Breakaway Anglican group to select different chief to Archbishop of Canterbury
A significant schism within the Anglican Communion is set to deepen this week as a coalition of conservative churches convenes in Nigeria to elect a leader intended to rival the Archbishop of Canterbury.
This unprecedented move is poised to exacerbate a widening theological split within the global church.
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), comprising conservative churches predominantly from Africa and Asia, staunchly opposes what it views as liberal shifts within the Communion.
These include the ordination of women and greater inclusion of LGBTQ+ members.
The group announced its Global Primates Council would elect a chairman, to be revealed on Thursday, “to serve as primus inter pares (first among equals) to replace the role traditionally held by the Archbishop of Canterbury“.
Formed in 2008, GAFCON asserts it now represents a majority of the world’s practising Anglicans. The wider Anglican Communion consists of 46 autonomous churches, with the Church of England historically recognised as its “mother church”.
Francis Aduroja, a priest from southwest Nigeria, told Reuters he expected bishops meeting in Abuja “not to compromise the scripture” as they consider the future of global Anglican leadership.
“We want them to defend the faith of our fathers… to come back with words to encourage priests and parishioners that we are still upholding the gospel with no backing out and no compromise,” he said.
GAFCON says it has not left the Anglican Communion but is asserting itself as its authentic orthodox core.
Gafcon leaders have opposed liberal trends such as same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly LGBTQ+ clergy in the Anglican churches of Europe and North America, including the Episcopal Church in the United States. Divisions have widened so sharply over recent decades that some national churches stopped participating in Anglican Communion gatherings.
Gafcon’s chairman, Archbishop Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda, last year issued a statement essentially calling for a break from the historic communion as it’s currently structured, declaring that “the Anglican Communion will be reordered.”
The statement envisioned a reformulated “Global Anglican Communion,” overseen by a new council led by elected chairmen regardless of country. Historically — although churches are self-governing and cooperate on a voluntary basis — the archbishop of Canterbury in England has been considered “first among equals,” a symbolic spiritual leader.
Source: independent.co.uk
