Orthodox Anglicans renounce ties to archbishop of Canterbury

The GAFCON movement of orthodox Anglicans is forging its own path away from the leadership of the archbishop of Canterbury with the launch of the Global Anglican Communion.

It will be distinct from the worldwide Anglican Communion that is under the spiritual leadership of the archbishop of Canterbury and which recognises other Institutes of Communion like the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), and the Primates’ Meeting of senior archbishops.

Unveiling its plans on Thursday, GAFCON said its intention is to “reorder” the Anglican Communion with only the Bible as its foundation. It will not recognize the archbishop of Canterbury or other Institutes of Communion. 

“We cannot continue to have communion with those who advocate the revisionist agenda, which has abandoned the inerrant word of God as the final authority and overturned Resolution I.10, of the 1998 Lambeth Conference,” said the Most Rev Laurent Mbanda, chairman of the GAFCON Primates’ Council, and Primate of Rwanda. 

“Therefore, 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, as reflected at the first Lambeth Conference in 1867, and we are now the Global Anglican Communion.

“Provinces of the Global Anglican Communion shall not participate in meetings called by the Archbishop of Canterbury, including the ACC, and shall not make any monetary contribution to the ACC, nor receive any monetary contribution from the ACC or its networks.”

Provinces aligned with the new Global Anglican Communion have been told to amend their constitutions to remove any reference to being in communion with the See of Canterbury and the Church of England.

The first formal gathering of the Global Anglican Communion has been planned for March 3 to March 6, 2026, in Abuja, Nigeria.

Archbishop Mbanda added, “As has been the case from the very beginning, we have not left the Anglican Communion; we are the Anglican Communion.” 

The announcement follows the appointment of Sarah Mullally as the first female archbishop of Canterbury. 

GAFCON was one of the first to denounce her appointment on Oct. 3, calling on Mullally to repent for her support of same-sex blessings. 

“Since the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury has failed to guard the faith and is complicit in introducing practices and beliefs that violate both the ‘plain and canonical sense’ of Scripture and ‘the Church’s historic and consensual’ interpretation of it (Jerusalem Statement), she cannot provide leadership to the Anglican Communion,” said Archbishop Mbanda at the time. 

“The leadership of the Anglican Communion will pass to those who uphold the truth of the gospel and the authority of Scripture in all areas of life.”

This article was originally published by Christian Today.