The Future of the Anglican Communion? part 1
Summary: This article analyses the significant developments emerging from the March 2026 GAFCON gathering in Nigeria arguing that a key feature of its Abuja Affirmation is not what it includes, but what it omits: any reference to the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA). This “is…a significant missing piece of the complex Anglican Communion jigsaw” because GSFA and GAFCON have shared overlapping leadership and previously articulated “complementary roles” in resetting the Communion.
Drawing on GAFCON’s own Kigali 2023 commitments—which heralded renewed partnership, with GAFCON as a mission movement and GSFA as the ecclesial body tasked with “establishing doctrinally based structures within the Communion”—the article highlights how Abuja marks a departure from that shared vision. It traces the path to Abuja, showing how a subset of GAFCON leaders, largely from provinces long disengaged from the Instruments of Communion, drove the shift.
It then explores two major developments in The Abuja Affirmation relating to GAFCON’s leadership: the dissolution of the Primates Council in favour of a new Global Anglican Council, and a new requirement that GAFCON leaders must practise “principled disengagement” from all Canterbury-led Instruments.
The article shows that GAFCON has redefined its identity and leadership boundaries, placing pressure on GAFCON provinces that continue to engage with Communion structures. This may result either in a depleted Canterbury-aligned Communion or a reduced GAFCON leadership, while GSFA will likely continue developing its own distinct ecclesial vision within a reconfiguring global Anglican landscape.
