As part of the official process leading up to the installation of London Bishop Sarah Mullally as archbishop of Canterbury, King Charles had issued a license, known as a Congé d’Elire, that allowed the College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral to elect an archbishop of the see of Canterbury.

The king also had recommended, by letters missive, that Mullally be elected archbishop of Canterbury.

On Nov. 25, Canterbury dean the Very Rev. David Monteith had called the College of Canons to meet in the cathedral’s medieval Chapter House to elect the new archbishop.

The College of Canons is comprised of the cathedral’s residentiary, honorary and provincial canons, and the suffragan bishops and archdeacons of the Diocese of Canterbury. In attendance were several legal officers and invited observers. Mullally was not present.

Following the election, the College of Canons issued a certificate – stamped with the cathedral’s seal – to the king, recording the decision of the college. Public declarations are also displayed at the cathedral, including in the ornately-carved archbishop’s cathedra stall within the church.

Letters Patent now will be issued in the king’s name, requiring arrangements to be made for the election to be legally confirmed and to bring the appointment into effect.

Since the election, Mullally is known as the archbishop of Canterbury-elect, although she will remain the bishop of London until the confirmation of her election at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Jan. 28, 2026. At that time she officially will become the archbishop of Canterbury.

Her installation, which marks the start of her ministry as archbishop, will take place at Canterbury Cathedral on March 25, 2026.

More information about the historic role of Canterbury Cathedral in electing the archbishop of Canterbury is available here.

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 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.

Rooted in her early vocation as a nurse and shaped by her ministry in London, she spoke of “washing feet” as a guiding image of Christian service, and of finding hope in the quiet faithfulness of churches, chaplaincies and communities across the Anglican Communion.

She addressed the church’s responsibility in safeguarding, the need to confront power dynamics, and the importance of standing against hatred and antisemitism.

She said she would seek to be “a shepherd who enables everyone’s ministry and vocation to flourish,” and expressed her desire to nurture confidence in the Gospel. “Held fast by the Lord’s hand,” she concluded, “please pray for me as I will pray for you.”

The full text of her address follows.

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith, active in service;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today, as I respond to the call of Christ in this new ministry, I remain rooted in my first calling: to follow Christ, to know him – and to make him known to the world.

Reflecting on the experiences which have prepared me for this role, I am deeply thankful to the people, the churches and communities of the Diocese of London. It is my deep privilege to have shared ministry with you for almost eight years. In discerning this step, it has not been easy to accept that I will be leaving you.

Washing feet has shaped my Christian vocation as a nurse, then a priest, then a bishop. In the apparent chaos which surrounds us, in the midst of such profound global uncertainty, the possibility of healing lies in acts of kindness and love.

With humility and grace, we uphold and support those in need of our help. We do this to the best of our ability, in small ways and big, according to our own very particular gifts. That too is the service which I offer to the church today.

Given the many struggles of our church and of societies here and around the world, I am often asked where I see hope. I have the privilege to see hope in communities, chaplaincies and churches in the Church of England and across the wider Anglican Communion.

In parishes across this nation, I see faithful clergy and congregations worshipping God and loving their neighbors. I see thousands of churches running food banks and homeless shelters. I see hospitals and prison chaplains caring for people and families in times of desperation. I see Church of England schools educating a million children across this country.

I hear parishioners ringing bells and inviting people to pray. I hear the quiet hum of faith in every community, the gentle invitation to come and be with others, and the welcome extended to every person. In all of this, I see hope – because I see the person of Jesus Christ, reaching out to us all.

Last summer, I found myself in three Anglican churches – in three different countries – in rapid succession, in Brazil, Canada and Barbados.

In each one I was able to follow the liturgy without hesitation: Morning Prayer, the Eucharist, collective prayers for the people; the rhythms of Anglican worship echoed with familiar grace. 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. 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.

Hope is made of the infinite love of God, who breathed life into creation and said it was good. Hope shimmered in the courage of Abraham and Sarah and the challenging call of the prophets. Hope resounded through Mary’s “yes” to God’s call to bear his Son. Hope is found in Christ’s triumph over sin and death.

Hope doesn’t skip over grief, pain and messiness of life but enters into it, and tenderly tells us that God is with us.

Across our nation today, we are wrestling with complex moral and political questions. The legal right of terminally ill people to end their own lives. Our response to people fleeing war and persecution to seek safety and refuge. The pressures on communities who have been overlooked and undervalued. The deep-rooted question of who we are as a nation, in a world that is so often on the brink.

Mindful of the horrific violence of yesterday’s attack on a synagogue in Manchester, we are witnessing hatred that rises up through fractures across our communities. I know that the God who is with us draws near to those who suffer. We then, as a church, have a responsibility to be a people who stand with the Jewish community against antisemitism in all its forms. Hatred and racism of any kind cannot be allowed to tear us apart.

In every church you will encounter Jesus Christ, and his teaching to love one another: our source and our standard. This is both gift and responsibility. Jesus Christ is the life-changing hope that brings us together as church, even in our own brokenness and messiness – and sends us out into the world to witness to that love.

I long for that same hope for all those around the world caught up in war. For those living in extreme poverty. For those on the front lines of the ever-worsening climate crisis. For our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters, and all the peoples of the Middle East. For the people of Ukraine, Russia, Sudan, Myanmar and the DRC. May God end the horrors of war, comfort those who mourn, and bring hope to those living in despair. And I pray especially for Anglicans in those places, as they suffer alongside the people they seek to love and care for.

The Christian faith is unwavering in its teaching that we are all made in the image of God. Each one of us deserves to be treated with dignity, compassion and respect. Christ commands us to love God, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

In living in the service of others, we must also confront the dynamics of power— an issue brought into sharp focus by the recent safeguarding reviews and reports. As a Church, we have too often failed to recognize or take seriously the misuse of power in all its forms.

As Archbishop, my commitment will be to ensure that we continue to listen to survivors, care for the vulnerable, and foster a culture of safety and well-being for all.

This will not be easy. Our history of safeguarding failures have left a legacy of deep harm and mistrust, and we must all be willing to have light shone on our actions, regardless of our role in the church.

Since my ordination, I have witnessed a significant professional and cultural shift in safeguarding. I know the National Safeguarding Team continues to work tirelessly alongside diocesan professionals and countless parish volunteers, to ensure that we are a church that not only prevents abuse, but responds well when it is reported.

Safeguarding is everyone’s business. But for those of us in senior leadership, it carries an added weight of accountability.

The role of the archbishop of Canterbury is complex and challenging. But there is also something very simple about it. Along with my colleague bishops, I am called to share the hope that we have found in Jesus Christ – and what it means for us all as individuals, and as a society.

The role that I will take on next year is one that can only be done together. I look forward to sharing my ministry with the archbishop of York, with Bishop Rose, the wider College of Bishops, and with primates and bishops across the Anglican Communion.

I will share it too with the clergy, congregations, schools and people of Canterbury diocese. And I am especially grateful to the students of Archbishop’s School. Thank you for being here today as we begin this new chapter together.

Our ministry, our ministry as Christians, is always shared. The proverb tells us if we want to go fast, go alone, but if we want to go far, go together.

I’m told that there will be much talk today of this being an historic moment – and a joyous one for many. I share with you in that joy – not for myself, but for a church that listens to the calling of God and says: yes, we will follow you.

Some will be asking what it means for a woman to lead the Church of England, and to take on the archbishop of Canterbury’s global role in the Anglican Communion. I intend be a shepherd who enables everyone’s ministry and vocation to flourish, whatever our tradition.

Today I give thanks for all the women and men – lay and ordained; deacons, priests and bishops – who have paved the way for this moment. And to all the women who have gone before me, thank you for your support and your inspiration.

I was recently asked, if I was called to this role, what would my legacy be. I said that I would want to nurture and cultivate confidence in the Gospel – both within individuals and across churches, in the Church of England and in the wider Anglican Communion.

I humbly offer myself, and the gifts and experience that God has given me, in service to God’s world and God’s church.

I will not always get things right. But I am encouraged by the psalmist who tells us that, “Though you stumble you shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds you fast by the hand.”

I trust in the truth of those words for me, for you, for the Church of England, for the nation, for the Anglican Communion and for the world. Held fast by the Lord’s hand, please pray for me as I will pray for you.

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

[Episcopal News Service] The announcement last week that London Bishop Sarah Mullally would become the Church of England’s first female archbishop of Canterbury was cheered by many in The Episcopal Church and in provinces across the Anglican Communion, potentially signaling a new era for the global Anglican leadership role, which has centuries of history.

In sharp contrast, the reaction of some conservative Anglican leaders in Africa and other parts of the Global South has been decidedly negative.

“Grievous” was the adjective used by the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches. It issued a statement calling Mullally’s selection “one further symptom of the crisis of faith and authority” in the Anglican Communion.

Another organization of conservative Anglicans, GAFCON, said it received the news with “sorrow” and restated its arguments that the archbishop of Canterbury “can no longer function as a credible leader of Anglicans, let alone a focus of unity.”

And Nigeria Archbishop Henry Ndukuba called Mullally’s selection “devastating.” Ndukuba’s province has boycotted most Anglican Communion gatherings for years in protest of the theological diversity of beliefs and practices represented by the 42 autonomous, interdependent Anglican provinces. He and the Anglican Communion’s most conservative leaders have insisted on theological uniformity, particularly regarding human sexuality and traditional gender roles.

“This election is a further confirmation that the global Anglican world could no longer accept the leadership of the Church of England and that of the Archbishop of Canterbury,” Ndukuba said in a written statement released Oct. 6.

Mullally, 63, was named the 106th archbishop of Canterbury on Oct. 3 after her nomination was approved by King Charles III through a process overseen by the Church of England. She is scheduled to take office in January after a final election and confirmation by church leaders.

The archbishop of Canterbury, as England’s most senior bishop, has long been seen as an “instrument of communion” among the provinces of Anglican Communion, which number 85 million members and all have historic ties with the Church of England. Mullally will become the “first among equals” alongside the primates of the other 41 Anglican provinces, with responsibility for convening the Primates’ Meeting and Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops.

The archbishop of Canterbury’s global leadership role, however, was called into question under Mullally’s predecessor, former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, after the Church of England began in 2023 allowing same-sex couples to receive blessings in its churches. Some conservative bishops said they rejected the continuation of England’s historic leadership role in the Anglican Communion, and they also have said their provinces are in “impaired” communion with provinces like The Episcopal Church that are more progressive on issues of LGBTQ+ inclusion.

The Anglican Consultative Council, an Anglican Communion body with representation from all 42 provinces, is scheduled to discuss possible changes to the leadership structure, including the role of the archbishop of Canterbury, when it meets in June and July 2026. The conservatives’ reactions to Mullally’s selection cast new doubt over those ongoing efforts to mend global relations.

“This appointment abandons global Anglicans, as the Church of England has chosen a leader who will further divide an already split Communion,” Rwanda Archbishop Laurent Mbanda said in a statement on behalf of GAFCON, which he chairs.

GAFCON’s member archbishops include leaders from Anglican provinces, including Alexandria, Chile, Congo, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan and Uganda, as well as breakaway factions like the Anglican Church in North America that are not recognized as members of the Anglican Communion.

Mbanda’s statement, affirming the GAFCON teaching that homosexuality is sinful, cited a 2023 statement by Mullally in favor of blessing couples in same-sex relationships. When the Church of England authorized those blessings in February 2023, Mullally called it “a moment of hope for the church.” She chaired the group that developed the proposals.

“I know that what we have proposed as a way forward does not go nearly far enough for many but too far for others,” Mullally said then. “It is my prayer that what has been agreed today will represent a step forward for all of us within the Church – including LGBTQI+ people – as we remain committed to walking together.”

Mbanda countered in his GAFCON statement that “it is not lawful for the church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s Word,” yet Mullally “has repeatedly promoted unbiblical and revisionist teachings regarding marriage and sexual morality.”

“We pray that as she takes upon herself the weight of this historic office, she will repent, and earnestly work with the GAFCON leadership to mend the torn fabric of our Anglican Communion,” Mbanda said.

The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches includes some of the same members as GAFCON and some additional provinces in Africa, Asia and South America.  It struck a similar tone in its statement on Mullally’s selection, again admonishing the Church of England for its 2023 vote in favor of same-sex blessings.

“While we shall of course pray for Bishop Mullally as she assumes this historic position, we feel compelled to say that we feel this appointment is a missed opportunity to reunite and reform the Anglican Communion,” South Sudan Archbishop Justin Badi said in the statement, as chair of the Global South Fellowship.

Ndukuba, the Church of Nigeria archbishop, called Mullally’s selection a case of “double jeopardy,” because his and some other conservative provinces do not allow women to become bishops.

“First, in its insensitivity to the conviction of the majority of Anglicans who are unable to embrace female headship in the episcopate, and second, more disturbing that Bishop Sarah Mullally is a strong supporter of same-sex marriage,” he said. “It remains to be seen how the same person hopes to mend the already torn fabric of the Anglican.”

Even so, opposition to Mullally in provinces of the Global South is far from unanimous. Southern Africa Archbishop Thabo Makgoba issued a statement offering Mullally “warm congratulations.”

“The historic appointment of the first woman as archbishop of Canterbury is a thrilling development,” Makgoba said. “We heartily welcome the announcement and look forward to working with her as we all try to respond prophetically and pastorally to what God is up to in God’s world.”

Bishop Anthony Poggo, a South Sudanese bishop who serves as secretary general of the Anglican Communion, issued a statement celebrating the selection of Mullally and inviting Anglicans “to pray for her as she prepares to take up this important ministry.

“May God grant her wisdom and discernment, as she seeks to listen to member churches, encourage mutual support, and foster unity.”

In Nigeria, too, not all Anglicans agree with Ndukuba’s criticisms of Mullally.

“I think it’s a very wonderful thing,” Mary Okolie, a Nigerian missionary, told the French news program “Eye on Africa” in an interview about the first woman chosen as archbishop of Canterbury. “It’s also a way that God will prove to our generation that what he has been using men to do he can also use women to do it.”

And in Kenya, the Rt. Rev. Emily Onyango, who became the province’s first female bishop in 2021, told Religion News Service she was “very excited” for Mullally to become archbishop of Canterbury. “It means a lot for the church. Being the first woman archbishop of Canterbury, we believe things will be done differently,” Onyango said. “We know there will be justice in the church, and we know she will work for peace and unity — something we need both in the church and in the world.”

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

London Bishop Sarah Mullally was approved by King Charles III as the 106th archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans, on Oct. 3, 2025. Photo: Alberto Pezzali/AP

[Episcopal News Service] London Bishop Sarah Mullally has been chosen as the next archbishop of Canterbury, becoming the first woman to serve in the historic leadership role for both the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Mullally will succeed former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who stepped down in January under pressure from a scandal in which he was accused of not appropriately addressing allegations of child abuse by a prominent church member.

The archbishop of Canterbury, as the most senior bishop in the Church of England, is seen as an “instrument of communion” among the 42 autonomous, interdependent provinces that make up the 85-million-member Anglican Communion, all of which, including The Episcopal Church, have historic ties with the Church of England.

Mullally’s nomination as the 106th archbishop of Canterbury was approved by King Charles III, a largely ceremonial step in a process overseen by the Church of England, though her selection followed months of deliberation by the Crown Nominations Commission with input from Anglicans around the world. The selection now must be ratified by the College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral later this year and confirmed at a ceremony in January, after which she will take office.

Mullally, 63, has served as the bishop of London since 2018. She was ordained to the priesthood in 2001 after a career as a nurse treating cancer patients. An installation service for the new archbishop of Canterbury is scheduled for March 2026 at Canterbury Cathedral.

“As I respond to the call of Christ to this new ministry, I do so in the same spirit of service to God and to others that has motivated me since I first came to faith as a teenager,” Mullally said in a written statement. “At every stage of that journey, through my nursing career and Christian ministry, I have learned to listen deeply – to people and to God’s gentle prompting – to seek to bring people together to find hope and healing.

“I want, very simply, to encourage the Church to continue to grow in confidence in the Gospel, to speak of the love that we find in Jesus Christ and for it to shape our actions. And I look forward to sharing this journey of faith with the millions of people serving God and their communities in parishes all over the country and across the global Anglican Communion.”

As archbishop of Canterbury, Mullally becomes the “first among equals” with the primates of the other 41 Anglican provinces, with responsibility for convening the Primates’ Meeting and Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops. Those two bodies make up the Instruments of Communion, along with the Anglican Consultative Council and the archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as a “focus of unity” while also presiding at Anglican Consultative Council meetings.

Bishop Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, issued a statement celebrating the selection of Mullally and inviting Anglicans “to pray for her as she prepares to take up this important ministry. May God grant her wisdom and discernment, as she seeks to listen to member churches, encourage mutual support, and foster unity.”

And Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe described Mullally as “a wise and steady leader, a faithful advocate for the leadership of women in the church, and a bishop who will be committed to safeguarding vulnerable people and victims of abuse.”

“I have written to Bishop Sarah to send my warmest congratulations to her, her husband, Eamonn, and their family, and to tell her how much I look forward to working with her at the primates meeting and across the Anglican Communion,” Rowe said. “Please join me in praying for the Church of England, for all of the primates and churches of the Anglican Communion, and for Bishop Sarah at this momentous time.”

Mullally takes office at a fraught time for the Anglican Communion, which also is poised to consider changes to the archbishop of Canterbury’s leadership role in the communion.

Two proposals, which will be taken up next year by the Anglican Consultative Council, would adjust how the  42 Anglican provinces relate to each other — de-emphasizing the Church of England and the archbishop of Canterbury while elevating more geographically diverse leaders for the global network of Anglican and Episcopal churches.

The proposals were developed partly in response to longstanding theological divisions between some of the provinces, and it remains to be seen whether the proposed changes could mend what some conservative bishops have described as their “impaired” communion with provinces like The Episcopal Church that are more progressive on issues of LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Under one of the proposals, the archbishop of Canterbury would no longer serve as the ACC president; the presidency instead would rotate among leaders from the Anglican Communion’s five regions. And the Primates’ Meeting and Lambeth Conference would be newly convened by the Primates’ Standing Committee.

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

This commission works prayerfully and collaboratively to discern and nominate the next archbishop of Canterbury.

The Crown Nominations Commission for the archbishop of Canterbury nomination is larger than that for other diocesan bishops, with 17 voting members in a wider commission made up of 20 members.

In 2022, General Synod approved changes to the CNC’s Standing Orders that increased the number of representatives from the Anglican Communion from one to five for the Crown Nominations Commission of the See of Canterbury. They are nominated by the Anglican Communion, one from each of the five regions and include primates, clergy and lay people.

Voting members

• Chair: Lord (Jonathan) Evans of Weardale (appointed by the prime minister)
• Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell
• Bishop of Norwich Graham Usher (elected by the House of Bishops)

Anglican Communion representatives (nominated by the 5 regions of the Communion):

• Americas –  Mr. Joaquín Philpotts.
• Oceania – The Rev. Canon Isaac Beach.
• Africa –  The Rev. Professor Grace Nkansa Asante.
• Asia – The Most Rev. Hosam Naoum.
• Europe – The Rt. Rev. Mary Stallard.

Central Members (drawn from the Crown Nominations Commission Central Members elected by General Synod, or a member of the General Synod nominated to represent them):

• Ms. Christina Baron
• Miss Debbie Buggs
• The Rev. Canon Paul Cartwright
• The Rev. Lis Goddard
• The Rev. Canon Claire Lording
• Mr. Clive Scowen

Canterbury Diocesan representatives:

To be announced on the conclusion of the Canterbury Vacancy in See process.

Non-voting members

• Secretary to the Commission: Stephen Knott (Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments)
• Jonathan Hellewell (Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary)
• The Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo (The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion)

Following a public consultation that saw thousands of people share their views on the qualities needed in the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the Commission will convene for its first meeting later this month, followed by at least two further meetings – one in July and another in September. Through these, the Commission will agree the ‘Role Profile’ and ‘Person Specification’ for the next Archbishop of Canterbury, discern the longlist, shortlist and interview candidates.

Under the Standing Orders of the General Synod, a nomination cannot be made to the crown unless it has received the support of at least two-thirds of the total number of the voting members of the Commission in a secret ballot.

The Chair of the Canterbury CNC, Lord (Jonathan) Evans said: “Helping to choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury is both a great responsibility and a privilege. The Crown Nominations Commission understands the weight of this important decision and we pray for God’s hand on the process.

“I thank those who have taken part in the public consultation across the country and the Anglican Communion, helping us to establish the gifts, skills and qualities required in the next archbishop. Do please keep the CNC process in your prayers as we seek to discern who God is calling to this important ministry.”

For more information

You can also read this announcement on the Church of England website. 

Learn more about the nominations process for the next Archbishop of Canterbury on the Church of England website.

The public consultation was a unique opportunity to influence the future of leadership within the church, helping to discern the gifts, skills and qualities required in the 106th archbishop of Canterbury to meet the needs of the church today and in the years to come.

The themes that emerge through this consultation will sit alongside the “Statement of Needs” produced by the Diocese of Canterbury, as well as other information provided by the national church and Anglican Communion. This information will inform the Canterbury Crown Nominations Commission of the needs of the mission of the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.

Here are some of the consultations at a glance:

• Secretaries’ consultations – the archbishops’ secretary for appointments and the Prime Minister’s appointments secretary met with over 350 individuals during the consultation period, including representatives of other Christian traditions and non-Christian traditions, parliamentarians, leaders from public life, and those who minister, work and worship across the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.
• Children and young people consultations – over 1,200 children and young people participated in consultations conducted by the National Society for Education and the appointments secretaries.
• Online public consultations – the online consultation form received over 9,600 responses.
• Written public consultations – over 160 pieces of written correspondence (e.g. emails and letters) were received.

Read more about the process for selecting the next archbishop of Canterbury here.

A group photo of the delegates to the 18th Anglican Consultative Council held at the Accra Marriott Hotel, Accra, Ghana. Feb. 12-19, 2023. Photo: Neil Turner/Anglican Communion Office

[Episcopal News Service] The Anglican Communion may be poised for a reset, at least concerning the archbishop of Canterbury’s leadership role.

Two proposals, which will be taken up next year by the Anglican Consultative Council, or ACC, would adjust how the worldwide communion’s 42 autonomous, interdependent provinces relate to each other.  The proposals, if adopted, would de-emphasize the Church of England and the archbishop of Canterbury as a “focus of unity” while elevating more geographically diverse leaders for the global network of Anglican and Episcopal churches.

These proposals were developed partly in response to longstanding theological divisions between some of the provinces, and it remains to be seen whether the proposed changes could mend what some conservative bishops have described as their “impaired” communion with provinces like The Episcopal Church that are more progressive on issues of LGBTQ+ inclusion.

The underlying goal is to maintain Anglican unity while allowing member provinces to stay true to their theological beliefs when they differ, said Bishop Graham Tomlin, who chairs the Anglican body that drafted the proposals.

“It is important to still remain committed to one another,” Tomlin, a Church of England bishop, told Episcopal News Service in a Zoom interview. He said his commission’s proposals “take serious the depths of our divisions but also take serious the call to unity that we find within the Gospel.”

Tomlin’s group, the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order, or IASCUFO, issued a 44-page report in December 2024 detailing its Nairobi-Cairo Proposals, named for the cities where they were drafted.

The first proposal offers an updated statement of what binds the 42 provinces to each other: “shared inheritance, mutual service, common counsel in conference, and historic connection with the See of Canterbury.” That final principle’s wording differs slightly from the Anglican Communion’s existing definition, which since 1930 has required member churches to be “in communion with the See of Canterbury,” commonly understood as the Church of England.

The second proposal seeks to broaden and diversify the leadership of three Anglican Communion bodies known as the “Instruments of Communion” – the ACC, the Primates’ Meeting and the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops. The archbishop of Canterbury is considered a fourth Instrument of Communion.

Under these changes, the archbishop of Canterbury would no longer serve as the ACC president; the presidency instead would rotate among leaders from the Anglican Communion’s five regions. The archbishop of Canterbury also traditionally has convened the Primates’ Meeting and Lambeth Conference; those bodies would be newly convened by the Primates’ Standing Committee.

Such changes “would add a welcome and overdue diversification to the face of the Instruments of Communion,” the IASCUFO report said. “The leadership of the Communion should look like the Communion.” The report added that Anglican leadership should reflect “the identity and ideals of the Anglican Communion in a post-colonial era.”

The Rev. Ranjit Mathews, one of three Episcopal Church representatives to the ACC, told ENS that he sees the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals as a positive step forward in inter-Anglican relations, particularly the acknowledgement that the face of the Anglican Communion is becoming more global than it was a century ago. An increasing number of Anglicans now live in what is known as the Global South – Africa, Asia, South America.

“I think the proposals are catching up to the reality of what the communion looks like,” said Mathews, who serves as canon to the ordinary of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut.

At the same time, many of those Global South provinces are pushing for structural changes to the Anglican Communion because their conservative leaders do not agree with the theology, doctrine and practices of more progressive provinces on human sexuality and other issues. Although most Global South provinces have pressed their objections in person at the ACC, Primates’ Meeting and Lambeth Conference, a few provinces’ bishops have refused for years to participate in any such gatherings attended by leaders of The Episcopal Church and other provinces that have consecrated gay and lesbian bishops and blessed or married same-sex couples.

In February 2023, theologically conservative Anglicans amplified their calls for structural changes after the Church of England’s General Synod endorsed a plan to offer same-sex blessings in England’s churches.

Days later, the ACC convened its latest meeting in Accra, Ghana. Then-Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, in his opening remarks, responded to the growing tensions by called for greater egalitarianism in how the Anglican Communion’s 42 provinces relate to each other. The Instruments of Communion “have never had either doctrinal or ethical authority, but they have moral force,” Welby said, and he asserted that they continue to offer “the way forward in mutual help where country comes after obedience to God.”

Later in the meeting, ACC members from 38 provinces, including The Episcopal Church, adopted a resolution on “good differentiation” that endorsed efforts “to explore theological questions regarding structure and decision-making to help address our differences in the Anglican Communion.”

After the ACC concluded its meeting, conservative archbishops issued a letter rejecting the continuation of the archbishop of Canterbury’s historic leadership role in the worldwide communion as the “first among equals.” In opposing the Church of England’s decision on same-sex blessings, they said they would “expeditiously meet, consult and work with other orthodox primates in the Anglican Church across the nations to re-set the Communion on its biblical foundation.”

Welby has since resigned over his handling of an unrelated scandal. The challenge of maintaining Anglican Communion unity is likely to remain a top priority when his successor is chosen, a process that is now underway.

In the meantime, IASCUFO is preparing its Nairobi-Cairo Proposals for presentation to the ACC at its next meeting, to be hosted by the Church of Ireland in June and July 2026. The commission did not specifically intend its proposals to address the concerns of the Global South bishops, Tomlin said, though the changes may allow all provinces to find ways to stay connected despite their differences.

“What we propose is not trying to solve the problems of the communion,” Tomlin told ENS. “What we are proposing is a structure that might give an opportunity for the communion to hold together while those problems work themselves out over time.”

Initial reactions to the proposals, however, have not dispelled uncertainty about the provinces’ ability to “walk together,” as Welby had encouraged them to do. Conservative bishops have expressed less interest in maintaining unity than in doctrinal conformity, based in their interpretation of Scripture as condemning homosexuality.

“We cannot walk together in sin,” South Sudan Archbishop Justin Badi said in a June 2024 address to the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, or GSFA, which he chairs. “Unless there is repentance by those who have gone astray, we cannot have unity at the expense of God’s life-giving truth.”

Though Badi spoke while the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals were still in development, the GSFA has not softened its position since the proposals’ release. They will be reviewed by the GSFA’s Faith & Order Commission to develop a response consistent with members’ shared beliefs, Badi said in a March 2025 message.

“In contrast to the IASCUFO recommendation of an ‘ecumenical’ pattern of Communion relationships,” Badi said, the GFSA “recognizes that the ‘fellowship of Christ’s religion’ requires the discernment of truth from error, of that which is according to Christ and that which is contrary to Christ.”

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe has been more receptive to the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals, which he thinks could help strengthen the Anglican Communion in its shared mission. “These relationships across the communion could be world-changing,” Rowe said in an interview last month with The Living Church for its podcast.

The proposed changes “give us some really interesting things to think about,” Rowe said. “I really think the proposal of sharing primacy in a post-colonial context is really interesting, what that might mean and what’s the role of the ACC going forward. I think this is good work.”

Mathews, the Episcopal Church ACC member, expressed similar hope in his interview with ENS, including that all 42 provinces may return to the table to discuss the Anglican Communion’s future.

“I always hold out hope that members and member churches might come back and realize what a gift the communion is,” Mathews said. The proposals may not resolve any doctrinal differences, but “I still think it’s a movement forward.”

“The Episcopal Church is still going to show up as we are,” he continued. “How do we continue to extend hands to folks who do not agree with us or do not share an understanding around theology?”

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