Annual reports

The Annual report will be available to St. Columb's members who: join the Electoral Role, request a electronic version of the reports to be emailed to them.

Timeline

Our Parish Council has agreed to the following timeline:

• Thursday 14 November  – Annual report to be emailled out

• Sunday 17th November - Nominations for parish offices close

• Wednesday 20 November 5pm – Final date and time for questions and comments for the Annual Meeting to be sent to the chair of the meeting

• Sunday 24 November 11.15am – Date and time of Annual Meeting in 2024

• Sunday 21 November - If no elections required, results of parish offices declared

• Sunday 21 November - If an election required, voting papers may be given in person  at the Annual Meeting

Notice of Annual Meeting

Date: Sunday 24 November 2024

Time: 11.15am

Nominations from and by persons on the parish electoral roll are sought for the following offices in the parish of St Columb's Hawthorn.

o      Two church wardens

o      Up to nine members of Parish Council

o      Two members of the incumbency committee

Nominations must be given to the Vicar of St Columb's by 5pm Sunday 17 November 2024

The business of the annual meeting is to include after prayers—

(a)  The minutes of the previous annual meeting and of any subsequent statutory parish meeting;

(b)  The reception of the parish electoral roll;

(c)  The annual report by the vicar that includes the entries in the registers of the Parish for the financial year, including numbers of baptisms, persons received into communicant membership, confirmations, marriages, funerals, Sunday services, acts of communion and such other statistics from the registers as Archbishop in Council determines;

(d)  An annual report on the proceedings of the parish council and together with a report by the parish council on the pastoral care, evangelism, social and ecumenical programmes of the parish and on future plans for the parish;

(e)  A report by the churchwardens on the fabric, goods and ornaments of the worship centre and the vicarage and other buildings of the parish;

(f)  The audited or independently examined accounts and financial statements of the parish and any accompanying papers required by the Act;

(g)  The budget approved by the parish council for the year in which the meeting is held;

(h)  Reports by other parish groups;

(i)  The election of churchwardens and members of the parish council; [See revised timeline above]

(j)  The election of an auditor or independent examiner;

(k)  The election of lay representatives to the parish incumbency committee; [See revised timeline above]

(l)  Any other matters of parochial or general church interest. [In 2021 these matters will be referred to the incoming parish council for their consideration]

Electoral roll - now closed for the purposes of this annual meeting

Our  Diocese has advised that parishes in 2024 should:

1. Retain our electoral roll from our 2023 Annual Meeting for the 2024 Annual Meeting.

2. Only to remove from the roll people who have died, moved away or given notice that they have left the parish.

3. Only to add to the roll people who have made it clear that they have joined the parish

The electoral roll committee (K. Woolrich, M. McDonald) decided, in consultation with Parish Council, to adopt the following process for St. Columb’s:

1. Advise the parish when the electoral roll is open for applicants and of the required qualifications for applicants.

2. Potential electoral roll members will be encouraged to contact the electoral roll committee members to discuss their application before completing an application form. 

3. Members of St. Columb's eligible to join the electoral roll will be those who would have met the criteria, according to the Parish Governance Act, as at October 2024.

The criteria for being eligible for joining the electoral roll in the Parishes Act are:

• Be a layperson (i.e. not ordained);

• Be over eighteen years of age;

• Be baptized in a Christian denomination;

• Have regularly and habitually attended public worship in that parish; 

  1. • Please note: Someone who has regularly and habitually attended public worship in a worship centre in a parish 12 times in the preceding 12 months and three times in the preceding three months is considered to have regularly and habitually attended public worship at that worship centre. (Parishes Act, 4:1:9:4). 

• Be a member of the Anglican Church of Australia or of a church in full communion with the Anglican Church of Australia;

• Not be a member of another church or denomination;

• Not be on the electoral roll of another parish or congregation;

• Have completed and signed an application to be on the electoral roll.