Guidance, forms, templates and notes relating to ministry, buildings, safeguarding, finance and parish life are all listed here. All files are in PDF format, unless otherwise stated.
Can't find what you need? Check out our documents page, give us a call on 01227 459401 or email the website team.
Jump to the following sections:
- Annual Parochial Church Meetings
- Area Deans
- Church Buildings & Churchyards
- Church officers
- Clergy
- Communion
- Data Protection
- Deliverance
- Electoral Roll Certificate for 2025
- Finance
- Marriage
- Occasional Duties
- Parochial Church Councils
- Parochial Fees
- Pastoral Reorganisation
- Pension automatic enrolment
- People Services
- Readers (Licensed Lay Ministers)
- Safeguarding
- Statistics for Mission
Annual Parochial Church Meetings
- Remuneration guidance
- Parish Resources website – for the forms you will need
- Parish Officer return guidance
Area Deans
- Church Records and Archives in the Canterbury Diocese – guidance for Area Deans
Church Buildings & Churchyards
- Alternative venues for regular worship in cold weather
- Safety of burial grounds
- Theft of metal – Guidance from Ecclesiastical
- Theft of metal - Historic England
- Theft of metal – general faculty
- General Advice for Architects and Surveyors on the Requirements for Lightning Protection of Parish Churches
- Sustainable heating and lighting policy
- Churchyard guide
- Caring for God’s Acre – The conservation charity for churchyards and burial grounds. practical advice on looking after your churchyard
- Caring for Historic Graveyard and Cemetery Monuments (Paradise Preserved) – An Historic England guidance note on the conservation and management of cemeteries
- Conservation and repair of bells and bellframes – code of practice
- PCC Model Letter of Appointment October 2012
- List A and List B matters
- Faculty for procedure repairs
- Memorial & gravestone application form
- Memorial plaques in churches
- Churchyard closure application form and guidance notes
- Advice to reduce the risk of theft from churches and historic locations
- Practical suggestions to help parishes save energy and money
- Calendar of care
- Churchyard regulations
- Criteria for appointing a suitable person to the role of Inspector
- Faculty Jurisdiction rules
- Project timeline
- Trees – A guide on the planting, felling, lopping and topping of trees in churchyards
- Friends of Kent Churches
- Funding for church building projects
- How to write good Statements of Significance and Needs
- Online Faculty System Tips and Advice
- Opening up your church
Re-ordering projects
- Introduction
- Examples of church re-ordering projects
- A step-by-step guide to project planning - Making changes to your building and churchyard | The Church of England
- A guide to developing your place of worship
Health and Safety recommendations for the hire of buildings
Maintenance
- Maintenance Booker – A service by National Churches Trust which makes it easy for churches, chapels and historic buildings to access the highest standard of building maintenance services
- Historic England – Historic England’s specific advice on maintaining places of worship
- The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings – SPAB manages a scheme called Faith in Maintenance, the scheme is there to help parish better repair and understand their Church buildings.
- Building Conservation Directory – This resource includes lists of potential contractors, products, articles and advice on a range of conservation/repair issues.
- Metal Theft – Historic England’s advice on metal theft.
- Church Buildings Council – The Church Buildings Council provides advice on a variety of aspects of church maintenance and repair.
Church officers
Churchwardens
- Churchwardens Handbook
- The Churchwarden – Pastoral
- The Churchwarden – Visits and Inspections
- Public Liability Insurance
- Faculty fees to be paid by the diocese – letter 30 January 2015
PCC Secretaries
Clergy
All policies related to Clergy Terms of Service including the Canterbury Handbook for Clergy are currently being revised and therefore the guidance in these documents may not be current. Please contact Michael Keeler-Walker or Sam Mann in People Services and Operations if you have any queries or need any support (01227 459401).
Terms of service
- Terms of service guide
- Grievance Procedure – Code of Practice
- Common Tenure - a simple guide
- Comparison of common tenure with Freehold
- Ecclesiastical Offices (terms of Service) Regulations
- Frequently asked questions – (Word format)
- Summary of Legislation
- Clergy HR resources from the Church of England
- Family Leave advice from the Archbishop’s Council
- Additional Paternity Leave from the Archbishop’s Council
Communion
- Public Worship with Communion by Extension – guidance for parishes
- Guidelines issued by the House of Bishops
Data Protection
- Diocesan Privacy Policy
- GDPR Presentation - Training 2018
- GDPR Handout - Training 2018
- GDPR Checklist
- Parish Data Audit Form
- Care of Parish Records: National Guidance (2008)
- Save or Delete: The Care of Diocesan Records
- Parish Consent Form Template
- Template Baptism Contact Form
- DPIA Checklist
- Data Protection advice for parishes from the Church of England
- GDPR for Parishes resource website
Deliverance
Electoral Roll
Finance
(Scroll down further for ‘Parochial Fees’)
- Clergy fees in vacancy
- Clergy fees in vacancy (Excel)
- Clergy payroll services
- Collections at funerals and memorial services
- Demystifying Parish Share
- HMRC Fit and Proper persons helpsheet and declaration (Word)
- Online submission of Parish Finance and Statistics for Mission
- Reporting Parish Share Shortfalls
Gift Aid
Marriage
The marriage of foreign nationals
- Marriage of Foreign Nationals: Guidance from the Commissary General (2015)
- Changes to marriage law: Non-EEA Nationals (Jan 2015)
- Initial Application Form for Common Licence: Non-EEA Nationals (Word format)
- Marriage After Divorce - form & explanatory statement
Changes to the statutory procedure for publishing banns of marriage
- Letter, November 2012
- Legal change to the procedure for publishing Banns of Marriage
- Section 7 of the Marriage Act 1949 as amended
Occasional Duties
Parochial Church Councils
- Legal status of Parochial Church Councils
- Church authenticity certificate and proof of charity status
- The Charities (Exemption from Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
Parochial Fees
- Guide to Parochial Fees (Tri-fold) (Landscape)
- Bishop’s Guidelines for payment of parochial and casual duty fees
- To be completed MONTHLY by the Parish Treasurer or Incumbent. If the return for the month is “NIL” click here
- Record of Parochial Fees Received (Pilot) – (Excel format)
- Record of Parochial fees Received 2024 – (Excel format)
- Record of Parochial fees Received 2025 – (Excel format)
- To be completed MONTHLY by the Parish Treasurer or Incumbent. If the return for the month is “NIL” click here
- Notes to complete the Record of Parochial Fees Received
- Claim for Officiating at an Occasional Office – (Excel format)
To be completed by non-stipendiary ministers only - Occasional Office Fees to Forward to DBF – (Excel format) (PDF format)
Please note that fees should normally be sent to the Parish Treasurer to include with the Record of Parochial Fees Received. Only use this form if that method is not possible. - Non stipendiary agreement
Table of Parochial Fees
If you have any queries about fees, please contact our Finance team on finance@diocant.org or 01227 459401.
Pastoral Reorganisation
Pension automatic enrolment
People Services
The People Services department can provide guidance, documents and template policies for all your employment needs to support the important work of parishes and benefices.
Please contact Michael Keeler-Walker on 01227 473 557 or email mkeeler-walker@diocant.org.
Readers (Licensed Lay Ministers)
Safeguarding
Guidelines
- Church of England Safeguarding e-manual (including Learning and Development, Safer Recruitment, Managing Allegations etc.)
- Parish Resources | Church of England
- Safeguarding Guidance for Local Ecumenical Partnerships – The Church of England
- Canterbury Cathedral Safeguarding
- Safeguarding in the Church of England
- Guidance for Local Children and Young People’s Ministry Teams
- Deliverance Ministry Referrals
- Domestic Abuse
- Responding Well to Victims and Survivors of Abuse
- Suggested Church Hall Premises Hire Terms and Conditions
- Ex-Offender (Blemished DBS) Policy
- Procedure for the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders (Blemished DBS)
- Safer Environment & Activities
Policy statements
- For Parish Safeguarding Policy Statements please see the Church of England website here
- Diocesan and Cathedral Domestic Abuse Policy
- Diocesan and Cathedral Survivor Care Strategy
Forms and posters
- Church of England Safer Church/PSO/DSA and referrals poster (Word format)
- Application form for working with children & young people
- Church hall hire agreement
- Consent form for off-site activities
- Photo consent form
- ChildLine posters and wallet cards
- Safeguarding poster - children and young person version (Word format)
- Decision maker
Checklists
- Parish Safeguarding Checklist – (Word format)
Job descriptions
Safeguarding Information
- Lone working
- A safe environment for children – (Word format)
- Human Trafficking and Exploitation
- Towards a Safer Church: Liturgical Resources
Disclosure and Barring Service Information
- Consent form for external validation (2017)
- DBS Code of Practice
- DBS ID checking guidelines
- DBS list of offences that will never be filtered from a criminal record check
- Diocesan Policy Statement – Secure storage of disclosure information etc
Statistics for Mission
- Fill in your Parish Returns online, or download a printable return
For any assitance with the Parish Returns service, please contact Cordelia Sain-Ley-Berry-Gray (01227 459401).