Whilst the book Under the Same Roof – Guidelines to the Sharing of Church Buildings Act 1969 published by CCBI in 1994 is now out of print, the information it contained has been summarised and is available for download here and below.
All references in the Act to the Charities Act 1960 have been updated to refer to the Charities Act 1993. The Charities Act 2006 has not made changes in this area.
Visit this page to see which Churches are covered by the Sharing of Church Buildings Act.
A general leaflet, useful to all, although written for Catholics: Guidelines for Catholics in Local Ecumenical Partnerships – Leaflet 3: Shared Buildings. Available below.
For churches affiliated to the Baptist Union of Great Britain, see BUC Guideline Leaflet L05: Ecumenical Sharing Agreements.
For the Methodist Church, see Standing Order 934 in The Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church, Volume 2.
The United Reformed Church has produced a checklist for URC people involved in the setting up of a Single Congregation Shared Building LEP. Available below.
Churches which are not currently designated under the 1969 Act can become so by being gazetted, ie a notice is posted to that effect in the London Gazette. Those bodies authorised to do this are Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance and Affinity.
Downloads
- rtf Responsibility for regular inspection of buildings subject to a sharing agreement 0403
- pdf Churches to which The Act Applies, Authorities, Parties & Consents 0409 A-3
- pdf Under The Same Roof
- pdf Guidelines for Catholics in Local Ecumenical Partnerships – Leaflet 3 Shared Buildings
- pdf URC checklist re shared building