The Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches (DAC) of the Diocese of Leeds is seeking expressions of interest for volunteer members, as it enters a new term of appointment.
The DAC is an integral part of enabling the church buildings across the diocese to thrive as centres of worship and as places for communities to come together.
The DAC supports PCCs in caring for around 550 churches across the Diocese, the majority of which are heritage listed, and helps to ensure these much-valued assets are sustainable for continued use for the future.
The DAC helps to ensure any proposed change is appropriate and balances modern needs against heritage value.
It also advocates best practice in terms of accessibility and environmental sustainability.
Expressions of interest are being sought from any member of the public with a professional and/or personal knowledge and interest in church buildings, particularly those with knowledge of environmental matters, particularly technical knowledge of decarbonisation measures and retrofit for historic buildings; or knowledge and experience of accessibility matters, personally or professionally.
More generally, expressions of interest will also be accepted from anyone with: knowledge of the history, development and use of church buildings; knowledge of Church of England liturgy and worship; knowledge of architecture, archaeology, art history; or experience of the care of historic buildings and their contents.
The DAC members are expected to have knowledge and experience as outlined between them; no one member is expected to have comprehensive knowledge and experience of every area.
Andrew Hall, Chair of the DAC, said: "Since becoming the chair last summer I have had a steep learning curve.
“I entered the role with two things in mind: supporting good stewardship for our buildings, and in doing so supporting our PCCs and congregations in the ministry and service in their parishes.
“As chair I want PCCs to have confidence in the DAC, that our deliberations will be thorough and routed in experience and common sense.
“I have been impressed by the skills and experience of the DAC membership and the quality of our discussion.
“The membership is diverse, from the Archdeacons to our specialist advisory members and our lay members, of which I am one, who all bring a particular knowledge and perspective to our work.
“I have found so far being a member of DAC to be interesting and rewarding; it has brought not only a greater knowledge of our buildings, but more significantly how they are used for God's work in our large diocese.
“I would commend membership to anybody who might feel called to consider it.”
The Revd Canon Jude Smith, Director of Mission and Revitalisation in our diocese, said: “As a diocese we want our parishes to feel confident in how they use all of their resources for mission, including their buildings.
“The DAC plays a vital role in encouraging that confidence.
“The DAC works at its best when its membership includes people who want our buildings to work well for mission, bringing their vision and skills alongside our buildings experts.
“Please consider being involved!”
Each diocese is required to have a DAC to enable the operation of the Faculty system, which is the mechanism for approving changes to church buildings.
Under the Ecclesiastical Exemption, this substitutes for Listed Building Consent, so it is vitally important there is a robust and highly skilled DAC to assess applications and give advice.
The new term of appointment commences in July 2025 and runs until July 2031.
Members are expected to serve for a full term, but the constitution allows for resignation mid-term, if unavoidable.
The DAC meets six times a year; the first meeting of the new membership will be Tuesday, July 15.
At present, meetings take place in person at Church House in Leeds city centre, but meetings may occasionally take place online.
Meetings commence at 1pm and generally last not longer than three hours, and members are expected to attend all meetings, wherever possible.
The role is voluntary so is not renumerated, but reasonable travel and other expenses will be reimbursed.
Please click here to find out more and to express interest.