Why you should be on the St Paul’s electoral roll

It’s that time of year again: time to renew the St Paul’s electoral roll! It might not sound very exciting, but it’s an important thing that we need to do as a church.

What the electoral roll is

The electoral roll is literally a register of people who are able to elect other people in the church, a bit like being on the civic electoral roll allows you to vote in local and Parliamentary elections. Being on the church electoral roll means that you can vote on any relevant issues at the annual parochial church meeting (APCM) and stand for election to the PCC (the church council).

Although the electoral roll is the closest thing the Church of England has to official membership, just signing up doesn’t really make you a member of the church. It’s more like you are already a ‘member’, by coming regularly to St Pauls and participating in the life of the church, and that would be your reason for being on the electoral roll.

How to apply to be on the electoral roll

To apply for the church electoral roll, you must:

• be 16 years old or over (although you can apply in the year you become 16 and you can be on the electoral roll once your birthday has passed)
• be baptised
• either live in the parish or have attended the church regularly for at least 6 months

If you have regularly joined us online in the past year, you might also want to be on the electoral roll. You can also be on the electoral roll of more than one church.

You can apply by filling in your details on the forms that are available in church, at the Sunday service and when the church is open during the week, from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Simply fill in the form and return it to one of the clergy or church wardens, or pop it into the church office.

Other advantages

Joining the electoral roll can be a way of confirming your commitment to the St Paul’s community and to our vision. But it also allows you to take part in the life of the wider Church of England, at, deanery, diocese and even national levels, if you’re interested in that.

The deadline

Each year we have a specific time period where we update the electoral roll. This year (2022) we have until Sunday 1 May.

Your information

We will keep your information secure in line with UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) regulations. Please see our privacy notice for more information about this.