The Church of England, as far as this country is concerned, constitutes the Province of Canterbury, consisting of thirty dioceses, and the Province of York, a further fourteen. A Province is a group of dioceses headed by an archbishop. A diocese is a sub division of the church consisting of a number of parishes under the pastoral and administrative care of a bishop. The Diocese of London was established in Roman times and now consists of five areas. After reverting to paganism after the Saxon invasions, it was reconstituted in 604 with the first St. Paul's as its Cathedral. Today, the Diocese covers 277 square miles of Greater London north of the Thames. The Bishop of London is the third most senior bishop, after the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. An archdeaconry may extend to the whole of a diocese, but is usually part of a diocese. At its head is the archdeacon who is usually appointed by the bishop.

Hampton Deanery is in the Archdeaconry of Middlesex. A deanery is a collection of parishes for administrative purposes within an archdeaconry and each deanery is presided over by an area dean who is the bishop's officer. The Archdeaconry of Middlesex forms the Kensington Area of the London Diocese which in turn is in the Province of Canterbury. The Parish of St James is in the Hampton Deanery with thirteen other parishes from Hampton, Hampton Hill, Teddington, Twickenham and Whitton. A parish is the smallest unit in the Church of England's structure and every parish is supposed to have a church in it for the people of that area.

A deanery synod is a part of the government of the Church of England. (A 'deanery' is a collection of parishes, and 'synod' means 'council'). The synod consists of all licensed clergy and a certain number of elected lay representatives from each parish in the deanery. Deanery synod members are the electorate for the diocesan synod and the General Synod. St. James's is in Hampton Deanery and the Parochial Church Council elects five lay representatives to the deanery synod triennially at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting. A representative must be on the Electoral Roll.

A deanery synod does not have a great deal of power, but can have influence when significant matters are referred to it by a diocesan synod or the General Synod. It provides a forum for the sharing of information between churches locally, and between the diocese and national church, and the local church.

The deanery synod has two houses, the House of Clergy and the House of Laity. From the deanery synod, representatives are elected for both the diocesan and the General Synod. In the diocesan and the General Synod there are three Houses - The Houses of Bishops, Clergy and Laity.

Members of the congregation take advantage of courses and other activities that are available. These are publicised in the weekly pewsheet, on notice boards and are drawn to the attention of individuals who might have an interest. There are also wider links as identified in the work of the Charities and Links committee and in our charitable giving. St. James's participates actively in Deanery, Area and Diocesan activities.

Map showing the boundaries of the parish of St. James

Historical Background to Hampton Deanery
On June 21st, 1970, the first meeting of the Deanery Synod was held and to help members get to know the other churches it was agreed to meet in a different church around the diocese each time. It was decided to pass any news of this new form of Church Government to the readers of the Spire magazine from time to time. Read the article. First Meeting of the Deanery Synod.