DIOCESAN LAY CHAIRS
Lay Leaders in the Church of England
Guidance and Recommended Good Practice 2024
1. Introduction
These notes are to offer guidance and encouragement for this important role of lay leadership within the life of the Diocese. The amount of time and expertise that different Diocesan Lay Chairs can offer will vary greatly and how they work with their respective Bishops, Senior Clergy and Diocesan Officers will differ. However, it is important that Diocesan Lay Chairs remember that they are the principal representative of the laity within the diocese, in a Church which is seeking to grow the Kingdom of God and bring disciples to Jesus.
2. Overview
Diocesan Lay Chairs are officers of their respective Diocesan Synods, elected on a triennial cycle by members of the House of Laity. They are representatives of and key spokespersons for the laity of the Diocese and with the Diocesan Bishops, Senior Clergy and Chair of the House of Clergy they have an important leadership role not only to help further mission and ministry but also to be promoters and guardians of good governance across the whole Diocese.
The Diocesan Lay Chairs should conduct their leadership role prayerfully and carefully being mindful of the guidance of the Bishop and the Mission of the Diocese. The relationship between the Diocesan Lay Chair, the Bishops, Senior Clergy and Diocesan Officers, especially the Diocesan Secretary, is crucial to the successful leadership of the Diocese.
Diocesan Lay Chairs should have expertise, experience and knowledge about the governance of parishes and deaneries in their dioceses. They should ideally have the skills and experience to organise good meetings and chair effectively for positive outcomes.
It is important that Diocesan Lay Chairs ensure that they are on the distribution list for regular Diocesan Communications and be aware of important matters that relate to church life at a national, diocesan, deanery and parish level.
3. Normal duties
The Diocesan Lay Chair and the Diocesan Clergy Chair act as joint Vice Chairs of the Diocesan Synod with the Diocesan Bishop as the President or Chair. Together they ensure the smooth running of the Diocesan Synod. In most cases this will include sharing the chairing of sessions of the Diocesan Synod.
The Diocesan Lay Chair is ex-officio a member of the Bishop’s Council, and Vacancy in See Committee which only meets when there is vacancy for a Diocesan Bishop.
The Diocesan Lay Chair will chair any meetings of the House of Laity.
The Diocesan Lay Chair should bring to the attention of the Bishops or Archdeacons any pastoral or other concerns they have in relation to the Diocese.
4. The following suggestions are intended as guidance to illustrate the range of activities that a Diocesan Lay Chair may use to develop their role within their Diocese.
The Diocesan Lay Chair should seek to foster good relationships with the Bishops, Senior Clergy and Diocesan Officers. A good relationship with The Chair of the House of Clergy is important and worth spending time to develop.
The Diocesan Lay Chair should attend meetings with the Bishop and Archdeacons as and when invited. The Diocesan Lay Chair is not normally a member of the Bishop’s Staff but should be involved in discussions about strategic changes within the Diocese. The relationship should be developed to a position where the Diocesan Lay Chair is able to ask to be invited if there is a particularly relevant reason.
The Diocesan Lay Chair, along with the Diocesan Clergy Chair should seek to be a permanent member of a Business (Agenda) Setting Committee, which plans the Bishop’s Council and Diocesan Synod meetings.
The Diocesan Lay Chair should be fully conversant with and participate in the Diocesan strategy to further Ministry and Mission in the Diocese.
Being a member of different committees such as the Finance Committee, Mission Committee, Cathedral Council, selection panels for the appointment of senior staff (e.g. Suffragan/Area Bishops, Archdeacons) and Appeal panels enables the Diocesan Lay Chair to both contribute, establish contacts and keep in touch with diocesan activity.
The Diocesan Lay Chair should develop and maintain good links with representatives within the Diocese particularly with Deanery Lay Chairs and Area (Rural) Deans, and especially if they are not a Deanery Lay Chair in their own right. It is also important to have good communications with the Diocesan members of General Synod, especially the lay representatives.
The Diocesan Lay Chair should encourage people to fully engage in the synodical structures of church government.
The Diocesan Lay Chair should support and encourage Lay Leadership at all levels within the Diocese.
The Diocesan Lay Chair should be invited to attend Institutions and Licensings and may welcome new clergy on behalf of the lay people of the Diocese.
The Diocesan Lay Chair can be asked to act as a Lay representative of the Diocese at ecumenical and other events.
If the Diocese has a Diocesan Service after the elections of its officers, it is good practice for the Diocesan Lay Chair and other officers to be commissioned as part of the worship.
The Diocesan Lay Chair is automatically a member of the Diocesan Lay Chair Forum, which offers support and encouragement from fellow Diocesan Lay Chairs.
The Diocesan Lay Chairs often offers their time and expertise as part of their own stewardship. Different dioceses have different arrangements for the reimbursement of reasonable expenses; these should be accessible and used.
Whilst there is no limit as to the number of terms a Diocesan Lay Chair can serve, it is considered good practice that Diocesan Lay Chairs with other lay officers should review their position after two – three terms. There may be special reasons why additional terms might be warranted. Diocesan Lay Chairs should be actively involved in succession planning and hand-over to assist the smooth running of the Diocese.
