Bishop Sarah Mullally will be installed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury in March 2026. (Photo: Diocese of London)
The appointment of Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury is “a missed opportunity to reunite and reform the Anglican Communion”, Global South Anglicans have said.
The appointment of Mullally, the current Bishop of London, was announced on Friday.
She will become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury and the first ever woman to hold the position when she is installed at Canterbury Cathedral next March.
She previously led the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith consultation on marriage, sexuality and gender identity which paved the way for its approval of same-sex blessings.
Her appointment has been contentious among conservative Anglicans because of her liberal views on marriage and sexuality.
After the Church of England’s General Synod approved same-sex blessings in February 2023, Mullally called it a “moment of hope” for the Church. She also told a reporter that “stable, faithful relationships” between two men or two women could be blessed, in clear contradiction to historic Christian teaching and the Church of England’s own official doctrines.
The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) has added its voice to other traditionalist Anglicans who have responded to her appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury with disappointment.
GSFA Chairman and South Sudan Primate, Archbishop Justin Badi Arama, said that her endorsement of the Church of England’s same-sex blessings meant that the GSFA would have to adopt the same stance as it did with her predecessor, Justin Welby. The GSFA formally rejected him as spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion after he backed the blessings.
“While we shall of course pray for Bishop Mullally as she assumes this historic position, we feel compelled to say that we feel this appointment is a missed opportunity to reunite and reform the Anglican Communion,” said Archbishop Badi.
“In June, we issued an open letter to the Crown Nominations Commission urging that ‘the next Archbishop of Canterbury should be someone who will uphold the orthodox faith shared by the great majority of global Anglicans’.
“So we are deeply saddened that the person still perceived by many to be the spiritual leader of now some 100 million Anglicans worldwide has played a leading role in the Church of England’s departure from Anglican tradition and the clear teaching of Scripture in matters of marriage and sexuality.”
Archbishop Badi went on to say that the GSFA’s position was unchanged and that it was not able to recognise the Archbishop of Canterbury as the ‘first among equals’ leader of the Anglican Communion.
“Grievous though this turn of events is, it is not unexpected and is one further symptom of the crisis of faith and authority that has afflicted the Anglican Communion for the past quarter of a century,” he said.
“To remedy this, the GSFA offers to all orthodox Provinces a framework of covenanted relationships, rooted in an explicit commitment to orthodox Anglican doctrine and mutual accountability which we commend to the whole Communion as a matter of urgency.
“Only in this way, we believe, will it be possible to restore confidence, clarity and unity as we continue to obey our Lord’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.”
Bishop Andy Lines, Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE), which is aligned with Gafcon, said the appointment of Bishop Mullally “demonstrates the imposition of the worldview of elites from the Western world rather than a desire to engage with and unite faithful Anglicans from different cultures for the sake of gospel mission”.
“Anglican churches, Dioceses and Provinces around the world which are growing and thriving are those which adhere to traditional Christian teaching,” he said.
“There are many such congregations which remain in the Church of England. Our prayers and support are with them as they decide what to do in the face of this appointment.”
The ANiE is a separate jurisdiction from the Canterbury structures and has oversight by the orthodox Gafcon movement, which came out strongly against Mullally’s appointment on Friday.
Gafcon Chairman, Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, called on her to “repent” over her support for same-sex blessings, saying that otherwise orthodox Anglicans would not be able to recognise her leadership.
“This appointment abandons global Anglicans, as the Church of England has chosen a leader who will further divide an already split Communion,” he said.
Archbishop Mbanda continued, “Since the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury has failed to guard the faith and is complicit in introducing practices and beliefs that violate both the ‘plain and canonical sense’ of Scripture and ‘the Church’s historic and consensual’ interpretation of it (Jerusalem Statement), she cannot provide leadership to the Anglican Communion.”
Bishop Lines echoed these sentiments, saying that a “large majority” of the Anglican Communion “will not be able to work with Dame Sarah in her new role because of her support for ‘unbiblical and revisionist teachings regarding marriage and sexual morality’, and more broadly, the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s track record of departure from key aspects of historic Christian doctrine and ethics”.
Sarah Mullally’s appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury is a ‘missed opportunity’, say Global South Anglicans
