Deep split in the Anglican Communion: GAFCON announces new global structure

The conservative Anglican movement GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) has announced that it is embarking on a radical «restructuring» of the Anglican Communion, which effectively means a deep schism with its historic institutions. The decision was in response to what GAFCON calls «a rejection of Scripture» and a «revisionist agenda» on the part of some of the Church of England’s top leadership.

According to the organization’s official website, the GAFCON movement no longer recognizes the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference and other traditional «Instruments of Unity.» In an official statement, the chairman of GAFCON’s Primate Council, Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, outlined steps to form a new structure, the Global Anglican Communion.

According to the provisions adopted, the sole foundation of the new community is declared to be the Bible and the standard of Anglican identity is the 2008 Jerusalem Declaration. The new structure will be governed by its own Council of Primates. Provinces that have joined GAFCON are ordered not to participate in meetings called by the Archbishop of Canterbury, to sever financial ties with the common structures and to amend their statutes to remove references to unity with the See of Canterbury.

The movement emphasizes its position with the statement: «We have not left the Anglican Communion; we are the Anglican Communion.» The next big meeting of bishops of the new structure is scheduled for March 2026 in Nigeria.

Recall, the Anglican Church of Nigeria, the world’s largest Anglican community with more than 18 million believers, announced its «spiritual independence» and cessation of communion with the Church of England. The reason for such a decisive step was deep disagreement with the liberal reforms carried out by the center, in particular, the decision to bless same-sex unions.