Canon F - 1: Deanery Officials
deanery officials:
1. a) The deanery officials shall consist of one Regional Dean and two Lay Stewards in each deanery.
b) The deanery officials shall chose a co-ordinator from amongst them.
selection:
2. a) The chair shall call a meeting of Deanery Council within the month prior to the convening of Synod to elect one of the clergy for the office of Regional Dean, and to elect Lay Stewards. (Amended 1965, 1969, 1973, 1993, 1999)
b) The election of the Lay Stewards in each deanery shall be staggered so that one such appointment expires every two years..
qualifications of Regional Dean:
3. a) To be eligible for the office of Regional Dean, a person shall have served in Holy Orders for three years. (Amended 1999).
limit on number of terms:
b) No person shall hold the office of Regional Dean for more than three consecutive terms. A term runs from regular synod to regular synod. (Amended 1999).
qualifications of Lay Stewards:
4. a) A Lay Steward shall:
1. be a communicant of at least one year’s standing;
2. be at least eighteen years of age;
3. reside in the deanery being served;
4. not hold the Bishop’s licence as a deacon or priest;
5. 1 at the time of election, be an elected delegate to the forthcoming Diocesan Synod.
b) Lay Stewards, once elected, continue as members of Deanery Council, the Executive Committee and synod throughout their term of office. (Amended, 1995, 1999).
responsible to Bishop:
5. The Deanery Officials shall be jointly responsible to the Bishop through the Territorial Archdeacon for the Deanery. (New 1973; Amended 1999).
duties of Deanery Officials:
6. a) The Deanery Officials shall visit each parish in the deanery, at least once in each year, if possible, to confer with the clergy, churchwardens and other officers of the church.
b) On such visits the Deanery Officials shall:
(i) examine the condition of the churches, rectories and other church buildings;
(ii) inquire as to their insurance;
(iii) inspect the burial grounds and buildings;
(iv) note all additions, alterations, decays and dilapidations that have occurred; and
(v) determine the amount of debt and what steps are being taken for its liquidation. (Amended 1973).
c) In addition the Deanery Officials shall inquire as to:
(i) the value and condition of any endowments, in land or otherwise;
(ii) the amount of stipend which is contributed annually to each incumbent by the congregation, with any other help given (eg. the supplying of fuel, water, electricity, telephone, etc.);
(iii) whether the stipend is regularly paid, and if not, to what extent it is not paid and why it is in arrears;
(iv) in the case of assisted parishes, whether any increase in the amount contributed by the parish is possible.
d) The Deanery Officials shall further:
(i) inquire as to parish registers and other service books, and whether they are properly kept;
(ii) obtain an inventory of all parochial property at the time of the visit;
(iii) inquire whether the churches are supplied with all necessary altar furnishings and whether the requirements of Canon I-3, sub-sections 2(p) & (q), are met.
duties of the Co-ordinator of Deanery Officials:
7. The co-ordinator of Deanery Officials shall:
(a) prepare a report in duplicate covering the requirements of section 4, annually, one copy to be forwarded to the Archdeacon and one to be kept in the files of the current Regional Dean. (Amended 1929, 1950).
(b) keep under constant review the amounts contributed by the parishes towards the stipends of the incumbents in the assisted parishes of the deanery, and at the autumn meeting of the Executive Committee to recommend such changes for the ensuing year as shall be advisable. (1956)
[for other duties of Co-ordinator of Deanery Officials,
see also Canon H-3; Canon H-4]
vacancy of office:
8. The office held by a Regional Dean shall automatically become vacant in the event that the Regional Dean
a) dies;
b) is unwilling or unable to act;
c) ceases to be a communicant;
d) loses the Bishop’s licence as deacon or priest; or
e) ceases to reside within the deanery. (New 1999).
9. The office held by a Lay Steward shall automatically become vacant in the event that the Lay Steward
a) dies;
b) is unwilling or unable to act;
c) ceases to be a communicant;
d) accepts the Bishop’s licence as a deacon or priest; or
e) ceases to reside within the deanery.
10. In the event that the office of one of the Deanery Officials becomes vacant before the expiry of its term
a) the Territorial Archdeacon shall notify the Bishop of the vacancy, and
b) within eight weeks of a), the Territorial Archdeacon shall instruct the chair of Deanery Council to convene a meeting of the Deanery Council, for the purpose of electing a person to serve the unexpired term of office. (Amended 1991, 1993, 1999).
Original F - 1
(Enacted 1973 to supersede then Canon 19. Amended 1987)
[formerly Canon 31]
Original F - 2
(Enacted 1973)
[formerly Canon 32]
Original F-1 and F-2 combined, 1999
©2001 Diocese of Algoma