Annual Parochial Church Meetings (APCM)
The APCM must take place in each parish, before the 31st May, every year.
The APCM is an important part of parish governance. It transacts the following business:
- receives reports on the Fabric of the Church
- reports on changes to the Electoral Roll
- reports on Safeguarding within the parish
- reports on the proceedings of the Deanery Synod
- receives the Annual Accounts and Financial Statements and an Independent Examiner’s Certificate
Additionally, they also consider reports on general parish activities.
At the APCM new members to the PCC are elected and, every three years, the parish’s representatives to the Deanery Synod are also elected.
There is a separate Annual Parishioners Meeting (sometimes referred to as Annual Vestry Meeting), which can, and typically does, take place at the same time, as the APCM. The purpose of this meeting is to elect the churchwardens who will serve for the forthcoming year. Although elected at this meeting, churchwardens do not formally take office until they are admitted to their office at the Archdeacon’s Visitation service or at another time as agreed with the Archdeacon.
Copies of the APCM reports, Financial Statements and Independent Examiner’s Certificate must be sent to the Diocesan Office. This can be done by emailing the Data Team at statistics@chelmsford.anglican.org, or by post to the Data Team at 53 New Street, Chelmsford, CM1 1AT.
Please let us know of any changes to elected PCC roles by asking the Parish Information Officer to update the roles using the Parish Data Collection Service (PDCS), Alternatively, please ask the previous holder or clergy member to email us the change required (do not send new contact details, but you can copy in the new person into the email) at database@chelmsford.anglican.org. Please do not send any additional personal contact information as we must comply with data protection law and principles.
Need help with the timescales and deadlines?
If you need assistance thinking through the timescales and deadlines for the Annual Meetings, please use this spreadsheet.
Put the date of your APCM in the relevant cell and the formulas will calculate relevant dates, as well as point you in the direction of what paperwork needs to be sent where and when.
This spreadsheet works best on Excel 365 on a Windows based computer. Some functionality may not work on other computers.
Please send any enquiries to statistics@chelmsford.anglican.org
Electoral Roll forms
This year, 2025, is the preparation of the new Electoral Roll. All names will need to come off the roll and everyone must re-apply so that they are included on the new Electoral Roll of their church. Electoral Roll membership cannot carry over when a new roll is prepared so it is important that everyone who wants to re-apply, completes an electoral roll form.
Parishes are required to advise the Diocese of the revised Electoral roll figure no later than 1st July. Please complete this form and email to the Data Team or by post to the Data Team at 53 New Street, Chelmsford, CM1 1AT.
Paperwork
Electoral roll forms and all other forms required for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting can be found on the Parish Resources website.
Safeguarding
At the APCM the PCC should provide an annual report in relation to safeguarding. In the PCC’s annual report will be a statement which reports on progress and a statement as to whether or not the PCC has complied with the duty to have “due regard” to the House of Bishops’ guidance in relation to safeguarding.
Please see the following links for more details.
