What is the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON)?

In October 2025, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), a fellowship of conservative Anglicans, formalized a schism by rejecting the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Communion’s traditional governing bodies. This declaration was the culmination of a fifty-year fracture over theology, authority, and the legacy of colonialism. It will result in a fundamental reordering of the global Anglican landscape.

The decades-long conflict pits the conservative GAFCON and the related Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA)—representing the majority of Anglicans around the world—against the progressive provinces of the Global North, chiefly The Episcopal Church (TEC) in the United States and the Church of England (CofE). The schism is the result of an irreconcilable dispute over biblical authority, a post-colonial power shift that has moved the denomination’s center of gravity to the Global South, and the failure of the communion’s institutions to manage these tensions.

The Anglican Communion has undergone a major demographic transformation. In 1900 over 80 percent of Anglicans lived in Great Britain; today, a clear majority reside in the Global South, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. This shift created a contradiction: the numerical majority and evangelical vitality of the communion now reside in the growing churches of Africa and Asia, while institutional power and financial influence remain centered in the declining churches of the Global North. The rejection of the archbishop’s authority is therefore more than a theological dispute; it is also a post-colonial declaration of independence from an authority structure that no longer reflects the faith of most Anglicans.

The immediate cause of the split in Anglicanism is a deep theological divide over the authority and interpretation of the Bible, with human sexuality as the presenting issue. The conservative GAFCON/GSFA bloc insists on the supreme authority of Scripture, read in its “plain and canonical sense” (from the 2008 Jerusalem Declaration, Article II). In contrast, progressive provinces have adopted interpretive methods that integrate modern reason and experience, allowing them to depart from traditional teachings.

The conflict crystallized around sexuality. The 1998 Lambeth Conference passed Resolution 1.10, which rejected homosexual practice “as incompatible with Scripture” and defined marriage as a union “between a man and a woman.” For conservatives, this was a definitive statement of Anglican orthodoxy. Despite the resolution, the Episcopal Church in 2003 consecrated Gene Robinson as an openly gay bishop and in 2015 approved same-sex marriage liturgies. The final straw came in February 2023, when the Church of England voted to authorize blessings for same-sex couples, a move conservatives saw as a total abandonment of biblical faithfulness.

The schism was sealed by the repeated failure of the Anglican Communion’s officials to resolve the conflict. After TEC’s 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson, the communion’s “Instruments” proved unable to enact meaningful discipline, leading conservatives to form GAFCON in 2008. Their doctrinal standard was articulated in the Jerusalem Declaration, published that same year. The subsequent decade was marked by a state of “impaired communion,” an ambiguous status that acknowledged deep disagreement but stopped short of formal schism.

The Church of England’s 2023 decision to bless same-sex unions triggered the final break. GSFA primates immediately declared they no longer recognized the Archbishop of Canterbury as “first among equals.” The appointment of the progressive Bishop Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop in October 2025—whose gender and support for same-sex blessings were unacceptable to conservatives—confirmed for GAFCON that Canterbury’s leadership was irredeemable. Days later, GAFCON formally rejected all existing Instruments of Communion and announced the formation of its own “Global Anglican Communion.”

The events of 2023—2025 have created two distinct global bodies claiming the Anglican heritage. The GAFCON-led Global Anglican Communion defines itself confessionally, with unity based on shared doctrine. It does not see itself as leaving the communion, as stated in a letter by the archbishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, who is also chairman of the GAFCON Primates’ Council: “We have not left the Anglican Communion; we are the Anglican Communion” (Dr Laurent Mbanda, October 16, 2025).

The Global Anglican Communion believes it is doing the important work of restoring Anglicanism to a biblical foundation. The provinces remaining in communion with Canterbury now form a smaller, predominantly liberal fellowship, united by historic and institutional ties. This permanent realignment reflects the profound challenges facing historic, Western-led denominations in a changing world.