K  The Diocesan Office and Staff

K1  The Diocesan Office

(a)               The Diocesan Office is at 14 Tufton Street, Westminster, which is part of Church House Westminster (which contains the offices of the Archbishops' Council, the General Synod, the Church of England Pensions Board and their staffs).

(b)       The Diocesan Office provides offices for :

• the diocesan secretary and his staff
• the suffragan bishop and his secretary
• the diocesan director of ministry

and also :

• the diocesan Bishop, whose main office is at Worth
• the Friends of the Diocese

K2  The Suffragan Bishop

See also C1.

(a)               The suffragan bishop has particular responsibility for :

• processing permissions under the ecumenical canons:  see B25
• the appointments procedure:  see C6
• the issuing of Bishop's Licences and Permissions to Officiate:  see C9
• processing applications for the Archbishop's Permission to Officiate:  see C10
• readers (in his capacity as Warden of Readers):  see E3
• diocesan lay assistants:  see E5
• the issuing of Bishop's Faculties:  see F7

(b)       On behalf of the diocesan Bishop, the suffragan bishop has a general pastoral responsibility for the work of the Diocesan Office.

K3  The Diocesan Secretary

(a)               The diocesan secretary co-ordinates and oversees the synodical, financial and other administration in the Diocese, in accordance with the policies of the Diocesan Synod.

(b)       The diocesan secretary acts as secretary of the Diocesan Synod, its Standing Committee and the Bishop's Council: see H2 and 3.

(c)              The diocesan secretary is also company secretary of the Diocesan Board of Finance: see section L.

(d)              The diocesan secretary has particular responsibility for the following:

• assisting the presiding officer in the conduct of elections to the Diocesan Synod and the General Synod (see H;  Diocesan Constitution §§34–36, 40–41;  CRR Parts IV–V);
• keeping records of adult baptism, confirmation and reception into the communion of the Church of England:  see §§ B7 (k) and B11 (h)
• checking on behalf of the Bishop the annual reviews of Conditions of Service of the clergy:  see J7
• keeping a list of churchwardens:  see E1
• providing model Standing Orders for archdeaconry and Deanery Synods:  see H4 (c)
• financial arrangements for ordinands in training:  see C4 (e)

K4  The Assistant Diocesan Secretary

(a)       The assistant diocesan secretary assists the diocesan secretary with synodical and other administration in the Diocese, which is carried out in accordance with the policies of the Diocesan Synod.

(b)              The assistant diocesan secretary acts as assistant secretary of the Diocesan Synod, its Standing Committee and the Bishop's Council:  see H2-3

(c)              The assistant diocesan secretary acts as diocesan Electoral Registration Officer:  see CRR, Rule 29

(d)              The assistant diocesan secretary, jointly with the diocesan secretary, administers the Diocesan Office.

(e)              The assistant diocesan secretary has particular responsibility for the following:

• assisting the suffragan bishop in the administration of the appointments procedure:  see C6
• making some of the arrangements for the institution or licensing of a chaplain or priest-in-charge:  see C14 (b)
• making arrangements for membership of the Exeter Friendly Society:  see M3(b)
• supervising the practical arrangements for the meetings of the Diocesan Synod, its Standing Committee and the Bishop's Council.

K5  Finance Officer

(a)               The finance officer assists the diocesan secretary with financial administration in the Diocese, which is carried out in accordance with the policies of the Diocesan Synod.

(b)              In particular the finance officer is able to help chaplaincies and their treasurers in the ways mentioned in section L below.

(c)              The finance officer is responsible for preparing and checking the financial questionnaire required at a vacancy:  see C6 (b) and (m)

K6  The Diocesan Director of Ministry

(a)               The diocesan director of ministry is responsible to the diocesan Bishop for promoting and coordinating the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation of lay vocations, ordinands and ordained ministers in the Diocese.

(b)              The diocesan director of ministry has particular responsibility for the following —

• as the director of ordinands for coordinating the process of discernment and training of candidates for Holy Orders:  see C4
• advising the Bishop when permission to preach is asked for a lay person who does not hold a licence:  see B5 (d)
• advising parishes on the preparation of a Local Ministry Plan (see C4 (f)), and on any consequent training of any proposed lay ministry teams
• promoting good practice in the induction, post-ordination training (POT) and continuing ministerial development (CMD;  see C15) of the clergy in liaison with the archdeacons
• assisting the Warden of Readers in the process of discernment and training of candidates for admission as readers:  see E3, for commissioning as diocesan lay assistants:  see E5

 (c)      At the time of publication the following publications were available from the director of ministry or the Diocesan Office:

• Make Disciples of All Nations:  a guide towards mission and ministry for chaplaincies of the Diocese in Europe (January 2001)
• Resource pack for introducing Christianity, discipleship, Christian learning and foundations for ministry (May 2001)
• Readers in the Diocese in Europe:  a ministry of vision (February 2001)

K7  The Diocesan Communications Officer

(a)               The diocesan communications officer is responsible to the Bishop and the diocesan secretary for all matters concerning press, publications and publicity.  Routine corres-pondence may be sent to him at the Diocesan Office, but for urgent and important matters he may be contacted at the address given in the Diocesan Yearbook and The European Anglican.

 (b)      In the case of any serious matter that may involve local or national publicity in the press, radio or television, the clergy and church officers are strongly advised to contact the communications officer immediately and before issuing any statement.

K8  The Secretary of the Friends of the Diocese in Europe

(a)               The secretary of the Friends of the Diocese in Europe is a voluntary officer appointed by the Bishop, and works from the Diocesan Office.  He acts as secretary of the Friends' Committee and organizer of the annual Friends' festival.

Information about the Friends of the Diocese is given in The European Anglican.  It may also be obtained from the Diocesan Office.