body concerned, and to the Secretary of the Jersey Council of Churches that it
desires that this Law should apply to that Church, and the notice shall specify
the appropriate authority or authorities of that Church for the purposes of
this Law, and the General Secretary concerned shall publish in the Jersey
Gazette a notice signed by the General Secretary –
(a) stating
that the Church concerned is represented on the said General Council or
governing body and has expressed its desire that this Law should apply to that
Church;
(b) stating
that this Law will apply to that Church as from the date of publication of the
notice; and
(c) specifying
the appropriate authority or authorities of that Church for the purposes of
this Law,
and thereupon this Law
shall apply to that Church as from that date and shall have effect as if an
entry in respect of that Church and the appropriate authority or authorities so
specified were made in the Schedule thereto.
8 Saving
for temporary loans of church buildings
Nothing in this Law shall
be taken as affecting any practice of a church to which this Law applies of
lending church buildings temporarily for particular occasions to other
religious bodies.
9 Citation
This Law may be cited as
the Sharing of Church Buildings (Jersey) Law 1973.