Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Ministry Register Regulations 2026.

(2) This regulation and regulation 8 come into force on the day after the day on which these Regulations are laid before Parliament.

(3) Regulations 2 to 7 come into force on 30th January 2027.

(4) In these Regulations, “ working day ” means a day which is not a Saturday or Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday in England under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 ( 4 ).

(5) A requirement in these Regulations to provide information (however it is expressed) is to be read as a requirement to do so in writing.

Lay ministers

2. In these Regulations, “ lay minister ” means—

(a)a person authorised to exercise the office of deaconess under Canon D3,

(b) a person authorised to exercise the office of reader under Canon E6 (and commonly known as a “licensed lay minister”),

(c)a person authorised to serve as a lay worker under Canon E8, or

(d)a lay person specified in a bishop’s mission order as the leader, or one of the leaders, of a mission initiative under Part 7 of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011(5).

Registration information

3. In these Regulations, the “ registration information ”, in relation to a lay minister, is—

(a)the lay minister’s full name,

(b)the form of authority to exercise ministry which the lay minister has,

(c)the area or place to which the authority relates, and

(d)if the authority is subject to a limitation of time, the date on which the authority comes to an end or details of the contingency on the occurrence of which it comes to an end.

Registration officer

4. —(1) In these Regulations, the “registration officer” for a lay minister is the bishop of the diocese in which the lay minister is authorised to exercise ministry.

(2) Where there is a vacancy in the see of the diocesan bishop concerned or the diocesan bishop is unable to exercise functions as registration officer, and the functions of registration officer have not already been delegated, the registration officer for a lay minister is—

(a)the senior suffragan bishop of the diocese, or

(b)if there is no suffragan bishop, the senior archdeacon of the diocese.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), seniority is determined for an office according to the length of service in that office in the diocese concerned.

Requirements to provide information: existing or new authority

5.—(1) The registration officer for a lay minister must, within five working days of the commencement of these Regulations, provide the Archbishops’ Council with the registration information about that lay minister.

(2) Where a person becomes a lay minister, the registration officer for the lay minister must, within five working days of the person becoming a lay minister, provide the Archbishops’ Council with the registration information about the lay minister.

(3) Where the authority of a lay minister to exercise ministry is renewed, the registration officer for the lay minister must, within five working days of the authority being renewed, inform the Archbishops’ Council of the renewal.

(4) Where the authority of a lay minister to exercise ministry is varied with the result that the registration information about the lay minister is varied, the registration officer for the lay minister must, within five working days of the variation taking effect, inform the Archbishops’ Council of the variation to the registration information.

Requirements to provide information: termination or suspension of authority

6.—(1) Where the authority of a lay minister to exercise ministry is terminated, or ceases for a limited period, in circumstances of a kind mentioned in paragraph (2), the registration officer for the lay minister must, within 24 hours of the termination or cessation taking effect, inform the Archbishops’ Council of the termination or cessation but not of the circumstances.

(2) The circumstances referred to in paragraph (1) are circumstances where—

(a)the lay minister’s licence to exercise ministry under Canon D3, E6 or E8 is revoked in accordance with that Canon;

(b)the lay minister’s written permission to exercise ministry temporarily under Canon D3, E6 or E8 is withdrawn in accordance with that Canon;

(c)the lay minister is removed from office under the capability procedures (within the meaning of the Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure 2009(6));

(d)the lay minister ceases to be the leader or one of the leaders of the mission initiative concerned;

(e)the lay minister has voluntarily withdrawn from ministry.

(3) Where the authority of a lay minister to exercise ministry is terminated, or ceases for a limited period, in circumstances of a kind other than those mentioned in paragraph (2), the registration officer for the lay minister must, within three working days of the termination or cessation taking effect, inform the Archbishops’ Council of the termination or cessation and of the circumstances.

(4) Where a lay minister is suspended from exercising ministry, or a lay minister’s suspension from doing so is terminated, the registration officer for the lay minister must, within 24 hours of the suspension, or the termination of the suspension, taking effect, inform the Archbishops’ Council of the suspension or termination but not of the circumstances.

(5) Where the revocation of a lay minister’s licence to exercise ministry under Canon D3, E6 or E8 is varied under that Canon, the registration officer for the lay minister must, within 24 hours of the variation taking effect, inform the Archbishops’ Council of the variation but not of the circumstances.

(6) The reference in paragraph (2)(c) to the capability procedures is, in so far as the provisions for the capability procedures that are made in regulations under section 2 (2) of the (d)Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure 2009 do not have effect in the Channel Islands or either of them, to be read as including a reference to the equivalent provisions which do have effect there.

(7) The references in paragraph (6) to the Channel Islands or either of them have the same meaning as references to the Bailiwicks or either of them have in the Channel Islands Measure 2020(7).

(8) In its application to the Isle of Man, this regulation has effect as if the reference in paragraph (2)(c) to the Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure 2009 were a reference to that Measure as it has effect in that island.

Publication etc of registration information

7. The Archbishops’ Council must publish and make available free of charge (in each case, whether in electronic form or otherwise) the registration information in relation to each lay minister.

Minor amendments to the National Ministry Register (Clergy) Regulations 2020

8.—(1) The National Ministry Register (Clergy) Regulations 2020 are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 4 (requirements to provide information: existing or new authority), in paragraph (1), for “receiving a request from the Archbishops’ Council to do so” substitute “the relevant commencement date”.

(3) In that regulation, after paragraph (4), insert—

“(5) The requirement imposed on the registration officer under paragraph (2) does not arise in the case of an authority to exercise ministry which is due to come to an end no more than 14 days after it begins.”

(4) In that regulation, after paragraph (5) (inserted by paragraph (3) of this regulation) insert—

“(6) In paragraph (1), “the relevant commencement date” means the date on which this paragraph comes into force.”

(5) In regulation 5 (requirements to provide information: termination or suspension of authority), after paragraph (5) insert—

“(6) In its application to the Isle of Man, this regulation has effect as if each reference in paragraph (2) to a Measure which extends to the Isle of Man were a reference to that Measure as it has effect in that island.”