The Anglican Diocese of Kondoa’s six-month Women’s Empowerment program teaches women and girls sewing and cooking skills. The program aims to help women secure employment. Photo: Diocese of East Tennessee

“Through this partnership, we encourage each other, we love each other and we pray for one another,” Gaula told ENS in a Dec. 9 interview. “It has been a transformative experience for both dioceses.”

Gaula first visited the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Knoxville, where Fels was rector, in 2014. A year later, Fels and a group of parishioners organized a pilgrimage to Kondoa. Then, in 2019, Kondoa and East Tennessee formally became companion dioceses. Gaula said he and East Tennessee Bishop Brian Cole regularly communicate.

East Tennessee Episcopalians last visited Kondoa earlier this year, and Gaula and his wife, the Rev. Lilian Gaula, an Anglican priest, visited the Knoxville-based diocese in 2024. East Tennessee Episcopalians have postponed their 2026 pilgrimage due to civil unrest in Tanzania. 

“This relationship fills my soul. …The experiences everyone’s had has broadened our horizons,” Elizabeth Colonna, a parishioner at Good Samaritan who has visited Kondoa with the Diocese of East Tennessee six times since 2015, told ENS.

In the meantime, East Tennessee Episcopalians are maintaining their diocesan partnership by raising money for the Diocese of Kondoa. Most of the money will support completing an almost-built secondary school in the Chemba District. It will be named St. Peter and St. Paul’s, the same name as the diocese’s preschool and primary school in Kondoa. Gaula expects classes to begin in January.

When East Tennessee Episcopalians travel to Kondoa, they visit St. Peter and St. Paul’s Preschool and Primary School, which enrolls about 300 students. East Tennessee sends money annually to help cover tuition – $400 per student a year.

“The opportunities that open for students at this particular school are a game changer,” Margaret Slattery, another parishioner at the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan in Knoxville, told ENS.

Colonna and Slattery said they hope to bring a robotics kit next time they visit Kondoa.

While in Kondoa, the pilgrims typically spend a week meeting Anglicans in some of the diocese’s 43 parishes and 10 deaneries throughout the predominantly Muslim region. They also tour the Cathedral of Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles and the Women’s Empowerment Center, where women and girls learn sewing and cooking skills. The six-month program aims to help women secure employment.

“When you empower women, you empower the community and you empower the country,” Gaula said.

The two dioceses also are working together and with ecumenical partners to increase potable water access for Kondoa residents. Many women spend most of their days fetching water for their family, and bathing is limited to conserve water. Kondoa, according to Gaula, is one of the poorest dioceses in the Anglican Church of Tanzania, and its members lack clean water and adequate food. 

The Rev. Ingrid J. Schalk, a retired Lutheran pastor who joined the East Tennessee Episcopalians on their most recent pilgrimage to Kondoa, is now working with the nonprofit Water to Thrive to build a well in the village of Wizjabe.

Gaula said he is “most grateful” that the Diocese of East Tennessee supports women’s empowerment in Kondoa year-round.

“In Tanzania, women are marginalized; they are second class. When supporters join them with compassion and treat them as the human beings that they are, they see that they are valued for all they do for their families,” Gaula said. “The support the Diocese of East Tennessee has for the women of Kondoa has become a bridge of building peace and harmony, love and friendship, and we appreciate their support.”  

The Rev. Daniel Karanja, The Episcopal Church’s Africa partnership officer, told ENS that relational partnerships within the Anglican Communion, like East Tennessee and Kondoa, are beneficial for everyone because, despite the cultural and economic differences, “they build a stronger faith rooted in Christ.”

“Just mutual engagement itself and sharing stories can foster kindness and build one another up,” Karanja said. “When people engage in fellowship and support each other in different ways, their faith flourishes and thrives.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

My dear brothers and sisters, on behalf of everyone at the Anglican Communion Office, I send you warm greetings in Christ.

It is a joy to serve the Anglican Communion. This year, I’ve had the privilege of visiting several of your communities around the globe. In many places, the church is thriving. I am deeply encouraged by your ministry, hospitality and faithful witness. You are fulfilling the purpose for which Jesus was born: to bring the good news of salvation to the world.

At this time, many of you are serving in places of conflict or challenge. I think especially of our Christian family in places like South Sudan, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Israel and the Gaza strip, among others. I think of those in Hong Kong affected by fires, or those in Sri Lanka impacted by flooding. As you seek to support your communities, be assured of our ongoing prayers and solidarity.

This year, Christians marked the 1700th anniversary of the first Council of Nicaea, the council that gave us the Nicene Creed. That creed affirms the central beliefs we share across so many church traditions. It connects us — across cultures, centuries and continents — reminding us that Christ calls his church to be one.

In recent days, we’ve seen this call to unity powerfully embodied by Pope Leo XIV from the Catholic Church and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I from the Orthodox Church. During an ecumenical pilgrimage in Turkey, they signed a joint declaration, reaffirming a commitment to work toward the unity of their churches. In doing so, they modelled the same spirit of reconciliation that guided the church fathers at Nicaea 17 centuries ago. They also made a strong appeal for peace, urging global leaders to end the tragedy of war.

At Christmas, their declaration challenges us to remember that Christian unity must always bear fruit in our witness to the world. The book of Isaiah tells us, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

As we prepare for Christmas and celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, may we continue to walk closer together as Christians. May we share the hope of Christ with a hurting world. And may we work tirelessly for the peace that only he can bring.

Amen.

Download the Communiqué here or read it below.

The 2025 meeting of IASCUFO took place in Rome from 7 to 11 December. The Commission was grateful for the hospitality of the Istituto Maria Santissima Bambina, including for the use of their Chapel for our daily worship. Members of the Commission joined services at All Saints’ (Church of England), St Paul’s within the Walls (The Episcopal Church), and St Peter’s Basilica on Sunday 7 December. We were delighted to be joined by the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Bishop Anthony Poggo.

The Commission also welcomed the participation in much of the meeting by Bishop Anthony Ball, Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and Representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See. We were grateful for Bishop Ball’s assistance around arrangements for our meeting, together with that of the staff at the Centre, where one day of the meeting was held, and where Commission members participated in a seminar on The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals.

IASCUFO was privileged to attend a Papal audience, at which the Commission’s presence was formally acknowledged, episcopal members were individually introduced to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, and gifts were exchanged. Afterwards we were received at the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity by His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch and members of the Dicastery. In an atmosphere of warm friendship, stimulating discussions focussed on the Dicastery’s 2024 Study Document, The Bishop of Rome, to which IASCUFO is preparing a response; and IASCUFO’s recent Nairobi-Cairo Proposals. The Commission also visited the Centro pro Unione and learned about its rich ecumenical history and current ministry.

Review and discussion of The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals — which arose from work commissioned by ACC-18 in 2023 to help the Communion find a way through the divisions and disagreements among us — constituted the major part of our work. We considered the responses received since publication in Advent 2024 and noted that further responses are anticipated. In response to this welcome feedback, supplementary work was explored in preparation for reporting to ACC-19 at its meeting in Belfast in June-July 2026. This included fresh consideration of the collegial ministry of the Archbishop of Canterbury within the Communion. We also reviewed related proposals for amending the ACC constitution. We shall produce additional resources reflecting these evolving developments to our Proposals, which will be published in advance of ACC-19.

We pursued our task conscious of the pain of the Communion’s disagreements. We continue to wrestle in hope, determined to advance our work, for the unity of the Communion within this broken and hurting world of which we are inescapably a part, and for the sake of our calling — together with all Christians — to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

In addition, the Commission reviewed the meetings of bilateral and multilateral dialogues and relationships over the past year, spanning the Assyrian, Lutheran, Methodist, Old Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Orthodox, Pentecostal, and Roman Catholic churches. We reflected on major celebrations during the year of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and heard reports on developing initiatives within the Anglican Communion in Evangelism and Discipleship, and Theological Education. We also gave further consideration to the requirements for setting up new member churches of the Communion, and to ecumenical proposals for observing a Feast of Creation. A programme was prepared for reporting to ACC-19 on IASCUFO’s work in all the foregoing areas.

At the papal audience, Pope Leo reminded us that “the Risen One has gone before us in the great trial of death, emerging victorious thanks to the power of divine Love.” At this Advent season, when we reflect on the future, both of our lives, and of the Church and the world, we too wait with expectant hope, that in and through us, God will “accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine” (Eph 3.20).

IASCUFO’s mandate is:

• to promote the deepening of Communion between the Churches of the Anglican Communion, and between those Churches and the other Churches and traditions of the Christian oikumene.
• to advise the Provinces and the Instruments of Communion on all questions of ecumenical engagement, proposals for national, regional or international ecumenical agreement or schemes of co-operation and unity, as well as on questions touching Anglican Faith and Order.
• to review developments in the areas of faith, order or unity in the Anglican Communion and among ecumenical partners, and to give advice to the Churches of the Anglican Communion or to the Instruments of Communion upon them, with the intention to promote common understanding, consistency, and convergence both in Anglican Communion affairs, and in ecumenical engagement.
• to assist any Province with the assessment of new proposals in the areas of Unity, Faith and Order as requested.

IASCUFO membershp:

The Rt. Rev. Graham Tomlin, Chair (England)

The Rt. Rev. Steven Abbarow (Malaysia)

Joanildo Burity (Brazil)

The Most Rev. Titus Chung (Singapore)

The Rt. Rev.Dalcy Badeli Dlamini (Eswatini)

The Very Rev. Nak-Hyon Joseph Joo (South Korea; member of IALC)

The Rev. Margaret Kalaiselvi (India)

The Rt Rev. Paul Korir (Kenya)

The Rev. Dane Neufeld (Canada)

The Rev. John Rogers (Barbados)

Carlos Romero (Chile; member of ACC)

The Very Rev. Sarah Rowland Jones (Wales)

The Most Rev. Samy Shehata (Egypt)

The Rev. Katherine Sonderegger (United States of America)

The Rt. Rev. Eugene Sutton (United States of America; member of ACC)

The Rt. Rev. Todd Townshend (Canada)

The Rt. Rev.Richard Treloar (Australia)

Indigenous people sing “songs of resistance” as they march following a People’s Plenary held on the final day of the United Nations climate summit, COP30, that took place in Belém, Brazil, Nov. 10-21. Photo: Albin Hillert/LWF

[Episcopal News Service] After 12 days of calling for centering environmental advocacy and justice around Indigenous voices at the 30th United Nations climate conference, or COP30, in Bélem, Brazil, church leaders are reflecting on what they learned and how Episcopalians can work to address climate change.

Several Episcopal and Anglican leadership who traveled to Brazil last month for COP30 spoke about the experience in a Dec. 1 church webinar. 

Despite the geographical differences of COP30 participants, “one of the things I noticed that is both sad and hopeful is that, like in all of the panels, the story [of Indigenous people worldwide] is so much the same,” the Rev. Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg, The Episcopal Church’s interim Indigenous Ministries missioner, said during the webinar.

At the U.N. conference, Indigenous leaders representing different tribes worldwide shared how they have engaged in tribal sovereignty initiatives to protect lands and local food supplies. For example, Brokenleg said, some Māori people from New Zealand shared their efforts to regulate jade mining to prevent further land destruction.

Brokenleg, who is Lakota, represented Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe at COP30 in the church’s 11th consecutive year participating in the conference.

Brokenleg’s participation at the Nov. 10-21 climate conference supported an Anglican Communion delegation led by Archbishop of Brazil Marinez Santos Bassoto, who also serves as Anglican bishop of the Amazon, where the world’s largest rainforest is located.

During COP30, world leaders, policymakers, climate scientists, activists, corporate executives and faith representatives addressed multiple issues related to climate change and environmentalism, including waste management and agriculture. This was the first year the United States didn’t formally send representatives to the conference, though California Gov. Gavin Newsom led an alternate delegation of more than 100 U.S. lawmakers.

Faith representatives participated in an ecumenical march and vigil for the Earth and a worship service at the Catedral Santa Maria. Brokenleg described the service as “beautiful.”

Martha Jarvis, the Anglican Communion’s U.N. representative, explained during the webinar the “Lungs of the Earth” initiative, which describes how Anglicans can be involved in working to restore and protect three vital ecosystems: forests, oceans and frozen landscapes. This includes participation in reforestation initiatives like the Communion Forest, and also amplifies environmental and advocacy work from Anglican provinces around the world and celebrates the work of Anglican environmental activists, including Green Anglicans and the Anglican Communion Environmental Network.

“This focus on being in the Amazon, the importance of the COP being right at the center of one of the ‘lungs of the earth,’ made it into many political declarations, many written statements …  This focus was one of the things that was recognized quite consistently in the political declarations,” Jarvis said.

More than 90 countries supported a deforestation roadmap, but the measure failed to reach a final agreement. Last year, 8.1 million hectares of forest were lost globally, according to data from the Forest Declaration Assessment 2025, which was published in October.

COP30 did, however, result in some victories. For example, several countries pledged $7 billion for the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a multilateral fund to help developing countries preserve their tropical forests.

“There is so much work that is left to do, and hopefully the spirit has touched each of us with our particular charge and call for action in our particular dimensions,” Lynnaia Main, The Episcopal Church’s U.N. representative, said during the webinar. “It takes all of us together.”

At 8 p.m. Eastern tonight, The Episcopal Church and the Green Caucus will host its monthly creation care Compline via Zoom. Click here to register. 

Episcopalians can learn more about the church’s commitment to addressing the global climate crisis on its website.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Succeeding Archbishop Howard Gregory, who retired Dec. 31, 2024, Wright’s election marks a historic moment for Belize and the wider Caribbean Anglican community, as he becomes the second bishop from Belize, formerly British Honduras, to hold the office.

Reflecting on his election, Wright said: “It is quite an overwhelming moment. When I started my journey into ministry, I would never have imagined a day like this would come. It gives me great joy to serve the church I love and have devoted the majority of my life to, and to continue to be part of moving the mission and ministry of the church forward.”

Read the full story here.

In advance of the 30th United Nations climate conference, COP30, The Episcopal Church hosted an Oct. 27 webinar on “Climate Action and COP30,” where Episcopalians talked about climate mitigation projects and why creation care is important for everyone. Photo: Screenshot

[Episcopal News Service] Ten years after nearly 200 countries signed the Paris Agreement promising to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, global dependence and investment in fossil fuels still dominate the energy sector over renewable resources. And at the same time, surface temperatures continue to reach record levels, and severe weather events like droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, heavy rain and floods are increasing.

In advance of the 30th United Nations climate conference, COP30, The Episcopal Church hosted a webinar on “Climate Action and COP30,” where Episcopalians talked about climate mitigation projects and why creation care is important for everyone. 

In the Lakota language, “Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ means we are all related. But when we say that, we’re not just talking about people, we’re talking about plants and animals and all of creation,” the Rev. Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg, The Episcopal Church’s interim Indigenous Ministries missioner, said during the Oct. 27 webinar. She will represent The Episcopal Church at COP30, the 11th consecutive year The Episcopal Church has participated in the conference.

During COP30, world leaders, policymakers, climate scientists, activists, corporate executives and interfaith representatives will gather Nov. 10-21 in Belém, Brazil, to address multiple areas of climate change and environmentalism, including waste management, agriculture and more. In an interview with The Guardian ahead of the conference, António Guterres, the U.N.’s secretary-general, said overshooting the target in the Paris Agreement will have “devastating consequences” for the world.

Anglican Archbishop of Brazil Marinez Santos Bassotto, who also serves as bishop of the Amazon, has called for Indigenous voices to be at the center of the discussion. Brokenleg’s participation at COP30 will support the Anglican Communion delegation led by Bassotto.

“We’re really there to engage with all of [Bassotto’s] plans and her witness within Brazil and globally. We’re also there to play our part in the worldwide church’s witness on this topic,” Martha Jarvis, the Anglican Communion’s U.N. representative, said during the webinar. “We work ecumenically with other church denominations and with other faiths to say that this is an issue that matters to our God and to influence the negotiations, through symbolism, through one-to-one meetings, through the stories that we’re able to get the media to carry and through events that we host at the COP itself.”

COP30 will focus on the efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the presentation of new national action plans and the progress on the finance pledges made at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

By engaging in climate action, “we are choosing justice over convenience,” the Rev. Lester Mackenzie, The Episcopal Church’s chief of mission, said during the webinar.

Barbara “Barbie” Okamoto Bach, co-chair of the Diocese of New Jersey’s environmental commission and a founding member of the House of Deputies’ Green Caucus, said that “baby steps” are key to long-term environmental impact.

For example, “Before asking the cathedral and all the congregations to eliminate disposable utensils and single use plastics from hospitality events – coffee hours, receptions – first we have to research and recommend appropriate compostable cups, plates and forks and spoons to replace volumes of trash,” she said.

Henry Bibelheimer, who volunteered with the Young Adult Service Corps in the Episcopal Church in the Philippines between 2018 and 2020, said he learned about asset-based community development while in the Philippines, including sustainable, cooperative approaches to banana and coffee plant harvesting.

“Organizations that function similarly to a co-op can be a powerful tool for community action,” he said.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump decided to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. No U.S. delegates are expected to participate in COP30.

“It’s a particularly important time to take a moment to consider, given some of the political narratives around us at the moment, where our church globally can play an important part in offering a different way, a third way [of approaching climate action],” Lynnaia Main, The Episcopal Church’s U.N. representative, said.

Episcopalians who are interested in participating in COP30 remotely can find ways to do so here. 

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Bishops attend the opening Eucharist of the Lambeth Conference in July 2022 at Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England. Photo: Richard Washbrooke for The Lambeth Conference.

[Episcopal News Service] The GAFCON statement’s potential impact was evident as soon as it landed Oct. 16. It immediately provoked intense reactions in Anglican circles around the world.

The conservative Christian network, a mix of leaders from recognized Anglican provinces and breakaway groups, had announced that its primates, as the heads of their respective churches, were effectively leaving the Anglican Communion. They would reject the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury and no longer participate in, contribute to or receive assistance from the structures that have long bound together the Anglican Communion’s 42 autonomous, interdependent provinces.

The statement, titled “The Future Has Arrived,” accused senior leaders of the Anglican Communion of “the abandonment of the Scriptures” and said GAFCON’s member primates had “resolved to reorder the Anglican Communion.”

Some conservative supporters of GAFCON rejoiced at the apparent split.  Other Anglicans, particularly in provinces like The Episcopal Church that have been more welcoming to LGBTQ+ Christians, reacted variously with dismay, confusion, ambivalence and uncertainty.

A week later, one lingering question is how many – if any – Anglican primates and their provinces plan to follow through with GAFCON’s call to leave the Anglican Communion. The statement outlining that plan was signed by one person, Rwanda Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, who serves as chair of GAFCON’s primate council.

Of the GAFCON council’s other 12 members, eight represent provinces that are recognized as members of the existing Anglican Communion. One, the Church of Nigeria, shared the text of the letter online without additional comment. Episcopal News Service could find no evidence of any statements from the other seven provinces supporting the new GAFCON plan for disengagement outlined by Mbanda.

All efforts to reach leaders of those provinces were met with silence, except for one: The Province of the Anglican Church of Congo is still part of the Anglican Communion, one of its top bishops told ENS.

“The call to disengage from the Anglican Communion needs to be made collegially through debate,” Archbishop Zacharie Masimango Katanda, who served as Congo’s primate from 2016 to 2022, said by email in response to an ENS inquiry. “The Church of Congo will not follow that call and remains a full member of the Anglican Communion, and also a member of the Global South.”

Mbanda’s Rwanda province is one of three Anglican provinces that have long boycotted Anglican Communion meetings over theological disagreements on human sexuality, same-sex marriage and the ordination of gay and lesbian priests and bishops. Likewise, Nigeria and Uganda had already disengaged with much of the Anglican Communion’s structure, including the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, the Primates’ Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council. The exit of those three provinces, therefore, would signify little change in participation with what the Anglican Communion calls its Instruments of Communion.

The other six Anglican provinces that are represented on GAFCON’s primates’ council are Alexandria (Egypt), Chile, Congo, Kenya, Myanmar and South Sudan. Until now, conservative primates in those provinces, though affiliated with GAFCON, have continued to engage with their peers across the Anglican Communion at its meetings.

In addition to seeking comment from those six provinces by email and WhatsApp, ENS also reviewed their websites and social media accounts for any references to the GAFCON statement in the week since its release, but found none.

Nor has there been any public reaction from the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, many of whose conservative leaders overlap with GAFCON’s leadership.  The latest information posted to the Global South Fellowship’s website and Facebook page has been solely focused on a formation retreat underway this week in Uganda.

GAFCON, on the other hand, has been regularly promoting Mbanda’s statement on its Facebook account, with daily posts since last week.

“We give thanks for the joyful announcement approved last week by the Gafcon Primates’ Council that the Anglican Communion has been reordered as a fellowship of autonomous provinces bound together by the Scriptures and the Reformation Formularies,” an Oct. 22 Facebook update says. “We rejoice that we have not left the Communion… we are the Communion!” (The Oct. 16 statement said GAFCON would name the new entity the “Global Anglican Communion.”)

ENS sought comment and clarification from GAFCON’s general secretary, the Rt. Rev. Paul Donison, who is a leader in the breakaway Anglican Church in North America. ACNA was founded in 2009, and many of its early members were former Episcopalians who objected to The Episcopal Church’s stances on women’s ordination, LGBTQ+ inclusion or both.

Donison, based at an ACNA church in Plano, Texas, had not yet responded to an Oct. 22 phone message by the time this ENS story was published. He has spoken about Mbanda’s statement in other venues. On Oct. 17, he published an article on the Christian website the Gospel Coalition explaining the reasons for GAFCON’s split with the Anglican Communion.

“Over the last several decades, some of the most senior leaders in the communion – particularly in the Church of England and The Episcopal Church (USA) – have embraced revisionist teachings,” Donison wrote. “These include the rejection of biblical authority in matters of marriage, sexuality and the uniqueness of Christ. Evangelicals across traditions will recognize the dynamics here: when leaders abandon Scripture as the final authority, the gospel itself is at stake.”

Mbanda’s statement did not specify the reason for timing this decision now, though it was issued two weeks after the Church of England announced that London Bishop Sarah Mullally would become the first female archbishop of Canterbury. The position represents a “focus of unity” for the 165-country Anglican Communion in recognition of the 42 provinces’ roots in the Church of England. She is scheduled to take office in January.

Some of the more conservative Anglican leaders have increasingly spoken of “impaired” communion since the Church of England’s General Synod voted in 2023 to allow same-sex couples to receive blessings in England’s churches. Mullally co-chaired the group that helped draft that policy.

London Bishop Sarah Mullally was announced Oct. 3 as the archbishop of Canterbury-designate. Photo: Anglican Communion News Service

Separately, in July 2025, Archbishop Cherry Vann was elected to lead the Church in Wales, becoming the first LGBTQ+ primate in the Anglican Communion. At the time, Mbanda released a statement saying Vann’s election “shatters the communion.”

On Oct. 17, Mbanda alluded to Mullally’s selection as archbishop of Canterbury in a discussion of his latest GAFCON statement with the Christian interview program, “The Pastor’s Heart.” He suggested GAFCON has been building to this moment since its founding in 2008 as the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglican Leaders.

“As we knew that we were anticipating this announcement of the archbishop of Canterbury, and knowing that we had been on a journey since 2008 with GAFCON … I think it was time to start thinking, OK, so what do some of these founding fathers think?” Mbanda said. “It was also time to say, OK, we have talked a lot. Is it a time to walk the talk?”

Mbanda did not specify who was involved in those conversations or how they may have registered their assent to his statement.

Yet even some conservative leaders within the Anglican Communion have questioned the legitimacy and prudence of declaring a break with the communion to establish a rival network with a similar name.

“To my dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ in GAFCON: You have broken my heart,” the Rev. Matthew Olver, an Episcopal priest who serves as executive director and publisher at the Living Church Foundation, wrote in an essay on the Living Church’s website.

“Your communiqué of October 16 sounds as though you are rejecting all of us who confess the apostolic faith and are committed to a traditional witness within the Episcopal Church and in provinces throughout the communion — my heart is crushed.”

Others have affirmed their commitment to the Anglican Communion, emphasizing the importance of walking together as Anglicans despite persistent differences on individual theological questions. The Episcopal Church places “great value on our continuing relationships in the Anglican Communion and on the historic role of the archbishop of Canterbury as first among equals,” Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe said last week in a written statement to ENS.

Bishop Helen Kennedy of the Canadian Diocese of Qu’appelle, as liaison to The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council, called GAFCON’s statement “heartbreaking” in her remarks to Executive Council on Oct. 22 at its recent meeting.

“Making outrageous statements is not helpful,” Kennedy said. Instead, she emphasized the “very clear, very strong” response issued by the top bishops in the Anglican Church in Canada.

The Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Communion and a bishop from South Sudan, said last week the Anglican Communion “is ordered by historic bonds, voluntary association” and that any changes “should be made through existing structures.” Some such reforms, known as the Nairobi-Cairo proposals, are scheduled to be discussed next year at a meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Mullally has emphasized “working together in mission.” On Oct. 3, in her first address as archbishop of Canterbury-designate, Mullally said she has witnessed local expressions of the faith in her travels around the Anglican Communion that “echoed with familiar grace” in their shared Anglican context.

“I saw something deeply distinctive, coupled with mutual understanding: a shared inheritance of history, of family of worship, sacrament and word – made real in global diversity,” Mullally said. “Anglican Churches and networks around the world working together in mission, joining their voices in advocacy for those in need.

“In an age that craves certainty and tribalism, Anglicanism offers something quieter but stronger: shared history, held in tension, shaped by prayer, and lit from within by the glory of Christ. That is what gives me hope. In our fractured and hurting world, that partnership in the Gospel could not be more vital.”

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

Bishop Daniel Gutiérrez, president of the Compass Rose Society and bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, invited Mullally to address the society in its two-day conference. “As the Compass Rose Society grows in membership and influence around the world, we are excited to hear more about Bishop Sarah’s priorities and how we can support her,” Gutiérrez said.

As she rose to address the society, Mullally received a standing ovation from those gathered.  On Oct. 2, Mullally was named the 106th archbishop of Canterbury and will become the first woman to hold the office.

Founded in 1994, the Compass Rose Society fosters unity in the Anglican Communion by financially supporting the work of the Anglican Communion Office and the international ministry of the archbishop of Canterbury. Since its inception, the society has raised more than $17 million for this work. Membership includes more than 300 individuals, parishes, dioceses and institutions from nine countries.

Mullally is currently the bishop of London. Prior to her ordination in 2001, she was the government’s chief nursing officer for England – the youngest person ever to be appointed to that role, at age 37 – having previously specialized as a cancer nurse. Mullally has described nursing as “an opportunity to reflect the love of God.”

The most senior bishop in the Church of England, the archbishop of Canterbury’s ministry combines many roles, including serving as the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, primate of all England and Metropolitan, as well as primus inter pares – or first among equals – of the primates of the global Anglican Communion, which consists of around 85 million people, across 165 countries. 

Mullally will take office as the archbishop of Canterbury after her confirmation of election at St. Paul’s Cathedral in January 2026, with a service of installation taking place at Canterbury Cathedral in March.

The Most Rev. Marinez Rosa dos Santos Bassotto is primate of the Anglican Episcopal Church in Brazil and bishop of the Amazon.

[Episcopal News Service] The Most Rev. Marinez Roa dos Santos Bassotto, primate of the Anglican Episcopal Church in Brazil and bishop of the Amazon, on Oct. 20 said that the voices of Indigenous people and advocacy for environmental justice must be central to discussions that will take place at COP30, the United Nations climate change conference taking place Nov. 10-21 in the Brazilian city of Belém.

Her comments were made during an online press conference of ecumenical faith leaders, facilitated by Christian Aid, a U.K.-based nonprofit that works globally to end poverty, and shared by the Anglican Communion News Service.

Bassotto, who is also the bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Amazon, is in the U.K. through Oct. 24. She will also meet with Norwich Bishop Graham Usher, the Church of England’s lead bishop for the environment, and take part in a round table discussion about climate justice at Lambeth Palace with U.K. church leaders and activists.

She will also play a major role in the People’s Summit, a parallel event to COP30 taking place Nov. 12-16 that will provide a platform for civil society, social movements and marginalized communities to voice their concerns and demands for climate justice.

The bishop is adamant that the voices of the Indigenous people of the region must be heard. She said, “I hope that their participation will be central and impactful. Their voices need to be at the center of discussions, because they are the ones who hold the ancestral and practical knowledge necessary for preservation. “

She added, “Climate justice will only be achieved when the territorial and cultural rights of these communities are fully recognized and respected. We want their voices to influence the negotiations, because their influence is the key to ensuring that the commitments made at the Summit are translated into concrete, effective and fair action.”

Mass deforestation continues to cause harm in Brazil, where in the Amazon 68.9 million hectares of forest cover have been lost between 2001 and 2023, which threatens biodiversity, displaces Indigenous peoples and accelerates climate change.

During a May 2025 visit to Trinity Church in New York City, Bassotto said that from 2016 to 2023, Brazil saw a dismantling of environmental policies that had been in place for more than 40 years. As a result, “We saw Indigenous peoples lose access to their traditional lands, the return of banned pesticides, mining on previously protected land, and an increase in deforestation and slash-and-burn agriculture.”

Bassotto was also the lead signer on a March 20, 2025, statement by faith leaders and organizations across Latin America and the Caribbean calling for action in the face of the climate crisis.

In it, they said, “Our territories, understood by us as sacred, are being destroyed. We witness the destruction of the Amazon, other ecosystems and the people who live there, caused by large-scale agriculture, mining, and fossil fuel extraction.” They noted, “Those who protect our lands – environmental and human rights defenders – are increasingly being persecuted.”

The Episcopal Church will be represented at COP30 by the Rev. Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg, the church’s interim Indigenous missioner, who will attend the conference in support of an Anglican Communion delegation led by Bassotto. This will be the 11th year The Episcopal Church has participated in the U.N. climate conference.

“As a winkté [two-spirit] and person of faith, I know that the Creator calls us to be good relatives, in right-relationship, to ALL of Creation.  In Lakota culture, we end our prayers with “mitakuye oyasin [we are all related], which reminds us of this truth,” Brokenleg told Episcopal News Service. “Indigenous voices at COP30 are vital because our spirituality, teachings, and ways of life testify to the world that caring for creation is not simply a policy choice, but a sacred responsibility; rooted in relationship, reciprocity and love.”

In a press release, the Rev. Lester Mackenzie, chief of mission program, said: “We are looking to partner more closely with those on the front lines of climate change, particularly with Anglican Communion partners. “We aim to lift up the voices of Indigenous siblings for the People’s Summit, recognizing the unique perspective and witness they can offer.”

Episcopalians also can learn more about the church’s commitment to creation care and climate justice during an upcoming two-part webinar:

• Oct. 27, 2 p.m. Eastern: “Climate Action and COP30.”
• Dec. 1, 2 p.m. Eastern: “Climate Action Beyond COP30.”

Registration is available here.

“Climate change impacts everyone. Our world will continue to be affected by our individual choices and collective decisions in response. Indigenous peoples are central to our understanding and practice of healthy relationships between people and planet,” Lynnaia Main, the Episcopal Church’s representative to the U.N., told ENS. “Episcopalians have an opportunity to listen and learn, and amplify Indigenous voices, by participating virtually during COP30 and sharing their own stories of local climate action. Learn more about how to participate on the Episcopal Church’s COP30 webpage.”

Ahead of COP30, the Anglican Communion Office has been sharing information about the “Lungs of the Earth” initiative, which describes how Anglicans can be involved in working to restore and protect three vital ecosystems: forests, oceans and frozen landscapes.

This includes participation in reforestation initiatives like the Communion Forest, and it also amplifies environmental and advocacy work from Anglican provinces around the world and celebrates the work of Anglican environmental activists, including Green Anglicans and the Anglican Communion Environmental Network.

— Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

The message, titled “The Future Has Arrived” and posted to GAFCON’s website, was signed only by Archbishop Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda, as chair of the network’s primates council, though Mbanda said he was issuing the statement after a meeting with other GAFCON primates about their path forward.

In it, Mbanda said the GAFCON primates have rejected the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops and the Primates’ Meeting, the four so-called “Instruments of Communion” by which the 42 autonomous provinces of the Anglican Communion maintain their interdependence. It also says the breakaway provinces “shall not make any monetary contribution to the ACC, nor receive any monetary contribution from the ACC or its networks.”

Mbanda and his Anglican Church of Rwanda have boycotted Instruments of Communion meetings for years, as have leaders of the Anglican provinces in Nigeria and Uganda. Until now, conservative primates in other provinces, though affiliated with GAFCON, have continued to engage with their peers across the Anglican Communion at those meetings.

Anglican bishops pose for their portrait during the Lambeth Conference on July 29, 2022. Photo: Egan Millard/Episcopal News Service

It was not clear from Mbanda’s statement how many of his fellow primates now planned to join him in forming what he said would be called the “Global Anglican Communion.” Of the members of GAFCON’s primates’ council listed on its website, nine are leaders of provinces that are recognized as part of the Anglican Communion: Alexandria (Egypt), Chile, Congo, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda. The statement did not specify which of those members attended the meeting before the statement was released.

Mbanda also did not specify the reason for timing this decision now, though his statement was issued two weeks after the Church of England announced that London Bishop Sarah Mullally would become the first female archbishop of Canterbury, a position that represents a “focus of unity” for the 85-million-member Anglican Communion in recognition of the 42 provinces’ roots in the Church of England.

Some of the communion’s more conservative provinces do not allow women to become bishops, and several of those provinces’ leaders released statements this month grieving the choice of Mullally, who is scheduled to take office as archbishop of Canterbury in January.

GAFCON’s latest statement, which rejects continued participation in the Anglican Consultative Council, also was issued a day after the ACC Standing Committee held its annual meeting Oct. 13-15 in Jordan. The ACC is structured to welcome representatives from all 42 provinces, a mix of bishops, other clergy and lay leaders.

The full ACC is scheduled to discuss possible changes to the Anglican Communion’s leadership structure, including the role of the archbishop of Canterbury, when it meets in June and July 2026 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It isn’t clear yet how the GAFCON statement will affect discussions of what are known as the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals.

In an Oct. 17 written statement to Episcopal News Service, the Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Communion and a bishop from South Sudan, said the Anglican Communion “is ordered by historic bonds, voluntary association” and that any changes “should be made through existing structures.” That is why, he said, the work of the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals is important.

GAFCON was formed in 2008 in opposition to the increasingly welcoming policies toward LGBTQ+ Christians that were embraced by some Anglican provinces, including The Episcopal Church. Mbanda’s statement this week alludes to those disagreements over human sexuality, accusing more progressive Anglicans of “the abandonment of the Scriptures” and saying global Anglican leadership had “failed to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion.”

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe released a statement to ENS for this story, affirming that The Episcopal Church places “great value on our continuing relationships in the Anglican Communion and on the historic role of the archbishop of Canterbury as first among equals.”

“We celebrate Bishop Sarah Mullally’s elevation to that seat and rejoice that, as the first woman to hold that role, she will bring our communion closer to the fullness of the image of God and bear witness to the breadth of God’s gifts in the service of God’s mission to the world,” Rowe said. “It is always a cause of sorrow when siblings in Christ choose to walk apart, and we grieve that some GAFCON primates have chosen to remove themselves from the Anglican Communion. We pray for their participation in God’s mission in their contexts.”

The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals were developed by the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order upon request of the ACC at its meeting in February 2023, which was attended by leaders from all 42 Anglican provinces except Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda. The draft proposals were released in December 2024, and Poggo emphasized that all Anglican Communion primates, members of the ACC and others from Global South Fellowship of Anglicans and GAFCON have been invited to engage with the proposals in advance of next year’s ACC meeting.

“The Anglican Communion Office recognizes that in a diverse, global communion, there is a wide range of theological and doctrinal perspectives. There are also deeply held differences, disagreements, and divisions, which strain and wound the Communion,” said Poggo, who also shared a pastoral letter on Oct. 17 with Anglican provinces. “The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals face these divisions directly, not to resolve them, but to encourage all Anglicans to ‘make room for one another.’

“Jesus prayed that ‘they may all be one’ (John 17.11). To persist in – imperfect, impaired – communion is to commit to work at this task together, and not apart.”

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.