The Governing Body of the Church in Wales met twice in 2023, at Venue Cymru in Llandudno on 19–20 April and at the International Conference Centre in Newport on 5–6 September.

The Church of Ireland General Synod had been held online in 2021 and in person in 2022. This year – the third meeting of the triennium – the first two days were held in Clayton White's Hotel, Wexford (Friday 12 May and Saturday 13 May) with day 3 taking place remotely on the evening of Tuesday 16 May. (Another evening, Thursday 18 May, had also been set aside for meeting but this was not required.)

The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) met from 7 to 9 June 2023. The meeting was held in hybrid format, with most members attending in person and a small number online.

The Assembly met on 20–25 May with the Right Rev'd Sally Foster-Fulton BA BD as Moderator. She is Head of Christian Aid in Scotland and has served as a Parish Minister in the Church of Scotland and in the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Rt Hon Lord Hodge DPSC was re-appointed by His Majesty as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly for a second year. The Church has roughly 284,000 members (2021 figures) and around 1,200 charges.

This Grade 1-listed mediaeval church had a substantial Georgian reredos. It dominated the east end of the church, hiding three-quarters of the plain-glazed east window. In 2012 a faculty permitted its temporary removal to another location in the church while essential works were done to the chancel. Following this, the consequent increase in light coming from the windows was welcomed by petitioners, and fragments of medieval wall painting were discovered behind plasterwork which the reredos had previously protected. The petitioners now wished to make the temporary removal of the reredos permanent, relocating it to hang above the west door.

The Bill of Rights Bill was withdrawn on 27 June, signalling what appears to be a major change of policy. After the withdrawal announcement had been made, The Times quoted Dominic Raab as suggesting that ‘All the wrong people will celebrate’ – among whom is your correspondent.

St Michael le Belfrey (‘the Belfrey’) is a 16th century parish church in the shadow of York Minster. It sits in the charismatic evangelical tradition of the Church of England. With a large, young and vibrant congregation, the Belfrey is a Resource Church and plays a significant role in the life of the Diocese of York, the Northern Province and, more broadly, the Church of England. Through a petition described as ‘of the highest quality’, it sought a faculty for a dramatic re-ordering of its interior, proposals that had been at least 14 years in the development.