A dissident group is causing a stir in the global Anglican church by rejecting the ascent of Sarah Mullally, the incoming female, liberal Archbishop of Canterbury, and claiming that they have split from the Anglican Communion. But clergy and observers say the controversy isn’t new.
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) is a group of Anglican provinces comprised of Rwanda, Congo, Sudan, Brazil, Nigeria, Myanmar, Kenya, Alexandria (Egypt), Chile and groups like the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa and the Anglican Church in North America. The Most Rev. Laurent Mbanda, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, is its chairman and the face of the alliance.
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In an Oct. 3 letter, Mbanda denounces the appointment of Mullally, the church’s first female archbishop since it was established in 1534, as a violation of what he says is the Bible’s requirement of a male-only episcopacy. Her further supportive stance of same-sex rights is intolerable, Mbanda says.
“Bishop Mullally has repeatedly promoted unbiblical and revisionist teachings regarding marriage and sexual morality,” Mbanda states in the public letter which bears his signature alone. In it, he reiterated a statement from 2023 in which GAFCON declared that it no longer recognizes the Archbishop of Canterbury as an “Instrument of Communion” or the “first among equals” of global Primates.
In another letter on Oct. 16, Mbanda states that GAFCON’s primates have reformed the Anglican Communion by creating their own entity called the Global Anglican Communion, rejecting the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Instruments of Anglican Communion.
“Gafcon has re-ordered the Anglican Communion by restoring its original structure as a fellowship of autonomous provinces bound together by the Formularies of the Reformation,” Mbanda writes. No other names appear in the statement.
Mullally is set to take office on Jan. 28.
While church leaders expressed concern at Mbanda’s Oct. 3 words, most don’t see his letter as a threat to the Anglican Communion.
Rev. Christopher Brittain, a former Episcopal Church of Scotland priest now based at Trinity College in the University of Toronto, says the latest tussling, though “dramatic,” is not new and is not a schism.
The GAFCON players haven’t left the Anglican Communion, he says. The upset from some Anglican leaders over same-sex blessings has been going on for decades. Questions about governance and whether the Archbishop of England should be the symbolic head of the global church are ongoing. The Cairo-Nairobi Proposals (published in 2024 for consideration at the Anglican Consultative Council in 2026) were written for this very reason — to help the church navigate difference and division on these and other issues.
“There is a process to talk through this together,” Brittain says. “What this GAFCON document does is some sort of an ambush of the ongoing conversation.”
Ephraim Radner, a former Anglican missionary who served congregations in Africa and the United States, and a former rector at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Pueblo, Colo., notes there is a question of who actually signed the document because the other Anglican communions in GAFCON evidently did not. The Church of Congo, for example, stated that it will not heed the Oct. 16 call to disengage from the Anglican Communion and will remain committed to the body (implying that they have accepted Mullally as head). The Church of Congo will remain part of GAFCON too. Others mentioned in the letter, like Nigeria, have not been participating in Communion matters for close to 20 years, he says.
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What is clear in GAFCON’s Oct. 3 statement are undertones of a historic power struggle, says Catherine Clifford, a consultant to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops on Christian unity and interfaith dialogue.
For 30 years, the question of who controls decision-making in the Anglican communion keeps coming up, Clifford says, and that intersects with disagreements over doctrinal matters (like sexuality and ordination).
“The majority of the Anglican population resides today in Nigeria, in Rwanda, Uganda, and this is where there’s some pushback,” she says. “So, I also think we need to understand there’s a bit of an anti-colonial backlash here as well.”
Despite living with its own legacy of colonizing Indigenous peoples, the Anglican Church of Canada welcomed Mullally’s appointment and expressed no reservations about her liberal stance on same-sex rights.
Women’s ordination is now permitted in every diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada, and though same-sex blessings remain a point of difficulty for some, Brittain says, “we have been living together for a long time now. We have had our General Synod on same-sex marriage twice in Canada with different results between those and against. It hasn’t led us to divide as a communion,” he says.
In Africa, the face of the GAFCON’s conservative anger, the reaction to Mullally’s appointment is nuanced.
“Anglicans need to be reminded that we are not of one mind, and that’s painful.”
The Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa, a smaller and theologically conservative Anglican denomination, reacted “with deep sorrow and concern” to Mullally’s appointment.
But Christo Lombaard, an expert of the Old Testament and Christian spirituality at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, says the more established Anglican Church of Southern Africa is an “outlier in tone, temperament and method” on the African continent, tending toward measured reflection rather than sweeping denunciation. It publicly congratulated, reflecting its own colonial history of negotiation, dialogue and moral complexity, he says.
Brittain says that at the end of the day, the controversy brings up a harsh realization for the Communion.
“Anglicans need to be reminded that we are not of one mind, and that’s painful,” he says.
Ernest van Eck, principal and professor of the New Testament at Knox College of the University of Toronto, says that Anglicanism has always been a global family held together by surprising resilience, even amid deep tension. Many Global South provinces participate in GAFCON rhetorically yet remain ambivalent about cutting ties with Canterbury. These churches value their theological positions, but they also value historic relationships, identity and the global platform that Anglican unity provides.
“The Anglican Communion has weathered many storms,” Van Eck says. “What will carry it forward now is what has always carried it: faith, humility and a willingness to listen. That is where I place my hope.”
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Ray Mwareya is a journalist in Ottawa.
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My comments on the above, are, God is love, it’s only man that interpreted that man holds supreme positions. Looking around the world, it is the male that is the most aggressive war mongering creature about. These bishops should b on their knees asking for God’s forgiveness for all the devastation man has caused, especially in the name of religion.
Generally that attitude is called misandry
A good, fair, informative and balanced article
Thank you
We have heard personal reflections, people’s opinions, whether ambivalent or supportive of the drift. The unresolved question is, “In all of these, what is God saying?”
Apparently no one is reading God’s Word to find out.
I haven’t read the article thoroughly, but it all boils down to a question of authority. As a Christian, I accept the Bible as the inspired Word of God. In fact, it says of itself that ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…’ (2 Timothy 3.16) So when the Bible states that spiritual authority within the church is reserved for men only, as a woman, I gladly accept that. Yes, many of us women are gifted in teaching…. so we teach other women, teenagers and children. Or, as Priscilla and Aquilla did, we invite those with dodgy doctrine round to our homes and talk it through there. The Bible teaches male headship right from Genesis…. Old Testament priests were all men, unless they were pagan priestesses. Jesus’ disciples and the apostles were all men. I am glad to belong to an evangelical church that is not part of the Church of England.
I was with the Church of England until they announced that a woman, gay, priest would be the new priest. I now attend an Evangelical Church. Christine I agree with you wholeheartedly, follow Jesus, all the time, the Bible is the word of God, it must be followed to the latter and not changed to suit circumstances. Above all, God will be the judge.
There is absolutely no need to have any hierarchical organisation or differentiation labels of any sorts.
We are God’s church, as Christ’s followers; so the word ‘Christians’ so suffice and allowed to stand firm and strong!
Please quote the verse that says women should not lead?
I also think it is absolutely unnecessary to have a hierarchical organisation for groups of different denominations (in fact why have denominations?).
Jesus alone is the ‘head’ of His church, so why do we need weak human beings as head of this church or head of that church? Not really following His Word, is it?
Well said
Remember this ONLY applies within the Church, not in worldly matters. (And yes I expect to hear that Paul was a misogynist, or these passages were written for the first century and no longer apply.)
I won’t quote but here some good read for you. 1 Timothy 2:12, 1 Peter 3:1, 1 Corinthians 14:34, 1 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 5:22.
We need an hierarchical organization or else Christianity would be chaos, such as the Book of Judges, ” In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” Judges 17:6 (NIV)
What was Christ’s command to His disciples? “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, / and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
(I’m guessing we are to follow the commandment until the end of the age.)
That’s following God’s Word
For how long will the arguments about true church, true religion and true doctrines continue amongst those who claim to love and serve God. Unless you all are faking your beliefs you will agree with the Jemomosi movement, which is for the whole world to come together and as one people of God, ask God himself who is our common and universal Father to clear the air as regards the true religion, true commandments and true doctrines. Please stop arguing and submit to the Jemomosi experiment.
I am Jima Joseph Michael. I quit sex and lies 38 years ago. I am your daddy, your friend and your guardian angel
The Global Anglican Communion must remain united with CofE and wait upon the 2nd coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who is Judge over all things. Where the church is lost on any issue, it must remain biblical. Jesus Christ warns us of false doctrine and teachings but does not order us to be Judge over our brethren. Matthew 13:24 -30 and 36-43 and 2nd Thessalonians 2 reveals what is to come.
We are called to be united in Christ, for He alone is Judge. Let us remain obedient to God and to His words.
When dodgy doctrine has been taught by those who learned dodgy doctrine whether from male or female, are they continuing correctly or establishing dodginess?
What makes it dodgy? Is it the person who trusted the male only authority or the person who did not trust the female?
The fundamental problem in Christianity is that it acts in essence as a political party rather than a divinely inspired spiritual institution. This most probably has its roots in the Nicaean origins of Christian theology where fundamental doctrines were discussed, debated and voted on amongst mortals thus establishing Christianity as a basically man-made concept rather than a divine revelation which embodies eternal, immutable truths immune to intervention and tinkering by human thought. That basic nature of Christianity may have constituted strength at some point in its past but this is no longer the case. It’s now a fatal weakness in an era where people are looking for spiritual certainties which they no longer find in an institution which has transformed into a caricature of a political party in an age when most people find such parties disreputable and unworthy of following.
I certainly don’t want to be thought of as against females in any way but for centuries the Anglican church has prospered under the basic teachings of the Bible. Ten commandments which clearly guide us as to where we should be, with the first and second commandments defining the churches’ doctrine on equality. But I see the appointment of the forthcoming Archbishop as nothing more than a political statement. Are the congregations of the church not strong enough to stand be counted and say that we want to lead by the historic values of our beliefs without having to bend to fads and trends. Be resolute and show strength and the people will return.
Both genders are a creation of God so the book of Genesis tells us. Therefore let’s allow females to serve God.
Absolutely correct!
I am a confirmed Anglican who tolerates homosexuality and same-sex marriage but promotes neither.
As the Anglican Church leadership moves leftward, I accept less and less of what it says, and I avoid parishes that emulate the leadership.
This should be written with a better understanding of the size of the GAFCON movement (big and growing) in contrast with the rapid decline of the “official” Anglican churches in the West. Even the UK church has lost many parishioners and priests due to the official church becoming an instrument of progressive political parties.
If they disobey the God they say they represent.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing…She just wants to corrupt true faith.
More power to Mbanda
From a simplistic view we are all God’s followers IF we follow and obey His Word. So why do we need to have all sorts of labels ie Catholic, Anglican, Methodist etc, and hierarchical structures like pope, archbishops etc. A pastor should be sufficient to indicate all Christ followers who teaches and provide spiritual support.
Absolutely no need for hifaluting titles and central controls from high towers!
So, all the so-called councils of churches are a waste of time and a barrier to the true Gospel and an obstruction to letting God’s Light shine through!
You seem to be forgetting that it was church councils in the third and fourth centuries that established the canon of scripture that you wish to follow (“His Word”). It was church councils that established belief in the Trinity. If “so-called councils of churches are a waste of time” then the Christian church for many centuries would not have had theological guidance that is just presumed today to have existed for all time.
Do not be led astray (taken captive) by hollow or deceptive philosophies that depend on man rather than on Christ. For in Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form and we are Christ filled.
The church of England is a woke mess, it no longer lives by the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is error wearing the mask of truth, the Catholic Church is the true vine of Christ
Jesus: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Nem: “the Catholic Church is the true vine of Christ.” At best, the Catholic church is a branch. So is the Church of England.
The Scripture is clear on these issues. It is left to us to choose in response to that invitation, “Who is on the LORD’s side?” (Exodus 32:26, KJV). Sooner or later, we learn—whether painfully or with pleasure—the folly or the wisdom inherent in the choices we make today.