LONDON (FN) \u2014 The Anglican Communion, one of the world\u2019s largest Protestant church families, is facing its most serious crisis in decades as conservative leaders push for a final break while others weigh proposals to restructure leadership and reduce Canterbury\u2019s historic role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Global Anglican Future Conference, or Gafcon, announced in October that it would no longer recognize the Communion\u2019s traditional structures, rejecting the symbolic authority of the archbishop of Canterbury. The move followed the appointment of Archbishop Sarah Mullally as the first woman to hold the post \u2014 hailed in England as historic but condemned by conservatives for her support of same\u2011sex blessings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe future has arrived,\u201d said Archbishop Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda, Gafcon\u2019s chairman. \u201cWe declare that the Anglican Communion will be reordered.\u201d Under Gafcon\u2019s plan, a new \u201cGlobal Anglican Communion\u201d would be overseen by a council of primates, with an elected chairman serving as \u201cfirst among equals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nigeria and Uganda, two of Africa\u2019s largest Anglican provinces, have endorsed the measure, alongside Rwanda and smaller churches from Myanmar to the Americas. Nigeria\u2019s Archbishop Henry Ndukuba called Mullally\u2019s stance on same\u2011sex issues \u201cdevastating\u201d and said the global Anglican world could no longer accept the leadership of the Church of England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet not all conservatives are ready to leave. Congo\u2019s Archbishop Georges Titre Ande said his church opposes liberal trends but intends to remain within the Communion, working to \u201creform, heal and revitalize\u201d it rather than abandon it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the Communion itself is weighing proposals to restructure leadership. Bishop Graham Tomlin, chair of the committee that drafted the plan, said it would de\u2011emphasize Canterbury and share authority more widely. \u201cThe proposals won\u2019t solve all the differences,\u201d he said, \u201cbut they do seek to provide a structure within which people of deeply different convictions can remain in good conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe of the Episcopal Church dismissed Gafcon\u2019s latest statement as \u201cmore of the same\u201d from a subgroup that has largely disengaged. \u201cI\u2019m really interested in being in relationship with people who want to continue our relationships across the communion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mullally\u2019s appointment has become a flashpoint. While she affirmed the Church of England\u2019s definition of marriage as between a man and a woman, she supported blessings for same\u2011sex couples and acknowledged \u201cthe harm that we have done\u201d to LGBTQ+ people. Her stance has drawn sharp criticism from African leaders, where homosexuality remains taboo and in some cases criminalized. Uganda\u2019s Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba said her advocacy \u201cwidened the tear in the fabric of the Anglican Communion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reactions have varied across Africa. In Ghana, clergy voiced concern that Mullally\u2019s support for same\u2011sex blessings could alienate them, while others welcomed her appointment as a breakthrough for women but opposed her stance on unions. In South Africa, where same\u2011sex marriage is legal, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba offered \u201cwarm congratulations\u201d and said he was focused on interfaith peacemaking rather than internal disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Anglican Communion, with an estimated 85 million members across 165 countries, has wrestled with divisions since 2003, when the U.S. Episcopal Church ordained its first openly gay bishop. Conservatives formed Gafcon in response, and large provinces such as Nigeria and Uganda have since distanced themselves from traditional Communion structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether Gafcon\u2019s breakaway or the Communion\u2019s restructuring proposals prevail, Anglicanism faces a historic crossroads. The outcome will determine whether one of Christianity\u2019s largest global families can hold together \u2014 or whether its slow\u2011growing schism finally becomes complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON (FN) \u2014 The Anglican Communion, one of the world\u2019s largest Protestant church families, is facing its most serious crisis in decades as conservative leaders push for a final break while others weigh proposals to restructure leadership and reduce Canterbury\u2019s historic role. The Global Anglican Future Conference, or Gafcon, announced in October that it would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":24645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[1809,1813,1811,1810,1814,1815,1817,1816,1818,1812],"class_list":["post-24644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","tag-anglican-communion","tag-anglican-schism","tag-archbishop-of-canterbury","tag-gafcon","tag-global-anglican-communion","tag-global-christianity","tag-lgbtq-in-religion","tag-protestant-churches","tag-same-sex-blessings","tag-sarah-mullally"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Archbishop-of-Canterbury-Sarah-Mullally-at-St-Pauls-Cathedral-in-London-in-2022.webp?fit=1000%2C667","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24647,"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24644\/revisions\/24647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}