On 9 September, the European Union (Withdrawal) (No 2) Act 2019 received Royal Assent and Parliament was prorogued until 14 October. The prorogation was challenged in the courts both in England and Wales and in Scotland, and a strong Divisional Court of Queen's Bench and the Inner House of the Court of Session came to opposite conclusions as to its legality. The judgments were appealed to the Supreme Court, and on 24 September an eleven-judge bench handed down a unanimous judgment in the conjoined cases of Miller and Cherry.

This report covers the groups of sessions held in February 2019 and July 2019. After the spate of legislation in 2018, when nine Measures were enacted – the highest number in a single year since the Church was empowered by the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 to make Measures having the force and effect of statute – 2019 saw the enactment of just a single Measure.

Much of the period under review was dominated by the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Advice both from the Government and from the Churches was at first fairly muted. On 10 February the Government introduced the Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020, which applied to England only and which made provision for detention for screening for the virus under certain conditions and imposing restrictions on individuals to limit the risk of those with the infection contaminating others; however, at the same time, the Prime Minister was urging people to remain ‘confident and calm’. Similarly, an Ad Clerum on hygiene at Holy Communion issued by the Bishop of Peterborough on 20 February deprecated the practices of intinction and of receiving the bread directly on to the tongue but did not recommend the ending of communion in both kinds.

The General Assembly met in Edinburgh from 19 to 25 May, with the Rt Revd Colin Sinclair BA BD, minister of Palmerston Place in the Presbytery of Edinburgh, installed as Moderator. Last year's Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly, Richard Scott, the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, was reappointed by HM The Queen.

The April meeting was held while the Anglican Consultative Council was meeting in Hong Kong, and the Governing Body received a video message from Dr Heather Payne and the Ven Mary Stallard, its two representatives. In his presidential address to the September meeting, the Archbishop of Wales spoke of the challenges facing the Church and said that those who challenged the Church, asking sometimes uncomfortable questions, deserved to be taken seriously. He also highlighted some of the initiatives that the Church in Wales was undertaking as part of the acknowledgement that the status quo for ministry in Wales was unlikely to meet the needs of the province in the decades ahead.

This year's General Synod, the second meeting of the triennium, was held for the first time in the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe. The venue was the Millennium Forum Theatre in the centre of the historic walled city of Derry/Londonderry and a civic reception was held at the Guildhall, hosted by the mayor of Derry City and Strabane District. The Synod considered Bills relating to Holy Communion by extension; liturgical provision for miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death; and diocesan boundaries.

The General Synod met at St Paul's and St George's church in Edinburgh from 6 to 8 June. In his opening charge to Synod, the Primus, the Most Revd Mark Strange, encouraged Synod members to listen to the voice of God and respond to the command ‘this is the way, walk in it’. The Scottish Episcopal Church needed to be able to respond to a society crying out for reconciliation, fairness and hope but could only do so if, inside the Church, such values marked the way in which members treated one another.

The General Synod normally meets every three years for a session lasting several days. It held its 42nd session from 10 to 16 July 2019 in Vancouver. There were three items of business that particularly attracted the attention of the media, though a number of other important issues were also addressed during the session.