Every 6 years, each Parish is asked to revise their
Electoral Roll, and this process will be carried out at St Mary’s during March 2002.
Even if your name has been on the St Mary’s Electoral Roll for many years, we still
ask everyone who wishes to be registered to fill in the new 2002 enrolment form.
Any one who is over 16 years of age and worships at St Mary’s may
apply to be included on the Electoral Roll. Being a member entitles you to have a
greater say in the way your Church is run. You will be entitled to vote for members of the
Parochial Church Council at the annual Parish Meeting, and also to offer yourself to stand
for election to the Church Council, Deanery Synod and Diocesan Synod.
The new 2002 enrolment forms will be available for collection at the
end of services in the church during March, and also from the Electoral Roll Officer, or
from the Churchwardens. The completed forms can be returned to a collection box in the
Bell Tower at the back of the Church, or to the Electoral Roll Officer, 23, Melrose Road,
Merton Park. It is important to reassure members of the parish that the personal
information contained on the Electoral Roll remains confidential to the parish Electoral
Roll Officer, and is not passed on to any other organisation or to the Tax Office, and is
not used for the calculation of the parish quota payments. The parish quota payments are
calculated separately, on the basis of the number of members who attend church services at
least once a month.
On the last page of the 2002 enrolment form, there is one additional
question, which asks applicants to state their ethnic origins, listing a choice of ethnic
groups similar to those used in the National Census in 2001. The reason for this
additional question is that the Diocese of Southwark wishes to have a more accurate count
of the way in which different ethnic groups are represented at every level of the church,
i.e. in parishes, on the deanery synod and on the diocesan synod, so that survey will
allow the Church to respond to under representation within its own organisation.
To ensure anonymity about ethnic status, the form has been printed so
that the last page may be detached from the rest of the form, which contains the
applicant’s personal details. The two parts of the form can then be put separately
into the two boxes that will be provided in the Bell Tower. In this way, only the overall
ethnic diversity of the parish will be measured, and no information relating ethnic origin
to individuals will be recorded.
We encourage all adults who worship regularly at St Mary’s to fill
in the Enrolment Form - together we make our Church strong.
Barbara Moreland, Electoral Roll Officer
