Chapter V: Regulations relating to The Archbishop and the Diocesan Bishops
In exercise of its powers under Chapter II of the Constitution the Governing Body hereby makes the following Regulations entitled “Governing Body Regulations relating to the Election of the Archbishop and the Diocesan Bishops”, which are set out as follows:
- Part I: Appointment of Episcopal Electors
- Part II: The Archbishop’s Electoral College
- Part III: The Bishop’s Electoral College
Part I: Appointment of Episcopal Electors
1.
An Episcopal Elector shall be a lay person who is under the age of seventy five years or a Cleric who is under the age of seventy years and, in each case, qualified to be a member of the Governing Body.
2.
2.1 Each Diocesan Conference shall, at its first meeting and at each subsequent first meeting of any newly-elected Diocesan Conference, appoint:
2.1.1 six Clerics who hold a licence from the Diocesan Bishop to officiate and reside in the diocese; and
2.1.2 six lay persons who either reside in the diocese or whose names are on the electoral roll of a Parish in the diocese or who hold diocesan office in such diocese;
to act as Episcopal Electors in the Electoral College, the Clerics being appointed by the clerical members and the lay persons by the lay members of the Conference and the Conference shall make lists of Episcopal Electors in accordance with Regulation 2.3.
2.2 A supplemental list of nine Clerics and nine lay persons shall be made at the same time in a similar manner, from which casual vacancies in the number of Episcopal Electors shall be filled.
2.3 The order in which the names of the persons appointed under Regulations 2.1 and 2.2 shall stand on the lists of Episcopal Electors and on the supplemental lists respectively shall be determined by a vote taken by ballot at the time of appointment, and in the case of an equality of votes the order as between those having an equality of votes shall be determined by the President of the Diocesan Conference.
3.
3.1 Subject to Regulations 5.5 and 16.4, a Cleric who is appointed an Episcopal Elector shall continue as such only whilst holding a licence from the Bishop to officiate and residing in such diocese, provided that an Episcopal Elector who at the time of appointment was a Cleric in the full-time stipendiary ministry of the Church in Wales shall cease to be an Episcopal Elector when he or she ceases to hold office in the full-time stipendiary ministry of the Church in Wales, but this without prejudice to eligibility for re-appointment as an Episcopal Elector.
3.2 Subject to Regulations 5.5 and 16.4, a lay person who is appointed an Episcopal Elector shall continue as such only whilst residing in the diocese by which he or she was appointed save that this paragraph shall not apply to an Episcopal Elector holding diocesan office or whose name is on the electoral roll of a parish in such diocese.
4.
4.1 A list of the Episcopal Electors for each Diocese shall be sent immediately after their appointment by the Secretary of the Diocesan Conference to the Archbishop and each Diocesan Bishop and the Archbishop’s Registrar.
4.2 An Episcopal Elector may resign from office by notice in writing, addressed to the Secretary of his or her Diocesan Conference.
4.3 In the event of a vacancy in the number of Episcopal Electors, the first name on the supplemental list shall be placed at the end of the list of Episcopal Electors, and that person shall become an Episcopal Elector and the Secretary of the Diocesan Conference shall send notice thereof as in Regulation 4.1.
4.4 In the event of there being both (a) a vacancy in the number of Episcopal Electors and (b) no names on the relevant Supplemental List, the Diocesan Conference may (whether at a meeting or by postal and/or electronic means) appoint further electors to fill the casual vacancy or vacancies. Regulation 2.3 shall apply to the ballot held to fill the casual vacancy or vacancies, save that all appointed in this further ballot shall sit beneath those appointed pursuant to Regulation 2 on the list of Electors.
4.5 A Diocesan Conference may make provision to delegate elections to fill casual vacancies on the list of Episcopal Electors and the supplemental list to its Standing Committee. Such elections shall otherwise proceed as set out in Regulation 4.4.
4.6 In the event of any Elector having been appointed for more than one diocese the Archbishop’s Registrar shall give notice in writing to such Elector calling on him or her to signify in writing within twenty-one days his or her choice of the diocese for which he or she will serve. In the event of such Elector failing so to signify his or her choice his or her name shall be removed from the list of Electors for each diocese on which it appears.
Part II: The Archbishop’s Electoral College
5.
5.1 Within thirty days after a vacancy arises in the archbishopric, the senior Diocesan Bishop shall summon each member of the Archbishop’s Electoral College to a meeting to be held not less than fourteen and not more than thirty days after the date of such summons, for the purpose of electing an Archbishop.
5.2 Provided that if a vacancy in any see or sees exists or arises on the date on which the archbishopric becomes vacant or arises within fourteen days thereafter, proceedings to fill the archbishopric shall not be taken, or if begun shall be annulled, until after the Bishop or Bishops of such see or sees shall have had their elections confirmed pursuant to Regulation 26.1, whereupon the procedure prescribed in paragraph 5.1 for the summoning of the College shall be followed, the date of the latest of such confirmations of election being substituted for the date on which the vacancy in the archbishopric arose.
5.3 Except as herein provided, it shall not be necessary that before the election of an Archbishop takes place every see in Wales shall be filled.
5.4 The Standing Committee may by resolution amend the time limits set out in this regulation 5 in respect of an individual vacancy provided that such amendments must not alter the order in which meetings of the Archbishop’s Electoral College and any Bishops’ Electoral Colleges take place.
5.5 An Episcopal Elector who was duly appointed and eligible to act on the day immediately following the archiepiscopal see falling vacant (unless a date has been substituted therefor pursuant to regulation 5.2, in which case the day immediately following that substituted date) shall be eligible to act as Episcopal Elector in that Archbishop’s Electoral College.
6.
In the event of any Episcopal Elector being unable or unwilling to act, the place of such Elector shall be taken by the next member, lay or clerical as the case may be, on the list of Electors for his or her diocese.
7.
7.1 Failure to summon any member to any meeting or the absence of any member shall not invalidate the meeting.
7.2 A quorum for the meeting shall comprise two thirds of the total number entitled to be present, including at least one Bishop, provided that no Diocese is unrepresented and provided also that no Bishop present is the sole representative of that Diocese.
8.
8.1 Unless and until the Governing Body otherwise determine, the meeting to elect the Archbishop shall be a physical meeting held in the Church of the Holy Trinity at Llandrindod Wells and if that church shall not be available, at some church selected by the Standing Committee of the Governing Body.
8.2 The Archbishop’s Electoral College may hold one or more preparatory meetings prior to the physical meeting referred to in Regulation 8.1. The quorum for such preparatory meetings shall be as per Regulation 7.2. Such meeting(s) shall be private.
9.
9.1 On the day and at the time and place appointed for the election, and after celebration of the Holy Communion, the President shall take the chair and declare the Archbishop’s Electoral College to be assembled for the election of the Archbishop. Such meeting shall be private.
9.2 The Archbishop’s Electoral College shall elect a Chair from amongst its own number.
10.
10.1 The voting shall be by ballot.
10.2 There shall not be a vote by orders.
10.3 No member has a casting vote.
10.4 Any dispute as to a vote shall be referred to the Chair whose decision shall be final.
11.
The Archbishop’s Electoral College shall not be allowed to delegate its power of electing an Archbishop.
12.
If a person receives two-thirds of the votes of those present and voting, they shall be declared by the Bishops to be Archbishop-Elect.
13.
13.1 If at the close of the meeting, which shall not extend beyond three consecutive days, no person shall have received two-thirds of the votes of those present and voting, the election shall pass to the Bishops and the person elected by them shall be declared by them to be Archbishop-Elect.
13.2 If the College shall not have elected any person as Archbishop within three months of the day upon which it was first possible for them to have done so, the election shall pass to the Bishops and the person elected by them shall be declared by them to be Archbishop-Elect.
14.
14.1 If the Archbishop-Elect accepts the appointment the Bishops shall declare him to be Archbishop and shall send a document notifying his election and accession to the Secretaries of the Governing Body.
14.2 If the Archbishop-Elect refuses or does not within twenty-eight days accept the appointment by writing addressed to the Bishops, another election shall be held in similar manner, provided that for the purpose of such election the vacancy of the archbishopric shall be deemed to have taken place on the date of such refusal or on the twenty-eighth day after the election of such Archbishop-Elect, whichever shall first happen.
15.
The enthronement of the Archbishop shall take place within three months of his election or as soon thereafter as may be, at a place in Wales to be appointed by him.
Part III: The Bishop’s Electoral College
16.
16.1 Where a Bishop or the Archbishop gives at least sixty days’ notice of their intention to resign their see, the President shall summon each member of the Bishop’s Electoral College to a meeting to be held not more than sixty days after the date when such resignation is to take effect for the purposes of electing a bishop to the see concerned.
16.2 Where such a vacancy arises without at least sixty days’ prior notice being given to the President, they shall summon each member of the College to a meeting to be held not more than ninety days after the date when the see becomes/became vacant, for the purposes of electing a Bishop to the vacant see.
16.3 The Standing Committee may by resolution amend the time limits set out in this regulation 16 in respect of an individual vacancy, provided that such amendments must not alter the order in which meetings of the Archbishop’s Electoral College and any Bishops’ Electoral Colleges take place.
16.4 An Episcopal Elector who was duly appointed and eligible to act on the day immediately following the see falling vacant shall be eligible to act as Episcopal Elector in that Bishop’s Electoral College.
17.
In the event of an Elector being unable or unwilling to attend any meeting of the College, their place shall be taken for that meeting by the next member, clerical or lay as the case may be, on the lists or supplemental lists as the case may be.
18.
18.1 Failure to summon any member to any meeting or the absence of any member shall not invalidate the meeting.
18.2 A quorum for the meeting shall comprise two thirds of the total number entitled to be present, including at least one Bishop, provided that no Diocese is unrepresented and provided also that no Bishop present is the sole representative of that Diocese.
19.
The Bishop’s Electoral College shall not be entitled to delegate its power of electing a Bishop other than as set out in Regulation 23.
20.
20.1 The meeting shall be a physical meeting and shall take place in the Cathedral of the vacant see or another place within the Diocese to be identified by the President.
20.2 The Bishop’s Electoral College may hold one or more preparatory meetings prior to the physical meeting referred to in Regulation 20.1. The quorum for such preparatory meetings shall be as per Regulation 18.2. Such meeting(s) shall be private.
21.
21.1 On the day, and at the time and place appointed for the election, and after celebration of the Holy Communion, the President shall declare the College to be assembled for the election of the Bishop of the diocese. Such meeting shall be private.
21.2 The President shall act as Chair of the College. If they are unwilling so to act, then the College shall elect a Chair from amongst its own number.
21.3 The voting shall be by ballot.
21.4 There shall not be a vote by orders.
21.5 No member shall have a casting or second vote.
21.6 Any dispute as to a vote shall be referred to the Chair whose decision shall be final.
22.
If a person receives two-thirds of the votes of those present and voting he shall be declared by the President to be the Bishop-Elect.
23.
23.1 If at the close of the meeting, which shall not extend beyond three consecutive days, no person shall have received two-thirds of the votes of those present and voting, then the Electoral College shall vote either to reconvene for a second meeting (to be held between 21 and 60 days after the close of the first meeting) or to pass the right to fill the vacancy to the Bench of Bishops.
23.2 If at the close of a second meeting, which again shall not extend beyond three consecutive days, no person shall have received two-thirds of the votes of those present and voting the right to fill the vacancy shall pass to the Bench of Bishops.
24.
If the College does not elect any person as Bishop-Elect within six months of the vacancy of the see, the vacancy shall be filled by the Bench of Bishops.
25.
If the Bishop-Elect refuses, or within twenty-eight days does not accept the appointment by writing addressed to the President, another election shall be held in similar manner, provided that for the purpose of such election the vacancy of the see shall be deemed to have taken place on the date of such refusal or on the twenty-eighth day after the election of such Bishop-Elect, whichever shall first happen.
26.
26.1 If the Bishop-Elect accepts the appointment, the President shall send his name to each member of the Bench of Bishops, and if they or a majority of them assembled in Synod are satisfied of their fitness, the President shall take the necessary steps to give effect to the election.
26.2 If the Bench of Bishops or a majority of them are not so satisfied, another election shall be held in similar manner, provided that for the purpose of such election the vacancy of the see shall be deemed to have taken place on the date of the Synod at which the Bench of Bishops or a majority of them were not so satisfied, and Regulation 16.2 shall apply.