The new ordinance is implemented for the 2011 AGM. This requires that an electoral roll is completed, with each eligible parishioner signing a declaration. The roll is closed two weeks before the AGM. The declaration is “I declare that I am a baptised and communicant member of the Anglican Church of Australia, aged at least 18 years old, that I regularly attend worship in this parish and that I am not an elector of another parish.”
To be a communicant member of the Anglican Church of Australia, you must have received communion in an Anglican Church on three occasions during the last twelve months, one of which must have been Easter. In 2011, as part of the introduction of the new Ordinance, the Bishop proposes to take a wide meaning of Easter to include all the Sundays up to Pentecost (4 April 2010-23 May 2010). In 2012, the more traditional understanding of the Octave of Easter (being Easter Day and the following seven days, 24 April 2011-1 May 2011) will be used.
Please take time after the service today to check that you are eligible, and to sign the roll. If you are not listed on the 2011 electoral roll, and you are elegible to be on the roll, please complete the separate form and place in the wall safe. The electoral roll will be available on Sundays 16, 23 and 30 January. Forms will be available at the back of the cathedral during the week, please complete one and place in the wall safe.