In many ways, the Global Anglican Communion now finds itself at the beginning of a similar kind of process. GAFCON and the Global Anglican Communion are only at the early stages of what will likely be a long period of development as a reordered Anglican Communion takes shape.

Having just attended the G26 gathering in Abuja, Nigeria, I was struck by how much the moment felt like the Second Continental Congress, where the early structures of American governance began to take form. One of the most significant developments was the decision to dissolve GAFCON’s previous governing body, the Primates’ Council, and establish a new Global Anglican Council. In that way, the Global Anglican Communion becomes more like a representative democracy, which gives a voice to disciples of Jesus from every level of the Church!

It truly is a new day. What is emerging is a Global Anglican Communion no longer dependent on the structures tied to the theological trajectory of The Episcopal Church and the See of Canterbury. Instead, we are seeing the beginnings of a reordered, biblically faithful Anglicanism that many believers have prayed and longed for over many years.

At the same time, it would not surprise me if further adjustments are needed as this new structure takes shape. There are still questions about how the Global Anglican Council will function and how the life of this newly reordered Communion will develop. Just as the founders of the United States worked for many years to refine their system of government, the Global Anglican Communion will likely continue working through the details of its new structures. After all, reordering a 500-year-old communion cannot be fast, easy, or perfect from the start. Major historical shifts rarely are. Change of this magnitude takes time.

Read it all.

So thankful to have been at @gafconference G26! Read Cn. Mark's summary of this momentous week. For our US readers, what can we learn from the founding of our nation, or even of @The_ACNA, when it comes to the Global Anglican Communion? https://t.co/TaV1QQS4V9

— American Anglican (@AnglicanCouncil) March 7, 2026

In a stirring call to arms delivered at the Cathedral of the Advent here this evening, Archbishop Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda urged global orthodox Anglicans to reject the false gods of cultural accommodation and institutional self-preservation. Speaking at the close of the GAFCON G26 bishops’ conference on 6 March 2026 the new chairman of the Global Anglican Council declared “the future has arrived” for biblical Anglicanism, as delegates affirmed a conciliar leadership structure to guide the emerging Global Anglican Communion.

Archbishop Mbanda rooted his sermon in Joshua 24:15 — “Choose this day whom you will serve” — G26’s theme — weaving in his own story as a child refugee in Burundi who survived famine and war to lead Rwanda’s church. “A little refugee boy … big tummy and almost red hair … (signs of beriberi) … How can I turn against God? How can I put His Word aside?”, he proclaimed, challenging delegates to recall God’s faithfulness amid GAFCON’s 18-year journey.

He recounted the movement’s milestones: the 2008 Jerusalem Declaration that reset Anglicanism after Lambeth 1998’s Resolution 1.10 was undermined; Nairobi 2013’s formation of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans; Jerusalem 2018’s insistence that “the gospel church is in the future above any earthly seat of power”; and Kigali 2023’s commitment to discipleship unbowed by revisionism.

Like Joshua before Israel, Mbanda catalogued the idols on offer today: “the god of cultural approval… the idol of institutional preservation at any cost… the temptation to reinterpret Scripture to fit the age… [and] the central elevation of human reasoning above the revelation of God.” He contrasted Psalm 119’s “lamp to my feet” with 2 Timothy’s sufficient Scripture, asking: “What else do we look for?”

Read it all.

https://t.co/Yxecjqx7Va

— George Conger (@GeorgeConger8) March 6, 2026

The statement from Abuja makes clear that the leaders gathered here believe the Anglican Communion has reached a point where reordering is necessary. For more than two decades, GAFCON leaders and other orthodox Anglicans called for repentance from provinces and leaders who departed from historic Anglican teaching, particularly on matters of biblical authority and human sexuality. The communiqué argues that those appeals did not result in meaningful discipline or correction within the Communion’s historic structures.

According to the statement, the problem lies not only in the theological disagreements themselves but in the inability, or unwillingness, of the Canterbury-centered “Instruments of Communion” to maintain doctrinal accountability. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Primates’ Meeting are described as having failed to guard the faith once delivered to the saints. Rather than confronting false teaching, the communiqué argues, these structures increasingly sought to preserve institutional unity through the language of “walking together” despite deep theological disagreement.

In response to this perceived failure, the statement outlines what it calls a “reordering” of the Anglican Communion around a confessional foundation. The key theological principle underlying this vision is that true communion among churches must be grounded in shared doctrine rather than merely shared institutional affiliation or historical connection. In this view, communion exists where churches confess the same faith, particularly as expressed in the Jerusalem Declaration and the historic formularies of Anglicanism, including the Thirty-Nine Articles and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

From this perspective, the communiqué suggests that the current crisis within Anglicanism reflects not the existence of two separate communions but rather two competing definitions of communion. One definition is confessional, grounded in shared doctrine and submission to the authority of Scripture. The other is institutional, centered on historical structures that attempt to hold together provinces with fundamentally incompatible theological commitments.

The leaders gathered in Abuja argue that a confessional understanding of communion is not an innovation but a recovery of the historic Anglican vision. The communiqué points to the first Lambeth Conference in 1867, when Archbishop Charles Longley described the Anglican Communion as a fellowship of churches bound together by shared faith and common formularies rather than by centralized authority.

Against this backdrop, the G26 statement formally affirms the emergence of what it calls the Global Anglican Communion. According to the communiqué, this is not intended to be a breakaway body or a rival communion, but rather a reordering of Anglican life around the historic doctrinal commitments that originally defined Anglican fellowship. 

Read it all.

A Commentary on the Abuja Statement from @gafconference G26: https://t.co/cL0Od8JdkQ

— American Anglican (@AnglicanCouncil) March 6, 2026

The Bible at the Heart of the Communion

The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord. The communion is a fellowship of churches who submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, whose life and teaching is revealed in the Scriptures. We understand the Bible is to be ‘translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading’ (Jerusalem Declaration, Article II), which reflects Article VI of the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion.
The Bible is God’s Word written (Article XX). It was breathed out by him and written for us by faithful messengers. It carries God’s own authority and is its own interpreter – it is clear, sufficient and true for all times. God’s Word is the final authority in the church and in the life of discipleship.

The Canterbury Instruments have compromised the authority of the Scriptures by normalising hermeneutical pluralism, elevating cultural capitulation, and reframing the rejection of Scripture’s authority and clarity as “good disagreement”, and not what it really is – false teaching.

The Failure of the Canterbury Instruments

We “reject the so-called Instruments of Communion, namely the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), and the Primates’ Meeting, which have failed to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion.” (MDS)
Recent Archbishops of Canterbury have failed to guard the faith by inviting bishops to Lambeth who have embraced or promoted practices contrary to Scripture. The former Archbishop of Canterbury welcomed the provision of liturgical resources for the Church of England to bless people who had entered same-sex civil marriages. The current Archbishop of Canterbury led the “Living in Love and Faith” project that produced these liturgical resources for the Church of England. The moral and spiritual authority of the Seat of Augustine has been severely compromised by this.

Notwithstanding the unequivocal rejection of “homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture” as expressed in Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, contrary teaching has continued to gain a foothold in some Anglican provinces. At Lambeth 2022 it was treated as a matter over which Christians could disagree but remain in fellowship. Archbishop Justin Welby affirmed both a “traditional teaching” and a “different teaching”, the latter held by those who are “not careless about Scripture. They do not reject Christ. But they have come to a different view on sexuality after long prayer, deep study and reflection on understandings of human nature”. This is unambiguously contrary to Anglican doctrine as it has been received.

The ACC and the Primates’ Meetings have likewise failed to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion, notwithstanding the repeated recommendations of various reports, for example the 2004 Windsor Report. They have neither restrained nor challenged false teaching and instead have called for the acceptance of false teachers as fellow members of the Communion.

A Confessional Communion

True communion is confessional, rather than defined by a shared history or institutional structures.

The Jerusalem Declaration, which includes the Reformation Formularies, expresses our common confession of the Biblical truth, shared faith, and communal conviction. We are in fellowship with all who assent to the Jerusalem Declaration.

However, there is, and will continue to be, an institution that calls itself the Anglican Communion, which defines communion on an institutional basis. This body has recognised that its current institutional rules have failed to maintain genuine communion and is currently exploring the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals to change its institutional rules. But these proposals are based on a commitment to “walk together to the maximum possible degree” despite fundamental disagreement on the Bible’s teaching. This cannot lead to true communion.

Read it all.

"The Global Anglican Communion is not a new Communion, but the historic Anglican Communion reordered from within."

Read the full Abuja affirmation:https://t.co/ADJLXsLofx

— The Diocese of Western Anglicans (@westernanglican) March 6, 2026

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we develop new structures for the Global Anglican Communion, the Gafcon Primates have dissolved the Gafcon Primates Council, which has faithfully led and served the Gafcon movement since 2008.

In a world where most organizations and individuals are concerned about keeping power and authority, the Gafcon Primates Council has made an unprecedented decision to share its stewardship of the Global Anglican Communion by creating the Global Anglican Council which includes primates, advisors, and guarantors, which will include bishops, clergy, and lay members each with full voting privileges.

This expanded Council reflects the willingness of the Primates to share their authority with a wider group of global Anglican leaders, both lay and clergy. While the Chairman of the Council will be a Primate, he will not be primus inter pares (first amongst equals).

Believing that the current Instruments of Communion no longer meet the needs of the majority of Anglicans around the world, the Global Anglican Communion is to be led by a conciliar structure.

Read it all.

A council to lead the future. https://t.co/CPJDc5LRqv

— GAFCON (@gafconference) March 5, 2026

The future shape of the Global Anglican Communion is being debated this week in Abuja, Nigeria. At the GAFCON conference, more than 400 bishops and global leaders are working through the logic of the proposal that could lead to a new Global Anglican Communion — a fellowship grounded in the authority of Scripture and historic Anglican doctrine.

On Day 2 of the conference, Dominic Steele speaks with key leaders including Vaughan Roberts (Oxford), Julian Dobbs (ACNA), and Richard Condie (Tasmania), along with presenters from Uganda, Brazil and Nigeria.

They discuss: • The implications of the Church of England’s current trajectory • The logic behind a reordered global communion

• The mission opportunity for global Anglicans • What this could mean for churches in the UK, North America and Australia

Watch and listen to it all.

As bishops, clergy, and lay leaders processed into the sanctuary for the Opening Eucharist of G26 in Abuja, the congregation rose to sing Stand Up for Jesus. The hymn did not feel incidental. It set the tone for a gathering convened at a moment of decision for the Global Anglican Communion. The words echoed through the hall as both prayer and declaration, summoning the Church to renewed fidelity to the Lord who is confessed in the Scriptures, proclaimed in the creeds, and worshiped as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The 2026 Council differs from the regular GAFCON assemblies that have taken place at five-year intervals since 2008. This is a meeting of bishops and primates called to discern the future shape of the Global Anglican Communion in light of significant developments within the historic structures of Anglicanism, particularly following the appointment of a progressive Archbishop of Canterbury and the continued theological trajectory of the Church of England. Questions of identity, authority, and communion that have been discussed for years now require decisive articulation.

The Scripture readings framed the moment with clarity. From Joshua 24 came the familiar declaration, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The Epistle reading from 2 Corinthians 6 warned against being unequally yoked, while the Gospel from Matthew 6 reminded the congregation that one cannot serve both God and mammon. The coherence of these texts left little ambiguity. Allegiance lies at the heart of the Church’s present challenge.

Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, Primate of the Church of Nigeria, preached from the book of Joshua, highlighting the mercy of God in leading his people into the promised land and the necessity of faithfulness once there. 

Read it all.

Our opening report from Nigera, in case you're not on our newsletter! Excited to be here at @gafconference G26 and to see what will happen. Stay tuned! https://t.co/jeHEWJXSeC

— American Anglican (@AnglicanCouncil) March 4, 2026

The BBC article also implies that the GAFCON movement is reacting primarily to the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury. Anyone actually present in Abuja would know otherwise. This council was scheduled long before her appointment. On the second day of the gathering, GAFCON General Secretary, the Rt. Rev. Paul Donison, made the point plainly: the issue is not the archbishop’s gender, but the theological direction of the Church of England and other Western provinces that have departed from historic Anglican teaching.

If the BBC genuinely believes this moment is about the gender of the Archbishop of Canterbury, it suggests either a serious misunderstanding of the situation or a refusal to listen to what leaders here have repeatedly said.

The article also quotes Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of Church History at Oxford, who describes the gathering as “a set of leaders, all male, going to a conference in Africa to assert an identity which no longer satisfies many Anglican churches.” That claim raises an obvious question: which Anglican churches, exactly?

The reality is that many of the churches represented in Abuja, particularly in Africa, Asia, and the Global South, make up the overwhelming majority of the Anglican Communion’s membership. If anyone is speaking for “many Anglican churches,” it is the bishops gathered here. The recurring Western media portrayal of GAFCON as a fringe movement “coming to Africa” ignores a simple fact: it is in Africa because Africa is where the majority of Anglicans live.

The BBC also notes that GAFCON “says it speaks for the majority of the world’s Anglicans, although that is contested.” By whom, exactly? The demographic numbers are not difficult to examine. The provinces represented in GAFCON, many of which also belong to the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans, account for the clear majority of practicing Anglicans worldwide. Calling this movement “fringe” does not change that reality.

Professor MacCulloch further describes GAFCON’s actions as “very aggressive.” But in some Western circles, any refusal to conform to the theological innovations of Western church leadership is labeled “aggressive.” Those present in Abuja would struggle to recognize that description. The atmosphere here is marked far more by conviction and confidence than by hostility. The leaders gathered believe they are continuing the Anglican faith as they received it, ironically from the very Western churches now dismissing them.

Read it all.

The @BBCNews was reporting on @gafconference but unfortunately, one of the articles was less than accurate, to be charitable. The majority of the @AnglicanWorld is represented here whether they like that or not. https://t.co/DaYrR4qfe0

— American Anglican (@AnglicanCouncil) March 5, 2026

As bishops and church leaders gather in Abuja, Nigeria for the 2026 Gafcon Council, another conversation about the future of the Anglican Communion is unfolding at the same time. The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) announced that it will consider revised versions of the Nairobi–Cairo proposals later this year, structural reforms intended to rethink how the Communion is organized and how authority is exercised across its global fellowship of provinces.

The timing is striking. While Gafcon leaders meet to reaffirm their vision for Anglican unity and identity, the Communion’s official institutions are considering their own attempt to address the fractures that have defined Anglican life for nearly two decades. Whether these efforts represent parallel responses to the same crisis, or competing visions of Anglicanism’s future, remains an open question, but we suspect a purposeful step to undermine Gafcon’s G26 conference. We’ve seen this before in the Church of England, and that battle is moving onto the world stage.

At the first press briefing of the gathering in Abuja, the Rev. Canon Justin Murff, Communications Director for Gafcon, addressed a question that followed the movement since its founding in 2008: whether it represents a break from the Anglican Communion. “The goal is not to break apart the Communion,” Murff said. “This is a claim to continuum.” Murff emphasized that the movement continues to define itself through the Jerusalem Declaration, the theological statement adopted at the first Gafcon gathering in Jerusalem. Far from being merely a protest against developments in the Western churches, he said, the declaration was intended to articulate what unites Anglicans who believe the Communion must remain rooted in the authority of Scripture. “We will be reaffirming and upholding the Jerusalem Declaration,” Murff said. “It is not designed to show what we oppose but what unites Gafcon.”

For many within the movement, the declaration has increasingly functioned as a theological centre of gravity for Anglicans who believe the Communion has struggled to address doctrinal divisions that have widened in recent decades. “It has become a basis of communion across boundaries,” Murff said, noting that it provides theological grounding for cooperation, and, at times, cross-provincial oversight, among churches that share the same doctrinal commitments. Murff insisted that Gafcon does not see itself as creating a new church. Instead, he suggested that many within the movement believe they are preserving the historic faith of Anglicanism even as the Communion’s institutional structures struggle to respond to theological conflict. “We are the Anglican Communion,” he said, describing the movement as committed to “defending the faith as the Word of God has taught and commanded.”

Read it all.

While we wait for Gafcon to announce a new leader of the Global Anglican Communion, we take a look at the alternatives. https://t.co/T8P6kpxpLQ

— Anglican Futures (@AnglicanFutures) March 5, 2026

Choose this day whom to serve. (Joshua 24)

This is the clarion call of God to the people of the scriptures and of the power of the scriptures – and the power of God – to save through faith in Jesus Christ and to transform lives of individuals and of our society. And these invoke God’s judgment as we see in Romans chapter 1:18-32.

In the face of this, it was necessary that the primates of GAFCON needed to meet to prayerfully consider and coordinate their response. {Citing Article 19 of the 39 Articles of Religion, Of the Church} [The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance] in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same. As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch, have erred; so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of Ceremonies, but also in matters of Faith.

It was in response to this that the Martyrs’ Day statement of October 16 was issued affirming that that GAFCON had been saying, and actually praying, that there will be a turnaround from these leaders of the Anglican Communion and their instruments [The Lambeth Conference, the Primates Council, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Archbishop of Canterbury]. 

But having failed, and following the decisions and statements of GAFCON, we are declaring that the future has arrived. Amen. [Applause]

The church of God will continue to march on. Not built on institutions of Canterbury or on the personality of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Rather we are returning back, bringing back the word of God, the Holy Scriptures to be the center of our life, our teaching and our practices.

In the face of this, the giants of compromise and indeed the Babylonian spirit of this age [which] will hold the kingdoms and leadership of this world in bondage, holding them in immorality, idolatry, and wickedness. Even when they are prospering materially, they have turned away from the living God. This brothers and sisters is nothing but the rebellion of the people, especially the leadership against God and the authority of this world of the authority of his word. GAFCON in this gathering dares to stand for God and for his word as the sure foundation for orthodoxy of doctrine and of living.

The lordship of Jesus Christ over the church of God, which he has possessed with his precious blood, cannot be contested. His glory shall not be given to any idol. Obedience to the authority of the word of God in all matters of faith and doctrine and practice and living cannot be substituted.

What we see is the determination and the arrogance of the revisionist to impose their error on the whole church. They engage you in endless debates, dialogue, contentions and meetings while driving and spreading their erroneous teachings. 

Read it all.

https://t.co/JrQ0NkUq30

— George Conger (@GeorgeConger8) March 3, 2026

As bishops, clergy, and delegates processed into the sanctuary in Abuja for the Opening Eucharist of G26, the congregation rose to sing Stand Up for Jesus. The hymn was familiar to many, but in this setting it carried unusual weight. It felt less like routine liturgy and more like a declaration of intent. The Global Anglican Communion has arrived at a moment of decision, and the language of allegiance is no longer theoretical.

This 2026 gathering is not one of the regular five-year GAFCON assemblies. It is a council of bishops and primates convened to consider the future shape of global Anglicanism in light of recent developments within the Church of England and the wider Communion. Structures which have historically centered on the Archbishop of Canterbury. For years, questions of authority, doctrine, and communion have simmered beneath the surface of this global fellowship. With the appointment of Archbishop Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury, and with the continuing trajectory of Living in Love and Faith (LLF), those questions are now unavoidable. Though LLF has been re-badged, there are no real illusions that the CoE is ready to backtrack on their revisionist trajectory.

The Scripture readings framed the day with striking clarity. Joshua 24 recounted the faithfulness of God to Israel and Joshua’s decisive words, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The Epistle from 2 Corinthians warned against being unequally yoked, and the Gospel from Matthew 6 reminded the congregation that one cannot serve both God and mammon. Together, they set before the assembly a stark contrast between divided allegiance and covenant fidelity.

Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, Primate of the Church of Nigeria, preached from Joshua. He emphasized that the promised land was not an empty inheritance but territory already occupied by rival nations and rival loyalties. Israel’s task was not to blend with surrounding cultures but to remain faithful to the Lord who had redeemed them. Victory, he said, comes through trust in God and obedience to his Word.

Read it all.

Our first report from Abuja.
"For English Anglicans who remain committed to biblical orthodoxy, this is a bittersweet moment. It involves grief over what was lost and uncertainty about what lies ahead. Yet it also brings clarity."https://t.co/HCsEuFBDjx

G26 @gafconference

— Anglican Futures (@AnglicanFutures) March 4, 2026

About 100 US military personnel have arrived in Nigeria as Washington scales up an operation to target Islamist insurgents, a Nigerian defence spokesperson said.

US President Donald Trump has accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants in the northwest.

Nigeria denies discriminating against any religion, saying its security forces target armed groups that attack both Christians and Muslims.

Nigeria says 100 more U.S. military personnel arrive to tackle Islamists https://t.co/FWHI11SmzI https://t.co/FWHI11SmzI

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst kindle the flame of thy love in the heart of thy faithful martyr Manche Masemola; Grant unto us thy servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in her triumph may profit by her example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

4 Feb 1928, teenager Manche Masemola killed by parents in Transvaal, South Africa. She had refused to abandon Christianity, worshipping in Anglican Church at every opportunity. In 1998, she was one of 10 modern martyrs honoured with statue at @wabbey. Photo © CEphoto, Uwe Aranas pic.twitter.com/86nEXtfOJj

— Revd Nicholas Pye (@RevdPye) February 4, 2026

Last month, after escalating violence and systematic killings in el-Fasher, the bishops met together to pray. On 29 October, they issued an urgent appeal for peace in Sudan, calling for all parties to ‘immediately cease hostilities’ and imploring the international community to respond.

The bishops’ October statement depicted the Sudanese people as facing a ‘grave situation’ and drew attention to ‘the ongoing conflict in Sudan and its devastating impact on the security, social and economic conditions’ which greatly affects ‘the lives of citizens.’

Archbishop Ezekiel explains to Anglican News that October’s appeal was all about ‘Urging groups to silence the guns, to stop the war and to speak peace. This is important. Because people are dying. People are hungry.’

Since that statement was made, Archbishop Ezekiel relays,  ‘There is nothing yet changed, but we have hope… We thank God that the Quad group is working very hard to bring the groups together, to ‘stop the war,’ and ‘bring peace’.

Read it all.

Sudan is facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. In October, the bishops of the Episcopal Church of Sudan issued an Appeal for Peace. This November, the Archbishop of Sudan, the Most Revd Ezekiel Kumir Kondo, has been in the UK to raise awareness for Sudan’s plight. To… pic.twitter.com/ZNASOcTqAs

— Anglican Communion News Service (@AnglicanNews) November 18, 2025

Precious in thy sight, O Lord, is the death of thy saints, whose faithful witness, by thy providence, hath its great reward: We give thee thanks for thy martyrs James Hannington and his companions, who purchased with their blood a road unto Uganda for the proclamation of the Gospel; and we pray that with them we also may obtain the crown of righteousness which is laid up for all who love the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

29 Oct 1885, James Hannington, @cmsmission missionary & first Anglican bishop of East Africa, speared to death in Uganda. Born Hurstpierpoint. Studied @OrielOxford, 1874 ordained. 1882-3 in E Africa but left due to illness, returned 1885. 'Blood of the martyrs is seed of church'. pic.twitter.com/yAX0ffvsoo

— Revd Nicholas Pye (@RevdPye) October 29, 2025

A letter of legal claim has been sent to St Andrew the Great, Cambridge (formerly the Round Church), on behalf of seven Zimbabwean victims of John Smyth. It alleges that senior clergy and church officers “orchestrated a cover-up that enabled Smyth to continue abusing boys for decades”.

The letter, sent by Leigh Day Solicitors, argues that the failure to report Smyth’s abuse in the UK between 1982 and 1984 “directly led to his relocation to Zimbabwe, where he continued to prey on vulnerable boys”.

The claimants are six men who say that they were abused as teenagers at Christian holiday camps run by Smyth in Zimbabwe, and the mother of Guide Nyachuru, a 16-year-old boy whose body was found in a swimming pool at one of Smyth’s camps in 1992. The abuse included forced nudity, beatings with table tennis and jokari bats, indecent exposure, groping, and intrusive conversations about masturbation.

Smyth, described in a review by Keith Makin last year as “arguably, the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England” (News, 8 November 2024), moved to Zimbabwe in August 1984 and began to run holiday camps in the country. The move followed the completion in 1982 of a report by the Revd Mark Ruston, then Vicar of the Round Church, commissioned after a British Smyth victim grew so fearful of beatings that he tried to take his own life.

Read it all.

Letter alleges that senior clergy and church officers ‘orchestrated a cover-up that enabled Smyth to continue abusing boys for decades’ https://t.co/yqWhzbyyjl

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 7, 2025

I will take comments on this submitted by email only to KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.

Herewith one story–Anglicans Gather to Honor Bishops Allison and Null

Anglicans from across the globe gathered together on September 15 at Prince George Winyah in Georgetown to honor the ministry of Bishop Fitz Allison. His ministry included teaching Ashley Null about justification by faith and ordaining him to the priesthood. During the service, Bishop Allison prayed for Ashley’s new ministry as the bishop of the Diocese of North Africa. Bishop Null’s episcopal ordination was held on May 11 at St. George—an historic Anglican church in Tunis just a few miles from ancient Carthage and St. Cyprian’s original cathedral. As the Anglican successor to St. Augustine, Bishop Null intends to continue the robust legacy of Reformation Anglicanism which Bishop Allison has championed for decades. Please join all who gathered at Prince George Winyah (PGW) in praying for the difficult ministry in North Africa and for the continued biblical focus of Bishop Allison and Bishop Null’s ministries. To God be the glory.

Read it all.

'Anglicans from across the globe gathered together on September 15 at Prince George Winyah in Georgetown to honor the ministry of Bishop Fitz Allison. His ministry included teaching Ashley Null about justification by faith and ordaining him to the priesthood. During the service,… pic.twitter.com/5YdkT8K6r9

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) October 1, 2025

Almighty God, who didst give to thy servant Cyprian boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of the same our Lord Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Saint Cyprian, pray to God for us! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/zeSdI8B7zG

— Basilica.ro (EN) (@BasilicaNews) September 13, 2023

International observers are reporting that ISIS-aligned soldiers are beheading Christians and burning churches and homes in central and southern Africa – with some of the most brutal attacks happening in the nation of Mozambique.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) – a counter-terrorism research nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. – is sounding that alarm about what it describes as a “silent genocide” taking place against Christians.  

The Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP) recently released 20 photos boasting of four attacks on “Christian villages” in the Chiure district, in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province, according to MEMRI. 

Read it all.

ISIS soldiers behead Christians in Mozambique, burning church and homes: 'Silent genocide' https://t.co/baKLyYMI65

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 7, 2025

More than two two years after it began in April 2023, the war in Sudan shows no sign of ending, with deadly consequences for the people of Africa’s third-largest country. On August 5th the World Food Programme (WFP), a UN agency, said that residents of el-Fasher, in the western region of Darfur, faced starvation. It was a grim sign of the humanitarian toll of the war at a time when the locus of the conflict is shifting westwards, raising the prospect of a permanently fractured state.

El-Fasher, the capital of north Darfur, is the last major city in the region under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), one of the two main belligerents. The other, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has besieged the city since April 2024 to secure its Darfuri stronghold. Some residents have been able to flee the city and the Zamzam refugee camp on its outskirts, but a common destination, the nearby town of Tawila, is crammed and in the midst of a cholera outbreak. Since the RSF was ousted from Khartoum, the capital, in March, it has tightened the noose around el-Fasher.

That has made it harder for food to get in—and for people to get out. Aid agencies report that food prices are five times higher than in the rest of the country. Often food is unavailable, rendering redundant the mobile-money payments and community kitchens that have so far averted starvation. Local journalists report that many of the 300,000 remaining residents are turning to animal feed. The WFP says it has lorries ready to enter el-Fasher, but the RSF is blocking access.

Read it all.

Outsiders claim to want to stop the war in Sudan, which has displaced 13m people and caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Sadly, that notion seems as remote a possibility as ever https://t.co/c21lFgtUyl

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) August 7, 2025

Almighty God, who didst raise up thy servant Samuel Ferguson and inspire in him a missionary vision of thy Church in education and ministry: Stir up in us through his example a zeal for a Church, alive with thy Holy Word, reaching forth in love and service to all; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Samuel David Ferguson (1842-1916), Missionary Bishop for West Africa (Liberia) and the first African-American member of the Episcopal House of Bishops pic.twitter.com/pF8qSCQkfF

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) August 2, 2024

Thousands of feet above the Great Rift Valley that runs through East Africa, the small city of Iten, Kenya, calls itself the Home of Champions. It has long produced and attracted world-class running talent, its high altitude and red dirt roads a training ground for thousands.

The town also has a far less laudatory reputation. It is a well-documented center of a doping crisis that shows little sign of being tamed.

Runners come here for access to competition, coaching talent and the benefit of training in thin air, all to try to earn riches from running. Many Kenyans who try to join the elite endure cramped and dirty living conditions, little food and separation from their families in service of their ambitions.

In a region where the average annual income is the equivalent of little more than $2,000 and the competition so intense, the potentially life-changing lure of banned substances, referred to locally as “the medicine,” is obvious. A few thousand dollars in prize money or participation in a single overseas race can be the difference between runners and their families eating three meals a day and scratching around for the next bite.

Read it all.

Officials acknowledge that Kenya has a doping problem, but many athletes who are seeking an edge also want a way out of poverty. https://t.co/oOC3T6Ir7y

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) July 29, 2025

At China Mall , a vast supermarket in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, Rose Ahurra picks up a small turquoise squirrel. The toy flashes as she puts it in a trolley laden with towels, clothes, containers and an air fryer. The purchases indicate her place in the Ugandan middle class, which has flocked to China Mall since it opened earlier this year. “The prices are fair and I no longer have to go to lots of individual shops,” she explains.

But the floors of mostly Chinese goods also hint at an imbalance that worries African policymakers. Total trade between China and Africa was worth $296bn in 2024. Yet the value of what China exported west ($179bn) was much higher than what Africa sent east ($117bn). This year, partly as a result of the state support China is giving to its factories to boost the domestic economy, Chinese exports to the continent are on track to be 12% higher. African countries have long asked Beijing to make it easier to trade the other way, too. Many will have welcomed China’s announcement on June 12th that it will grant duty-free access to products from every African country except Eswatini, a tiny kingdom that recognises Taiwan.

The immediate impact may be minimal. But the policy could integrate African economies more deeply into Chinese-centred supply chains as the global economy is fragmenting. Geopolitically, China’s move is as subtle as a flashing turquoise squirrel. After 25 years America is set to end its own duty-free deal with Africa when the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) expires on September 30th. It is imposing tariffs willy-nilly, slashing aid and banning African migrants. For its biggest competitor, that is an opportunity.

Read it all.

China is presenting itself to Africa as a benevolent trading partner, different from Donald Trump’s America. This is ironic, in a topsy-turvy way https://t.co/u5yd9rYewF

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) June 24, 2025

At a market in Tougbo, a small town in northern Ivory Coast, the smell of dried fish and fried dough filled the air. Children ran around the bustling stalls where women sold the corn and cassava they had carried on their heads for miles in the countryside. Muslim elders watched the crowds on the sandy main street, while Christian worshipers poured out of church after Sunday mass.

Yet the bustle belied an insidious threat.

About half of terrorism deaths worldwide in 2023 were recorded in the Sahel, the arid region in West Africa known for its seminomadic tribes and ancient trade routes. Emboldened by their success in the landlocked nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, insurgents affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State are moving south toward the Atlantic and into coastal nations such as Ivory Coast.

Read it all (the headline posted here is from the print edition).

New story out this week based on a 500 mile trip last fall along the border between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso to document how the Al Qaeda-affiliated JNIM is moving south from the Sahel towards coastal countries. pic.twitter.com/bfskZC5ewO

— Elian Peltier (@ElianPeltier) June 17, 2025

At least 200 displaced people believed to be Christians were killed in Nigeria’s troubled Middle Belt last week. The premeditated attack on Friday night was described by a senior Anglican cleric as the work of “a well-trained, well-equipped and well-funded” Fulani Islamist militia group.

The Ven. Dr Hassan John, Director of Research for the Church of Nigeria, said that attackers approached three villages in Benue state, including Yelwata, which they surrounded before opening fire. “Those that tried to flee were either shot or cut down with machetes,” he said. He explained that the initial death toll of more than 100 rose as more bodies were discovered and others, who had been gravely injured, died later.

Dr John told the Church Times that the violence in central states such as Benue should not be understood as a “fight for scarce grazing land” by Fulani Muslim herders driven south by climate change, as it is sometimes termed by some foreign media and governments. “The perpetrators and their sponsors are known and their agenda, under the guise of fighting over grazing land, has been to strategically wipe out villages, particularly Christian villages, leaving out Muslims in the villages, even if they reside side by side with Christians,” he said.

Read it all.

At least 200 displaced people believed to be Christians were killed in Nigeria’s troubled Middle Belt last week https://t.co/FoqcsReaho

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 19, 2025

In cities, both big and small, across large swaths of Europe and North America, it is becoming common to see groups of Africans engaging with the Christian faith.  

As African migration — driven largely by economic hardship and the search for better opportunities — continues to grow, churches are becoming more than just places of worship.

Churches have evolved into spiritual lifelines and vital community hubs that help preserve cultural identity, reinforce moral values and provide a sense of belonging far from home. In addition to preserving the African way of worship, these churches have also made Christianity vibrant across large parts of North America and Europe, where faith has lost much of its cultural and societal importance.

African Christians are increasingly occupying a prominent place within the multicultural religious and social landscape of these communities. In the past four years, Nigeria and Zimbabwe have topped the list of African countries with the highest numbers of immigrants to the United Kingdom. Alongside this trend, there has been a notable surge in African churches across the U.K. and Europe.

This dynamic has taken on many forms. For instance, services in these African-dominant churches are characterized by energetic singing, dancing and lengthy preaching. The doctrine is typically rooted in Pentecostal or evangelical traditions, with emphasis on divine intervention, prosperity, healing and spiritual warfare. Many incorporate African music styles into worship.

Read it all.

As African migration to Europe and North America — driven largely by economic hardship and the search for better opportunities — continues to grow, churches are becoming more than just places of worship. https://t.co/UBBL4RYqSB

— Religion Unplugged (@ReligionMag) June 11, 2025

O God, by whose providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: Grant that we who remember before thee the blessed martyrs of Uganda, may, like them, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to whom they gave obedience even unto death, and by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Uganda Martyrs day Commemoration is a relation of;
– A Celebration of Faith
– A Call to Unity
– A Reflection on Values
President Yoweri Museveni and the first lady mama Janet have graced the Anglican Martyrs Celebrations in Namugongo. Leaders are indeed God Chosen. pic.twitter.com/4hjakrEZc1

— Kemigisha Zoey (@kemigishazoey2) June 3, 2025

Bp Robert Innes writes–‘The consecration brought together bishops, clergy and lay people from many different countries, as well as local Roman Catholic and representatives. On the right of the photo is Bishop Antony Ball, Ashley’s predecessor, who is now the Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome. North Africa is a neighbouring diocese to Europe – it is only 125 miles from Tunis to the coast of Sicily – so I was pleased to be able to support their ministry personally as well as on behalf of the Anglican Communion.

Bishop Ashley Null is a serious scholar who retains an academic post in Berlin, and is a world leading authority on Thomas Cranmer. He had designed the liturgy to reflect Cranmer’s theological insights. Dressed in a Canterbury cap (one needs a hat in the North African sun), Bishop Ashley could quite easily have been mistaken for a reincarnation of Cranmer himself. 

The consecration was the centre-piece of a celebratory weekend in Tunis, that included concerts and visits to the ancient sites. Of course, as Archbishop Samy reminded us in his sermon, Christian ministry in the Islamic context of North Africa is hard, and the consecration is really just the honeymoon ahead of likely sacrifice and possible suffering.’

Read it all.

Congratulations to the Rt. Rev. Dr. Ashley Null: the new Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of North Africa! pic.twitter.com/Xlxz0IsYie

— Richard Tarsitano ⚓️ (@GodRemembrancer) May 13, 2025

The  Sudan conflict, which began two years ago on Tuesday, is “the world’s most severe humanitarian and displacement crisis”, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) has said.

The fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support forces (RSF) has spread across most of the country (News, 21 April 2023).

About 150,000 people are estimated to have died during the conflict, the BBC reports. CAFOD reports that ten million people have been internally displaced, and more than three million have fled into neighbouring countries.

The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, is hosting ministers from donor countries and the wider region at a conference in London, on Tuesday, to encourage a ceasefire and the protection of civilians.

Read it all.

Get Sudan peace talks up started, international conference is urged https://t.co/DhDh0X4yar

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) April 15, 2025

“She left no last words. She was dead when she was carried away,” says Hafiza quietly, as she describes how her mother was killed in a city under siege in Darfur, during Sudan’s civil war, which began exactly two years ago.

The 21-year-old recorded how her family’s life was turned upside down by her mother’s death, on one of several phones the BBC World Service managed to get to people trapped in the crossfire in el-Fasher.

Under constant bombardment, el-Fasher has been largely cut off from the outside world for a year, making it impossible for journalists to enter the city. For safety reasons, we are only using the first names of people who wanted to film their lives and share their stories on the BBC phones.

Hafiza describes how she suddenly found herself responsible for her five-year-old brother and two teenage sisters.

Read it all.

Today marks 2 years since the start of the war in Sudan. Colleagues at @bbcworldservice smuggled phones into the besieged city of el-Fasher in North Darfur to get 1st hand accounts from the residents there. Reporting by @HebaBitarhttps://t.co/ozyYtYQOof

— Mayeni Jones (@MayeniJones) April 15, 2025