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

In his first interview after being elected chair of the new Global Anglican Council, Archbishop of Rwanda Laurent Mbanda has outlined how leadership will work in the emerging Global Anglican Communion The GAFCON Primates have dissolved the GAFCON Primates Council — the body that has guided the movement since 2008 — and in its place established a new Global Anglican Council to help lead what is the emerging Global Anglican Communion. The primates have chosen to broaden authority. The new council will include primates alongside bishops, clergy, and lay leaders, all with full voting privileges. The structure signals a shift toward a more conciliar model of leadership, reflecting the conviction that the existing Instruments of Communion no longer adequately serve the majority of Anglicans worldwide.Rwandan Primate, Archbishop Laurent Mbunda has been elected to chair the Council, until the Athens Conference in 2028. In this Pastor’s Heart special from Abuja, Dominic Steele speaks with:

• the newly elected chairman of the Global Anglican Council, Rwanda’s Archbishop Laurent Mbanda,
• Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel,
• Former Archbishop of North America and Former Chair of Gafcon, Bishop Foley Beach,
• John Dunnett from the Church of England Evangelical Council.

Mbunda, Raffel and Beach discuss the reasoning behind the new structures, what they mean for Anglican leadership globally, and how this moment emerged from nearly two decades of GAFCON’s development. We expore why the Primates have chosen to share authority more widely, how the new council will function, and what the leaders involved hope it will mean for the future of Anglican mission, doctrine, and fellowship across the world. Plus Tim Swan on the launch of the New Global Anglican Communion Fund, Anglican AID CEO Tim Swan.

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

The Rt. Rev. Julian Dobbs, acting archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, has sued the Rt. Rev. Derek Jones, former head of the denomination’s chaplaincy jurisdiction, in federal court for defamation.

Bishop Dobbs’ lawsuit was filed on February 17 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama and claims that Bishop Jones repeatedly made false public statements about Dobbs’ previous handling of two financial matters.

Jones and his independent chaplaincy jurisdiction, which announced its departure from the ACNA last September, allegedly “knew or recklessly ignored” that investigations into the two matters had found no wrongdoing by Dobbs, but made the statements anyway, according to the filing.

“Defendants have made these false assertions repeatedly in the public record … in an all-out campaign to make the community, especially the Anglican faithful in North America and abroad, view Bishop Dobbs and other leaders within the ACNA (and, of course, by extension the ACNA) with disdain and disassociate from them,” the filing said.

Read it all.

New for @Livng_Church: Acting ACNA primate Dobbs sues former chaplaincy bishop Derek Jones for defamation, accusing him of making repeated false statements about Dobbs' handling of two financial matters. https://t.co/ZgxWlO73eE

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) 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

The Bishop of Lichfield, Dr Michael Ipgrave, is to retire in September, he announced in Lichfield Cathedral on Monday, during the St Chad’s Day festal evensong. His announcement was exactly ten years since his nomination.

Dr Ipgrave referred to St Chad as a “constant inspiration” during his episcopate in Lichfield. The 99th Bishop of Lichfield, Dr Ipgrave said that he had been “humbled to be amongst one of the successors of St Chad, our first and greatest Bishop”.

He continued: “Chad was the first to bring to Mercia the life-giving, peacemaking, soul-restoring gospel of Jesus Christ. As we face the challenge of re-evangelising our contemporary Mercia, I am convinced that we can only do that by walking in his steps of kindness, friendliness, and humility in the service of others.”

Read it all.

The Bishop of Lichfield, Dr Michael Ipgrave, is to retire in September, he announced in Lichfield Cathedral on Monday, during the St Chad’s Day festal evensong#bishopsretirement #churchnews #churchtimes https://t.co/oP8mOoslXD

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) March 3, 2026

Professor Helen King has put forward a private members motion for debate at the Church of England’s General Synod that runs as follows:

‘That this Synod affirm that there are no fundamental objections to being in a committed, faithful, intimate same-sex relationship, and that such a relationship can be entirely compatible with Christian discipleship.’[1]

The Church of England website states that this motion had 161 signatures on 18 February, which is the second largest number of signatures of the four motions listed, and if the number of signatures continues to increase there is the possibility that it could be selected for debate at the General Synod in July.

The language of King’s motion deliberately echoes the language of the motion passed by General Synod in 1975 ‘That this Synod considers that there are no fundamental objections to the ordination of women to the priesthood.’ This motion paved the way to General Synod passing legislation allowing women to be ordained as deacons in 1986, as priests in 1992 and as bishops in 2014. The purpose of King’s motion is an attempt to pave the way in similar fashion for those in same-sex relationships to be allowed to be ordained in the Church of England.

The motion would not in itself make such ordination lawful, but it would provide the basis on which a measure to allow those in same-sex relationships to be ordained could then be brought forward for debate. The argument would go that because General Synod had voted for King’s motion it had established the principle that ‘such a relationship can be entirely compatible with Christian discipleship’ and this would in turn mean that it was entirely compatible with the exercise of ordained ministry.

This being the nature of King’s motion, the question that arises is whether it would be right for members of Synod to vote for it should it be put forward for debate in July. In the remainer of this post I shall set out the two reasons why I think members of Synod should not vote for it.

Read it all.

I have just published a new blog post 'Why faithful Christians should reject Helen King's private member's motion.'https://t.co/bXjhSyRYsT

— Martin Davie (@MartinBDavie) March 2, 2026

Almighty God, who didst call thy servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of thy mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the gospel of Christ, we may with him receive the crown of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever (moved from yesterday).

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus! Happy St David's Day!

The patron saint of Wales/Cymru, you can find depictions of him throughout Wales – like this window from St David's Church in Blaenporth, Ceredigion.

📸 1 © Llywelyn2000 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
📸 2 © Bill Nicholls (CC BY-SA 2.0) pic.twitter.com/PoO7ChzV01

— National Churches Trust (@NatChurchTrust) March 1, 2026

Mr Simpson also addressed the issue of falling church numbers.

He admitted the church had been declining in England and the western world for about a century, but added: “Some people think that means the church is irrelevant, and I disagree completely.

“Wherever churches are running activities that help people with problems in their lives, or in spaces where they feel welcomed and they feel seen and heard, that is a great thing.

“Often churches find it hard to know how to actually represent the Christian message in ways that are accessible to people in a very different world. But wherever they do that well, what I see is that people find faith is deeply relevant to their practical needs.

“But I also think there is an increasing spiritual hunger in people as England and much the western world has left faith behind. There is a gap, and actually, the Christian message speaks to that directly.

Read it all.

It was a pleasure to welcome the Venerable Rick Simpson and pray with and for him for all that lies ahead.

You can read more on yesterday's Choral Evensong here: https://t.co/VbbhEiXjVJ pic.twitter.com/uhOwNvbGGN

— Durham Cathedral (@durhamcathedral) February 20, 2026

A sermon is not “an op-ed for a newspaper”, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams has said. “You are not just there to comment on current affairs, and I am always rather wary when I hear a sermon which is dominated by what’s in the media to the extent that you are not quite sure whether anything more than a general moral perspective is coming out of it.”

He offered the comments in a new podcast, Preaching Well, launched by the Bishop of Loughborough, the Rt Revd Saju Muthalaly, who said that he had created it because “the Church urgently needs voices who can speak God’s truth with clarity, mercy, and conviction.” He hoped that it would “build confidence in preachers and encourage those who long to proclaim the gospel in ways that stir hope, deepen faith, and lead us towards Jesus Christ”.

Lord Williams is the first guest in the new series. Sermons should help the congregation to “look more clearly at the nature of the God that has addressed us”, he said. “Then bits of the contemporary jigsaw begin to fall into place a bit more. . . If that’s the kind of God we believe in, then there are some reactions and engagements with the world around us that will make sense and some that won’t.”

A sermon “prompts people, encourages people, to a certain level of self-awareness”, he said, “so that somebody might go out from listening to sermon and be able to say not just ‘I have never thought of that,’ but ‘I have never seen that in myself.’”

Read it all.

A sermon is not “an op-ed for a newspaper”, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams has said. He offered the comments in a new podcast, Preaching Well, launched by the Bishop of Loughborough, the Rt Revd Saju Muthalaly 🎧#Sermon #RowanWilliams https://t.co/8RKZylcfyb

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 26, 2026

The episcopal synod of the Church of the Province of Central Africa has ratified the provincial synod’s vote last year in Malawi to divide the province into three national churches. 

The primate, the Most Rev. Albert Chama on 20 Feb 2026 said all of the bishops from the province’s 15 dioceses met at the Bishops Mount Centre in Harare and agreed to form national churches for Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. The diocese of Botswana would enter the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, he said.

“Now, this is happening not out of selfishness,” Archbishop Chama said, noting, “we’ve been together since 1955, when our province was inaugurated.”

“We’ve had a lot of good things that we’ve done together. Fellowship, going across nations and across borders, just to fellowship and strengthen the Church and strengthen one another. That has been very, very good.”

Read it all.

Today, in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray for The Church of the Province of Central Africa and the Most Revd Albert Chama, the Archbishop of Central Africa and Bishop of Lusaka.

Let us pray for:

🙏 Mission and evangelism — for renewed witness, faithful discipleship and… pic.twitter.com/X3mqtVMm95

— Anglican Communion (@AnglicanWorld) January 4, 2026

Now in similar manner, the Church of England Canon law on Marriage is cast as ‘unjust’ by an appeal to subjective feelings and desires. This is the basic thrust of Thompson’s argument which calls for acceptance of same-sex civil marriage.

Anglican divine Richard Hooker stated unequivocally that human authority in the sphere of law was totally subject to the moral law of scripture.  “Laws human are of force so far forth as they are agreeable to the law of God.”[x]Biblical law must always inform issues of justice, and the 39 Articles of Religion asserts this principle, “… it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything that is contrary to God’s Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another.”[xi]

Christ definitely does not embody a law based on democratic human decisions which is in total opposition to God’s holy law. The people’s voice cannot take the place of God’s voice. After all, the people’s voice all too quickly turns into a baying for blood – as in, “Crucify him”^[xii].

Christ as the second Adam[xiii] points us back to the Creator’s original intention for human beings, as described in Genesis. His purpose for human sexuality – to bond a man and a woman in lifelong marriage so that children may be brought up in the knowledge and fear of the Lord[xiv]. Certainly, without knowing the purpose of humanity, we cannot know what justice is.

Read it all.

Is the penny dropping? Is clergy same-sex marriage a step too far for the CofE?https://t.co/81lNU3o0A5

— Anglican Futures (@AnglicanFutures) January 24, 2025

The Archbishop of Canterbury has suspended the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, from ministry, while a complaint to the National Safeguarding Team is investigated, it was announced on Friday.

A statement on the diocese of Lincoln’s website said that the complaint had also been referred “to the appropriate statutory authorities”.

Bishop Conway has been Bishop of Lincoln since 2023 (News, 24 May 2023). For more than a year beforehand, he was Acting Bishop of the diocese, in addition to being Bishop of Ely.

His suspension by the Archbishop of Canterbury follows the House of Bishops’ Code of Practice. The Suffragan Bishop of Grantham, in Lincoln diocese, Dr Nicholas Chamberlain, will be performing the function of the diocesan Bishop in Bishop Conway’s absence.

Read it all.

The Bishop of Lincoln has been suspended pending investigation; Dr Nicholas Chamberlain will serve as Acting Bishop. #LincolnDiocese https://t.co/qNlWmLqumE

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 20, 2026

—The Church of the Holy Trinity, Grahamville and their clergy, the Rev. Dr. James Gibson.

—St. Matthias’ Church, Summerton and their clergy, the Very Rev. Denman Isgett.

Join us this Sunday, May 22, as we, in The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, pray for the work & ministry of St. James, Goose Creek & Holy Trinity, Grahamville & their clergy: The Rev. James Gibson, Vicar. Full prayer calendar: https://t.co/JHew5ZdquG #PrayForChurches #ADOSC pic.twitter.com/Cy1qOqwmn2

— Anglican Diocese of SC (@anglican_sc) May 20, 2022

There were eight amendments tabled, ensuring that the debate would last the whole five hours. Many of them were predictable—from revisionists wanting to amplify the apology, and delete the idea that LLF is over, and some from orthodox wanting to amend or delete the possibility of continuing discussion.

There were two exceptions to that, though, the first from Christopher Landau simply recognising that the ‘LGBTQI+ people’ were actually a diverse lot with different views. This is, of course, anathema to revisionists, who repeatedly talked as though all such people were a monolith who agreed with them—despite the number of gay women and men in the chamber who were orthodox and gave very clear speeches to that effect (I include several below).

The other was a cross-party proposal from Lis Goddard, agreed with Helen King, aiming to bring the fruitful learning of the ‘Leicester’ discussion groups into the proposed working groups. No sooner had Lis proposed this, than Helen King misused a point of order to deny her support for it! It was a clear sign that even the minimum of collaboration is not politically expedient for revisionists.

But we had been told ahead of time that that House of Bishops, having painfully thrashed this motion out as the only way forward for them, would resist every amendment—and the procedure of calling for a ‘vote by Houses’ meant that they effectively had a veto, and used it fairly consistently. I did wonder whether some of the revisionist bishops would break ranks, and perhaps vote for one of the revisionist amendments, but a maximum of six out of the 38 or so present did so.

It was clear that the revisionists really did not want to vote for the unamended motion, because it said clearly that LLF had ended. But if they voted it down, they would also be voted down clause (d) offering a chink of light of continued discussion, so they held their noses and voted ‘for’. Orthodox felt similarly ambivalent for the opposite reasons, and in the end some voted for (drawing a line under LLF) and others voted against (because we don’t want further damaging discussion).

Read it all.

Campaigners with contrasting views of Living in Love and Faith (#LLF) have responded to the General Synod’s decision on the process after last week’s five-hour debate on a motion from the Archbishop of York.

Read more below 👇 #GeneralSynod #churchnewshttps://t.co/wdaGVd4zjI

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 16, 2026

The next Bishop of Durham is to be the Ven. Rick Simpson, currently Archdeacon of Auckland, Downing Street announced on Thursday morning.

He succeeds the Rt Revd Paul Butler, who retired in February 2024 (News, 21 July 2023), and takes the reins from the Acting Bishop, the Rt Revd Sarah Clark, Bishop of Jarrow, who was appointed Bishop of Ely last month (News, 30 January).

The news comes almost exactly a year after the announcement that a previous nominee had withdrawn from the process (News, 17 February 2025).

Archdeacon Simpson was educated at Keble College, Oxford, and trained for ordination at Wycliffe Hall. He served his title at St Gabriel’s, Heaton, in Newcastle upon Tyne, from 1993-97, and was Priest-in-Charge of Holy Trinity, Jesmond, and St Barnabas and St Jude, Newcastle on Tyne, for nine years, until 2006.

Read it all.

He has served in the dioceses of Newcastle and Durham https://t.co/zh6RtGzmjN

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 19, 2026

Asked whether enough has been done to build a sense of pride in nation since Brexit, Bishop North said: “No, I think I see almost the same division now.

“I see it lived out and played out in different ways. But I still see many people who feel embarrassed to speak about pride in nationhood, pride in the Royal Family and in the Armed Forces, as if that is somehow a language of the past.”

He added: “So I think we still have a really important national conversation about what it means to be British in such a complex global backdrop.” Bishop North urged leaders in the Church and in Westminster to do their bit to restore national pride as he called for Britons to have the courage to “reclaim” national symbols.

He urged people not to be ashamed of “some of the traditions around Britishness and Englishness, and for that not to be a source of embarrassment anymore.”

Read it all.

📄 Bishop of Blackburn defends Leave votershttps://t.co/KSLLqgMEIE @AJNewbury94 pic.twitter.com/OSbDGXWSMx

— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) February 19, 2026

‘There are three ideas currently supported by those in the Church of England who take a liberal approach to marriage and sexual activity (including members of the House of Bishops) and which are being pushed as part of the Prayers of Love and Faith process that cannot rightly be seen as a development of the Church of England’s doctrine…

The first idea is that it would be right to bless same-sex couples who are in a sexually active relationship either in normal church services or in special ‘standalone’ or ‘bespoke’ services.

The reason that this would not be a development of doctrine is that the doctrine of the Church of England, as we have seen, is that all forms of sexual activity outside heterosexual marriage are forms of the sin of fornication which all Christians are called to avoid committing (and for which those Christians who have committed it are called to repent, confess and receive absolution as they would with all other forms of sin). It is not an explanation of the Church’s doctrine on this matter to say that those who continue to be in a relationship involving the sin of fornication should be able to have this relationship blessed by the Church. Rather, saying this would contradict the Church’s doctrine in one of two ways. It would involve saying either (a) that fornication is not a sin or (b) that sin does not need to be met with a call to repentance, confession, absolution and amendment of life but can instead be the object of prayers of blessing.

The second idea is that those who are in same-sex sexual relationships should be admitted to, or allowed to continue to exercise, ordained ministry.

The reason that this would not be a development of doctrine is that the Church of England’s doctrine, as set out in the 1662 Ordinal is that it is an integral part of the calling of those who are ordained to be: ‘diligent to frame and fashion your own selves, and your families, according to the doctrine of Christ; and to make both yourselves and them, as much as in you lieth, wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ.’  It is not an explanation of the Church’s doctrine to say that being in a same-sex sexual relationship is compatible with providing a wholesome example and pattern to the flock of Christ. As in the previous example, it would instead contradict the Church’s doctrine by in this case suggesting either (a) that being in a same-sex sexual relationship is in accordance with ‘the doctrine of Christ’ or (b) that the requirements for ministerial conduct set out in the Ordinal no longer matter.

The third idea is that the Church of England should accept that marriage can rightly be between two people of the same sex as well as two people of the opposite sex. This again would not be an explanation of the Church ‘s doctrine, but rather a contradiction of it. One cannot say both that ‘The Church of England affirms, according to our Lord’s teaching, that marriage is in its nature a union permanent and life-long, for better or worse, till death do them on the part of one man and one woman’ and also say that a relationship between two people of the same-sex is a marriage. The only way one can consistently say that a relationship between two-people of the same-sex is a marriage is if one has a different understanding of the nature of marriage. The idea that a doctrine of marriage that teaches that marriage is between two people of the opposite sex could be ‘spacious’ enough (as the bishops put it) to include same-sex relationships simply does not make sense.

What all this means is that the development of doctrine, rightly understood, rules out rather than permits these innovations which liberals wish to introduce, and which members of the House of Bishops are proposing.

Read it all.

How can we know what God is like and what his will is for our lives? Dr. Martin Davie, author and Anglican theologian, will explain how a careful reading of one of the Thirty-Nine Articles can provide us with answers. Register for this free event at https://t.co/2GO6OL0uPr. pic.twitter.com/Q5GTHbbswA

— Trinity Anglican Seminary (@TASeminary) September 6, 2024

…whilst it seems happy to be contending with issues of process, and to devote endless air-time to questions of same-sex marriage and minor issues from special interest groups – for example, a crusade for sustainable flower arranging – there is hardly any intellectual energy or attention devoted to debating the fundamental questions of why it seems so difficult to engage the nation with the Christian message, and what the Church should do in response.

If the Church were serious about dealing with the decline in numbers, it would be straining every sinew to reacquaint the nation with the fundamentals of the Christian story and scripture. It would be attempting to re-propagate an inherited culture of hymns and music, choirs, liturgy, poetry and literature which brought the faith to life, and into people’s lives. It would be working boldly to call for the Bible and Christian culture to be a more prominent part of school education and public life, and to remind people of the central importance of this culture.

In the absence of this, people will simply not have the knowledge of Christianity that will allow them to come to faith, even if they have the urge to do it. When Christ and the disciples preached in Galilee and Jerusalem, they were preaching to a people who, although poor, knew scripture and the idea that a Messiah had been promised.

As it is, the Church simply isn’t doing enough. It is underpowered in spreading public knowledge of the faith.

Read it all.

Yes — the CofE must pour its main resources into parishes and into theological education at every level. Otherwise the Gen Z revival (which is certainly real, significantly, amongst youth of high ability and likely influence) could readily lapse without support. @SaveTheParish https://t.co/DNRUJZ3CRF

— john milbank (@johnmilbank3) February 16, 2026

O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give thee thanks for thy faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give thee thanks for thy faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today, February 17, 2026, marks 49 years since the godless regime of Idi Amin charged Ugandan Archbishop Janani Luwum of treason and murdered him. The Archbishop's remains a rare voice in the travesty that is the African nation-state. pic.twitter.com/vqWnfOE3QU

— David *Objection* Ngong (@ProfDNgong) February 16, 2026