Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919

Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919

United Kingdom Parliament
Long title	An Act to confer powers on the National Assembly of the Church of England constituted in accordance with the constitution attached as an Appendix to the Addresses presented to His Majesty by the Convocations of Canterbury and York on the tenth day of May nineteen hundred and nineteen, and for other purposes connected therewith.
Citation	9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 76[1]
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent	23 December 1919[1]
Commencement	23 December 1919
Other legislation
Amended by	Synodical Government Measure 1969 (No. 2)[2]
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 76)^[1] is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that enables the Church of England to submit primary legislation called measures, for passage by Parliament. Measures have the same force and effect as acts of Parliament.^[3] The power to pass measures was originally granted to the Church Assembly, which was replaced by the General Synod of the Church of England in 1970 by the Synodical Government Measure 1969.^[2]

The act, usually called the "Enabling Act",^[4] made possible the addition of a chamber of laymen to the chambers for bishops and clergy in the new Church Assembly. The historian Jeremy Morris has argued that it helped to buffer the Church from anti-establishmentarianism and calls it "probably the most significant single piece of legislation passed by Parliament for the Church of England in the twentieth century".^[5] The Church Assembly set up parochial church councils, which have formed the base of the Church's representative system ever since.^[6]