HL Deb 13 February 1969 vol 299 cc579-81

3.21 p.m.

THE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now resolve itself into Committee on this Bill.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly.

[The EARL OF LISTOWEL in the Chair.]

Clause 1 [Agreements for sharing church buildings]:

THE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY moved Amendment No. 1:

Page 2, line 30, at end insert— ("() Where a see is vacant, or the bishop of the diocese is unable because of illness or absence to give his consent under subsection (4) of this section, the archbishop of the province may appoint by an instrument under his hand a suffragan or assistant bishop or an archdeacon of the diocese to act in place of the bishop under the said subsection for a period specified in the instrument; and in the event of a vacancy in the see of an archbishop or his illness or absence, an appointment under this subsection, either in respect of the see of the archbishop or another see in the province, may be made by the other archbishop.")

The most reverend Primate said: The purpose of this Amendment is to provide for what may happen at the time when a see is vacant and the problem of the sharing of a church building needs urgently to be proceeded with. The Amendment provides that in those circumstances the Archbishop of the Province may appoint a suffragan or assistant bishop or an archdeacon of the diocese to act in place of the Bishop for the purposes of the Bill. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.

Clauses 2 to 13 agreed to.

Clause 14 [Extent]:

LORD STONHAM moved Amendment No. 2: Page 12, line 8, after the second("such") insert ("exceptions, adaptations or")

The noble Lord said: This Amendment has been requested by the authorities in the Isle of Man in order that the subsection may use the customary formula of exceptions and adaptations, as well as modifications, when referring to the application of an Act of Parliament in the Isle of Man. I beg to move.

THE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Stonham, for moving this Amendment, which is an improvement of the Bill. I want to express my appreciation of his great interest and helpfulness.

On Questions, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 14, as amended, agreed to.

Remaining clause agreed to.

Schedule 1 agreed to.

Schedule 2 [Churches and their appropriate Authorities]:

THE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY moved Amendment No. 3.

Page 14, line 32, at end insert—

("Any Congregation of the Association of Churches of Christ in Great Britain and Ireland. As respects section 1(3) and (4), the Annual Conference of the Association of Churches of Christ acting with the concurrence of the duly constituted Church meeting.
As respects section 1(7), the Annual Conference of the Association of Churches of Christ.")

The most reverend Primate said: The purpose of this Amendment is to add another Church to the list of those covered by the provisions of the Bill. When the Bill has been passed, it will be possible by a very easy procedure for other Churches to bring themselves within its operation, but already, before the Bill has passed, this particular Christian body —the Association of Churches of Christ in Great Britain and Ireland—has expressed a wish to be covered by the Bill. That is the reason for my Amendment, which provides for the inclusion of this Church within the Bill and which also states clearly the authorities entitled to act for it. I beg to move.

LORD SANDFORD

I am sure we are all glad to see a seventh denomination joining the six which took part in the framing of this legislation, but I think I am right in saying that there are a considerable further number of Churches—the Salvation Army, the Lutherans, the Greek Orthodox—who are all represented on the British Council of Churches. This fact prompts me to ask whether we are to infer that this Church—the Association of Churches of Christ—is the only one which at the moment feels it wants to join in this scheme. Or are we to infer that there are a considerable number of other denominations who are considering joining this scheme but have not yet decided what they are going to do?

THE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

The noble Lord's phrase "joining this scheme" is a little misleading. The text of the Bill covers all Churches who are members of the British Council of Churches, which is a very large number of Churches in this country, and Churches not in that category can make a special application subsequently. The list in this Schedule is limited, because these were the Churches which took part in the negotiations for the actual construction of the Bill. I assure the noble Lord that there will be no difficulty whatever in other Churches enjoying with us the provisions of this Bill. I can also assure him of the fact that this Bill is widely known among all the Churches in the country.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Schedule 2, as amended, agreed to.

House resumed: Bill reported, with Amendments.