12. Mr David Power asked -

(a) What, if any, are the minimum standards for rectories in Parishes in the diocese of Sydney?

(b) What, if any, are the minimum standards for assistant or associate ministers accommodation in Parishes in the diocese of Sydney?

(c) What, if any, will be the minimum standards for rectories in Parishes without property in the diocese of Sydney?

(d) If parishes are unable to meet minimum standards for rectories, would that parish be denied the right to nominate a rector, or would the Archbishop refuse to offer that parish to a clergyman?

To which the President replied -

I am informed that the answers are as follows -

(a) For most purposes, rectories must be approved as suitable by the Archbishop. To this end the Church Grounds and Buildings Ordinance 1990 provides that the architectural panels for each region are jointly to prepare guidelines for the purposes of erecting or altering certain types of building including houses for the use of clergy. A copy of these guidelines can be obtained from the relevant regional Archdeacon.

Although the guidelines relate to the erection or alteration of a range of building types, they provide for minimum standards applicable to rectories. In general, a rectory should have 4 bedrooms, a study, a family room and separate lounge room (to facilitate the separation of public and private areas of the rectory) and a double garage.

(b) There are currently no specific minimum standards in relation to accommodation for assistant or associate ministers. I am informed that a sub-committee of the joint architectural panels is currently revising the building guidelines and is considering including minimum standards of accommodation for assistant or associate ministers in a revised version of the guidelines.

(c) I take it that "parishes without property" is a reference to churches recognised under the Recognised Churches Ordinance 2000. Under that ordinance, one of the criteria for recognising a church is that, if recognised, it would have the ability from its own resources to provide the person proposed to be its minister with housing arrangements acceptable to that person and which have been certified as suitable to the Archbishop by the relevant Archdeacon. For most on-going purposes, such as determining rights of presentation, the test in relation to rectory standards is generally the same as for parishes, namely that the rectory must be approved as suitable by the Archbishop.

(d) The rights under the Presentation and Exchange Ordinance 1988 are dependent on, among other things, the rector being provided with the "free use of a residence" approved as suitable by the Archbishop. However the Archbishop is able to certify that a parish should have its presentation rights despite non-compliance with this test if the matters of non-compliance are such as should not prevent the parish from having the benefits under the ordinance. This will, in each case, be a matter of the Archbishop's discretion and will depend upon the circumstances of the case.

(Synod 15 October 2002)