At first glance, it appeared to be a technical and dry decision about the operation of the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855, yet the Supreme Court judgment in R (on the Application of Hodkin) v Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages was actually one of the most significant decisions related to law and religion in 2013. The Justices of the Supreme Court held that a church within the Church of Scientology could be a ‘place of meeting for religious worship’ within section 2 of the 1855 Act. In so doing, the Supreme Court overruled one of the most well-known decisions in English religion law, R v Registrar General, ex parte Segerdal. In Segerdal, although the Court of Appeal had held that a chapel within the Church of Scientology could not be registered under the Act, the reasoning of their Lordships differed: Buckley LJ and Winn LJ focused on what they perceived to be the lack of ‘worship’, refusing to define the ‘chameleon word’ religion, while Lord Denning emphasised the phrase ‘religious worship’, holding that this required ‘reverence or veneration of God or a Supreme Being’ and that this was not met in the case of the Church of Scientology, which was ‘more a philosophy on the existence of man or of life than a religion’. All of these statements have been questioned by the bold Supreme Court judgment in Hodkin, which provides guidance on how the terms ‘religion’ and ‘religious worship’ are to be understood by English law in the twenty-first century.

In July the Charity Commission issued new guidance on decision-making for charity trustees. The avowed purpose of the guidance is ‘to help increase trustees’ confidence when making decisions, and inform their processes', and the Commission points out that, if the need arises and something goes wrong, trustees have to be able to demonstrate how they have followed the principles set out in the guidance.

The Charities (Annual Return) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014, which came into force on 1 April 2014, outline the information that charities operating in Northern Ireland and registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) must provide in their interim annual report for the accounting period starting on or after 1 April 2014. Until now, charities in Northern Ireland have not been required to submit annual monitoring returns or accounts and reports to CCNI; however, with the start of compulsory registration of charities, annual reporting is gradually being introduced.

The report on the Synod's proceedings published in the January 2013 issue of this Journal reported the defeat – by a narrow majority – at the November 2012 group of sessions of the motion for the final approval of the draft measure intended to allow the consecration of women to the episcopate. As is well known, the Synod's decision was received with shock and dismay by many – both inside and outside the Church of England. But a response came quickly. In December the House of Bishops committed itself to bringing the elements of a new legislative package to the Synod in July 2013 and to that end established a working group, drawn from all three Houses.

The latest colloquium took place in London, and had as its theme ‘Counsel and Consent’, a clear echo of Eric Kemp's book of that title. On the Anglican side, the participants were Will Adam, Norman Doe, Mark Hill QC (in whose Inner Temple chambers we met), Anthony Jeremy and Stephen Slack. The Roman Catholic canonists were Andrew Cole, James Conn SJ, Fintan Gavin, Aidan McGrath OFM and Robert Ombres OP.

As always, the General Assembly deliberated on a wide range of issues. Prior to 12 May 1999 the Assembly were regarded by many Scots as the nearest thing to a Parliament that they possessed; and though devolution has perhaps lessened the Assembly's impact it has not diminished their enthusiasm for tackling difficult social and political questions, ranging from the economics of world poverty and the ‘Enough food for everyone … if?’ campaign to a major report on Israel–Palestine which had attracted considerable criticism from Scotland's Jewish community in advance of the debate. Probably of most interest to readers of this Journal, however, are the following.

The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill completed its third reading in the Lords on 27 January and, at the time of writing, was awaiting the resolution of differences between the two Houses by the process commonly known as ‘ping-pong’. Concerns had been expressed by certain religious organisations that activities such as street preaching could be banned if there were complaints from residents; and the Salvation Army, in particular, with its tradition of open-air singing and brass bands, was worried that its activities might be curtailed.

The 2014 Law and Religion Scholars Network (LARSN) Conference was held at Cardiff University Law School on 12 May and was attended by a great number of delegates both from the UK and from overseas. LARSN, which was set up by Cardiff's Centre for Law and Religion in 2008 to bring together academics interested in the study of law and religion, has continued to grow in popularity and now has over 270 members.

In his April Presidential Address the Archbishop focused on two issues: the Report of the Review Group chaired by Lord Harries and same-sex marriage. His concern with the Review is that ‘it is possible to get so bogged down or hung up on some of the details of the Provincial Review that there is a danger in dismissing all of it because one disagrees with some of the points it makes’. He regretted that churches with ordained clergy ‘have been tempted to assume that all ministry is vested in an omnicompetent professional minister’ and reminded his listeners that the basic sacrament of the Church was not ordination but baptism. His concern with the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was that clergy who would not conduct same-sex marriages needed protection, yet the Church itself needed to be allowed to conduct such marriages if it decided to do so in future. He felt that the Church ‘needed to have a discussion as to whether we want to continue having this special status in law as far as marriage is concerned’.

This year's programme looked, at first sight, to be a little daunting: 10 Bills and 26 motions to be dealt with in less than three days. However, on closer inspection the situation was not as bad as it seemed. Most of the Bills were of a technical or administrative nature: provision for the Cathedrals and Dignities of the Diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, some tidying up of the Constitution and internal administration, and the abolition of the existing practice whereby members of General Synod are automatically proposed for re-election – an attempt, no doubt, to encourage greater turnover and variety among Synod members. It will be interesting to see how successful this will be.

In opening the Synod the Primus said that it was easy to be institutionally burdened with reports and papers but that the Church was called to have a Spirit-enlivened spring in its step – a dynamic which shaped relationships, ministry and leadership. What mattered was that differences were re-cast by the Spirit into a dynamic and comprehensive unity, and that there was a need to be both strategy-led and Spirit-led.

In 2001 the Anglican Church of Canada's General Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada's National Convention, meeting concurrently in Waterloo, Ontario, agreed to a relationship of Full Communion. Readers will be familiar with the Porvoo Communion and the associated Declaration. The Waterloo Declaration is similar in effect and borrows some wording from the Porvoo Declaration, the key difference being that, in the Canadian context, Anglican and Lutheran churches share the same territory, which provides greater opportunity for day-to-day collaboration.