Explainer: What's happening with Gafcon & Anglicanism?

Is it "one of the largest schisms in Western Christianity since Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation" - or rather more complex than that?

Yesterday, Gafcon, the organisation which draws together conservative, Biblical Anglicans from around the globe, announced that it was now "fulfilling our mandate to reform the Anglican Communion".

This included the proclamation of a new "Global Anglican Communion" - as opposed to the existing Anglican Communion centred on Canterbury.

In this article, we firstly look at what has been announced; secondly, we examine how significant (or not) it may be, according to different commentators; and thirdly, we look at where this leaves Gafcon and other orthodox Anglican organisations, some of which seem to be adopting different approaches to the current tumult in the global denomination.

1. What has been announced?

The statement said: "The first Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) gathered in 2008 in Jerusalem to prayerfully respond to the abandonment of the Scriptures by some of the most senior leaders of the Anglican Communion, and to seek their repentance.

"In the absence of such repentance, we have been prayerfully advancing towards a future for faithful Anglicans, where the Bible is restored to the heart of the Communion. Today, that future has arrived."

Issued in the name of Laurent Mbanda, Chairman of the Gafcon Primates’ Council, and Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, the statement also says: "We have not left the Anglican Communion; we are the Anglican Communion.

"At our upcoming G26 Bishops Conference in Abuja, Nigeria from 3 to 6 March 2026, we will confer and celebrate the Global Anglican Communion.

"Please pray that we will lead our Communion in prayerful submission to the Holy Spirit as we hear the voice of Jesus in his wondrous Scriptures, to the glory of God."

2. How significant is it?

But just how significant is it? Some are hailing it as an epoch-defining moment. It is "one of the largest schisms in Western Christianity since Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation," and "a fracture of monumental proportions," according to David Bumgardner, a writer, theologian and educator commenting on baptistnews.com.

He adds: "At their upcoming 2026 assembly, Gafcon will elect a chairman for a new administrative council, creating a rival 'first among equals' to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is an echo of the Western Schism of the church, when the papacy was split between Rome and Avignon from 1378 to 1417."

"[The] development affects nearly 110 million Anglicans worldwide. Gafcon claims to represent 85 [per cent] of them (roughly 75 million people), although these figures are disputed. In the United States, this global realignment is mirrored in the division between The Episcopal Church in America and the breakaway Anglican Church in North America," Bumgardner says.

"Important and historic"

And Andy Lines, Presiding Bishop of the emerging province of the Anglican Network in Europe, which is linked to Gafcon, says: "It is an important statement and an historic statement. What began with the first Gafcon gathering in Jerusalem in 2008 has now reached fruition. The Anglican Communion has been reordered as a confessional, not institutional, partnership in the gospel to ensure the Bible is at the heart of our faithful proclamation together of the Lord Jesus Christ to the nations."

Other commentators are less sanguine. Ruth Peacock, writing at the Religion Media Centre, says: "Gafcon’s Primates Council has 11 members, including seven from Africa and one from South America. The Anglican Communion has 42 Primates.

"Initial reaction is that a schism, where they set up a rival denomination, severing ties and forming new structures, will be hard to achieve, as there are extensive and interwoven financial, institutional and historical connections between Anglican provinces worldwide. It is said to be significant that only one Primate put their name to the statement."

UK-based Anglican evangelical commentator and ordained minister Peter Ould was in no doubt, however. He says: "As of yesterday... the Anglican Communion in its current form does not exist."

He explains: "This is organisationally recognising what has organically been going on for a while now, which is rejecting the Instruments of Communion."

According to Ould, the four "instruments" of the Anglican Communion can be likened to a wheel: firstly, the person and office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, which is like the hub of a wheel; secondly, the Lambeth Conference, the occasional gathering of all global Bishops and Archbishops, which is like the rim of the wheel; thirdly, the Primates' meeting - the gathering of Archbishops, which are like the spokes of the wheel; and fourthly the Anglican Consultative Council, "which is essentially the semi-Parliament of the Anglican Communion and which maintains the structure of the wheel".

"Back to first principles"

Ould says: "Gafcon is saying, 'We reject that as what holds Anglicans together'... They are saying, 'We are going back to first principles – to what organically and spiritually it means to be Anglican. And from that, we are creating a new organisation to reflect that organic spiritual understanding'. That organisation will not be centred in a particular office or person, but the organisation will reflect mutual interdependence under that shared spiritual, organic understanding of what it means to be Christian.

"The other key thing is that they are making the Jerusalem Declaration the key doctrinal statement of that new fellowship."

Ould concludes: "As of yesterday, therefore, the Anglican Communion in its current form does not exist, because it is looking like a majority of the provinces, if they follow this, are saying they are not part of the Anglican Communion."

He adds: "It does beg the question for orthodox Anglicans in the Church of England and the other Anglican churches in the British Isles: ‘How do we relate to other Anglicans around the world who will no longer relate to us organisationally through the Archbishop of Canterbury?'"

"Bold and clear"

Mark Thompson, Principal of Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia, says: " I am so grateful for the faithfulness and courage of the Gafcon Primates. This latest statement is bold and clear, and it will be an encouragement to those who have been watching and waiting to see when the words will be translated into action. The primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Anglican Communion is at an end. The so-called instruments of unity, which have in reality proven to be instruments of doctrinal deviation and division, are no longer recognised.

"The Communion is now reset (not replaced but reset) as the Global Anglican Communion and we are looking forward to a new era of evangelism, mission, growing mature and Christ-like churches, and a clear, unambiguous message to the world. Let the Canterbury Communion continue to wither on the vine and let the Global Anglican Communion push forward from this new beginning, continue, and on the last day finish, as a faithful expression of Christian discipleship and mission."

"A sad day"

Another well-known commentator on Anglican affairs, Ian Paul, told en: "I think this is a sad day for the Communion—but it has been a long time coming. I don't think I would have said what they have said; after all, the House of Bishops here has just effectively put an end to the sexuality debate in the Church of England, and our doctrine of marriage remains unchanged.

"But the Communion as a whole, and the previous archbishop in particular, singularly failed to hold [liberal] provinces going their own way to account. Since 2004, they have repeatedly failed to follow up on promised action, and the fracturing of the Communion was the inevitable result."

Meanwhile, Anthony Poggo, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, said: "I share the hope of the Commission [the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order] that all Anglicans, and the whole Church of God, may still seek and find agreement in the Faith."

3. Gafcon and other conservative Anglican groupings

However the future unfolds, questions remain at this point in time about the "Global Anglican Communion". Gafcon is not the only conservative and orthodox organisation working in global Anglicanism. The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) is another. The two have overlapping memberships, and share common goals of orthodox faith, but operate with different primary methods: the GSFA works with and through existing provinces, whereas Gafcon has focused on establishing alternative structures.

And the GSFA has previously unveiled a plan which seems different from Gafcon's - what it calls a "covenantal structure" for reforming Anglicanism globally, a vision it finalised in June last year.

"Covenanted relationships"

In a statement on 3 October, after the appointment of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury, the GSFA pointed again to this plan, and said it "offers to all orthodox Provinces a framework of covenanted relationships, rooted in an explicit commitment to orthodox Anglican doctrine and mutual accountability which we commend to the whole Communion as a matter of urgency. Only in this way, we believe, will it be possible to restore confidence, clarity and unity as we continue to obey our Lord’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations."

There is also the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC) founded by John Stott in 1961. This grouping has among its aims, "supporting Biblical orthodoxy when the Anglican Communion meets..."

Commenting after Mullally's appointment, EFAC seemed to throw its weight behind the GSFA approach to reforming global Anglicanism. Bishop Stephen Hale, its Acting General Secretary, wrote: "EFAC... believes that the Anglican Communion needs not just structural adjustments, but an agreed coherent theological and doctrinal basis and we strongly urge that consideration be given to the adoption of the Global South Fellowship of 'Churches Covenantal' model."

So Gafcon, the GSFA and EFAC have considerable overlaps in membership and theology, but different approaches. How this all interplays and works out in the future remains, as yet, to be seen.

"As many questions as answers"

Mark Michael, editor-in-chief of The Living Church, sums it up by saying: "[The Gafcon] statement seems to pose as many questions as it answers... [It] seems unaware of the previous day’s announcement that the Church of England’s bishops have effectively paused the Living in Love and Faith process, which provoked the crisis to which it is responding.

"Perhaps most seriously, it’s unclear how Gafcon’s announcement of a Global Anglican Communion relates to the covenantal structure launched by the GSFA at its meeting in Egypt in the summer of 2024."

"It’s [also] not clear from [the] statement if the Primates who are firmly affiliated with both Gafcon and GSFA all supported the creation of the Global Anglican Communion, or if they considered it identical to GSFA’s Covenantal Structure, complimentary to it, or an end-run around it. The lack of a coordinated response by the GSFA to the Gafcon announcement is telling," he adds.