By KT Reporter
G Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) has condemned the Church of England’s appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury. It accuses the appointing of betraying scriptural principles cherished by most of the worldwide communion.
The announcement, made on Friday marked a seismic shift for the centuries-old institution by elevating Mullally, currently Bishop of London and a former nurse. She has climbed the symbolic helm of the 85-million-member Anglican Communion.
GAFCON, a coalition of orthodox provinces primarily from Africa and Asia representing over half of global Anglicans said Mullally’s appointment signals the “abandonment” of traditional leadership norms.
“Though there are some who will welcome the decision to appoint Bishop Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, the majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy,” the statement signed by the Most Reverend Laurent Mbanda, Chairman, Gafcon Primates Council reads in part.
In the statement, the Archbishop of Rwanda, accus the Church of England of “relinquishing its authority to lead” by prioritizing progressive reforms over unity, further eroding the Archbishop of Canterbury’s role as “first among equals.”
This controversy erupts amid a broader Anglican realignment, where GAFCON, formed in 2008 in Jerusalem as a bulwark against liberal shifts on issues like sexuality and gender roles, has positioned itself as the Communion’s true guardian of orthodoxy.
The group’s primates have long debated women’s ordination, imposing a moratorium on female bishops in 2017 to preserve unity, though exceptions have emerged in member churches like Kenya and South Sudan.
The letter escalates the tension, calling for repentance from Mullally and rallying GAFCON bishops for a major assembly in Abuja, Nigeria, next March to “reset” the Communion’s future.
The statement comes as Uganda, home to one of GAFCON’s most influential provinces, moves closer to appointing female bishops. The province has long criticized Western Anglican innovations, but the road to female episcopal leadership has been shaped by decades of debate, balancing scriptural conservatism with calls for inclusion.
The journey began in the 1980s, when Uganda became one of the first Anglican provinces to ordain women as priests. Bishop Festo Kivengere of Kigezi Diocese led the effort, ordaining the first four female deacons in 1972 and the first three women priests in 1983, nearly a decade before the Church of England followed in 1994. Despite these milestones, women clergy faced persistent challenges in ministry.
Pioneers such as Monica Sebidega, Deborah Micungwa Rukara, and Margaret Kizanye Byekwaso broke barriers when they weer ordained by Bishop William Rukirande in 1983. Formal legislation approving the ordination of women as priests was adopted in 1990, according to Gilbert Ogwang’s 2024 paper.
By the 1990s, women were serving in parishes, seminaries, and as canons, raising hopes for female bishops. The provincial canons of the church of Uganda as amended in 2018 allowed women to attain all leadership positions in church including the ecclesiastical position of the Bishop.
During Easter Sunday address in 2022, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba, a GAFCON stalwart, said, “The time is ripe… These females have served well everywhere they have been deployed. They can certainly make good bishops if it’s the will of God.”
Writing for the Uganda Church Association newsletter in 2014, Rev Amos Kasibate noted that reasons used to oppose the ordination of women to the priesthood or their appointment as bishops are based on a particular interpretation of the Bible and orthodoxy or tradition.
“It was argued, for example, that Jesus’ Twelve Apostles were all men and that they are representative of ordained ministry in the Church. Some have used texts in the New Testament to suggest that women should not have authority as a priest or bishops. Another hindrance was fear that ordaining women as bishops would cause a split in the Church…,” Rev Kasibate noted.
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