UK Church Schism Looms with Female Archbishop

Sarah Mullally has been the Bishop of London since 2018 and in January 2026 she will become Archbishop of Canterbury, which in practice means the head of the Church of England and also the ceremonial leader of the Anglican Communion, which is mainly found in the former British colonies. Photo: Archbishop of Canterbury

The move has provoked Anglicans in other parts of the world. One observer believes the matter could lead to a split in the Anglican church.

The new archbishop is called Sarah Mullally and has until now been the bishop of London.

The Anglican Church is originally the Church of England, the church that emerged when Henry VIII in the 1530s broke with the Catholic Church in Rome and made himself the head of English Christendom.

The Anglican Church is not only found in the British Isles, however. Canada and Australia have their own Anglican churches. The United States has its own; the so-called “Episcopal” church. Several former British colonies in Africa have theirs, including Nigeria and Kenya. There is also an Anglican Church for “South India”.

The Anglican churches in the world have developed in different directions in recent years, especially in terms of what has been called a liberalization of theology and liturgy. Many of the Anglican churches, especially those in the West, have accepted and introduced “liberal” changes in the liturgy: female priests and bishops and “climate change” while the General Synod voted to allow priests to offer a new service of blessing for same-sex couples who have had a civil marriage.

But not all Anglicans have become liberal. The churches in Africa in particular have shown themselves unwilling to accept and allow in liberal theology and liturgy.

Open opposition to liberalism emerged in 2008. A number of critical Anglican churches, particularly in what was previously the Third World, met then and formed GAFCON, a global international for Anglican churches that do not accept liberalization.

GAFCON has now issued a statement on the decision of the English Anglican Church to elevate a female bishop to the rank of archbishop. It is critical on several points. Firstly, Sarah Mullally is unfit for office as a person, since she promised to counteract the spread of “heresy” in her responsibility and then failed to do so. She is also a woman. GAFCON considers it unbiblical and incompatible with Christian tradition for a woman to act as a priest and bishop.

A Christian American YouTube vlogger, “Ready to harvest,” is following developments among Anglicans. He assumes that GAFCON will decide at an upcoming meeting to no longer remain in communion with the English Anglican Church. Such a decision would be tantamount to a church schism among Anglicans.