The 1894 Local Government Act took away its secular duties and gave them to the newly created civil Parish Councils.
Church business continued to be managed by the vestry committee until 1921, when PCCs were created after the "Rules for the Representation of the Laity" was adopted in 1919 by the Convocations of Canterbury and York.
PCCs are constituted under the Church Representation Rules[3] (Schedule 3 to the Synodical Government Measure 1969).
They include the duty to co-operate with the minister (rector, vicar or priest in charge) "in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.
The PCC also has a voice in the forms of service used by the church and may make representations to the bishop and deanery synod on matters affecting the welfare and pastoral care of the parish.
The Charity Commission considers the legal duty of a PCC – to promote "the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical" – to be charitable, so all PCCs have charitable purposes, regardless of whether they are registered with the Charity Commission.