Global Anglicans declare ‘second reformation’ as CofE rejects Scripture

The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON) has declared itself to be the true “household of faithful Anglicans” in light of the Church of England’s departure from biblical teachings.

Following GAFCON’s creation of the Global Anglican Council as an alternative authority to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of Rwanda Archbishop Laurent Mbanda clarified that the Global Anglican Communion is “not a new Communion, but the historic Anglican Communion reordered from within”.

Based on assent to a shared confession set out in the Jerusalem Declaration, Anglican churches both inside and outside of the Church of England have been able to participate in the Global Anglican Communion since October.

‘False teaching’

Outlining the statement in the The Abuja Affirmation, the Most Revd Mbanda said: “The Church of England was reformed by Thomas Cranmer, leaving the errors of the Church of Rome behind. Like Cranmer, we are reforming the Communion from within and leaving the Canterbury Instruments behind.”

“Reordering the Anglican Communion is now necessary, because a significant number of provinces who claim to be Anglican have abandoned the authority of Scripture and failed to follow Christ faithfully. While matters of human sexuality are one expression of this, this is merely symptomatic of doctrinal and moral departures from the teaching of Scripture.”

He highlighted that the Bible is “clear, sufficient and true for all times”, yet Canterbury has reframed “the rejection of Scripture’s authority and clarity as ‘good disagreement’, and not what it really is – false teaching”.

“The former Archbishop of Canterbury welcomed the provision of liturgical resources for the Church of England to bless people who had entered same-sex civil marriages. The current Archbishop of Canterbury led the ‘Living in Love and Faith’ project that produced these liturgical resources for the Church of England. The moral and spiritual authority of the Seat of Augustine has been severely compromised by this.”

‘Unbiblical’

Last year, GAFCON rejected the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury-designate Dame Sarah Mullally over her “unbiblical and revisionist teachings regarding marriage and sexual morality”.

As Bishop of London, Dame Sarah led the Living in Love and Faith Next Steps Group, which promoted controversial resources that called into question the Church’s traditional teaching on “identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage”.

Following a 2023 bishops’ report that recommended allowing clergy to bless same-sex couples, she also claimed that “stable, faithful relationships” between two men or two women could be blessed.

Dame Sarah, who is the first woman to be appointed to the position, is expected to be installed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury on 25 March.