To all members of the Shrewsbury Orthodox Church

We are writing to share with you some important changes in our church’s governance structure. These changes are designed to streamline our operations and take advantage of new charity rules and available powers.

Existing Governance Structure

• In 2001, our parish, The Community of the Holy Fathers (CHF), became a registered charity with the Charities Commission. This allowed us to claim gift-aid on donations, but as a ‘charitable trust’, it had limited powers.
• In 2001, we also adopted the archdiocese constitution for churches that established a Community Board for day-to-day decision-making.
• In 2015, we created the Shrewsbury Orthodox Church Appeal Foundation (SOCAF) to manage fundraising for our church extension. SOCAF was established as a ‘charitable incorporated organisation’ (CIO), with more powers under the Charities Act of 2011.

The Need for Change

Recently, a small group including Fr Stephen, Fr Panteleimon, Nicholas Moore, Liz Asser, and David Lewis have been reviewing our current structure. We’ve concluded that having two related charities with different legal statuses and three governing authorities (SOCAF Trustees, CHF Trustees, and the church Board) may not be the most efficient way forward.

Our Proposal

Acting on advice from the Charities Commission, we have drafted a new governing document for SOCAF. This document would transform SOCAF into the principal charity for our church, to be renamed simply as Shrewsbury Orthodox Church (SOC).

Key Features of the New Structure:

1. SOC will be a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), giving us more flexibility and protection.
2. We will have a streamlined governing authority with an elected decision-making body mirroring many rules of the existing Community Board.
3. The new structure will allow us to own property directly.
4. We will benefit from various powers made available by the Charities Acts of 2011 and 2016.

Next Steps

• The proposed governance document is available for all to read. Link to the proposed governing document
• Both groups of trustees and all board members have been reviewing it.
• The board has already voted in favour of the change.
• SOCAF and CHF Trustee meetings are scheduled to vote on this issue later this month.

We encourage all members of our community to read the document. To make it more accessible, we have included explanatory comments throughout to help clarify any legal jargon.

We welcome your thoughts and feedback as we embark on this new governance chapter. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Fr Stephen, Fr Panteleimon, Nicholas Moore, Liz Asser, or David Lewis or email us at governance@shrewsburyorthodox.com.