The first stage in obtaining a faculty is to approach the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC). This is a body of specialists on church buildings and related matters, which includes your Archdeacon. The DAC decides whether the work that the parish wishes to carry out should be recommended for faculty, and the Commissary General is guided by its advice. A positive recommendation takes the form of a document called a Notification of Advice. The Committee meets ten times a year, usually on the second Friday of each month, to consider new or ongoing applications. The Care of Churches team is your point of liaison with the DAC.
Your proposal doesn’t have to be complete in every detail to approach the Committee. The Care of Churches team and the DAC are here to turn what might at first be a pipedream into reality. We’re keen to make sure your church building is fit for purpose. Though it may be many centuries old, nobody expects you to manage in the 21st century without essential facilities such as toilets, a place to make refreshments, proper heating or lighting. We also want to help you to make your church building accessible to disabled people and to meet General Synod’s pledge to make the Church of England carbon net-neutral by 2030. On that subject, you can read more on zero-carbon energy here.
The DAC may decide to send a visiting party to your church to discuss your project. If that happens, please don’t worry – this isn’t an inspection or an exam, and you’re not being tested on your ability to give the correct answers. The Committee can offer you much better guidance when it’s had a chance to see your church building for itself and to hear first-hand from you about what you want to do and why. Though occasionally we may suggest doing something differently, we’re keen for you to achieve what you want to do, and to find a solution that everyone can support.