Senior clergy aligned with the conservative Anglican movement have gathered in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, for a high-level meeting that could reshape leadership within the global Anglican community. The gathering comes amid deep disagreements over the appointment of Sarah Mullally as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to hold the historic office.
The meeting is being convened by leaders associated with the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), a network of largely conservative Anglican churches, many of them based in Africa and Asia. Delegates are expected to consider establishing an alternative leadership structure or appointing a figure who could act as a rival focal point to the Archbishop of Canterbury, a role traditionally regarded as the spiritual centre of the global Anglican Communion.
Mullally, 63, formally assumed the office of Archbishop of Canterbury in January 2026 following a legal confirmation ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. She succeeded Justin Welby and became the first woman to lead the Church of England in the position’s more than 1,400-year history.
Before her appointment, Mullally served as the Bishop of London from 2018 and previously worked in the British healthcare system, including as Chief Nursing Officer for England. She was ordained as a priest in the early 2000s after a career in nursing.
As Archbishop of Canterbury, she also holds the role of Primate of All England and is widely viewed as the symbolic spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes tens of millions of believers across more than 160 countries.
Her appointment has sharpened longstanding divisions within global Anglicanism, particularly between more liberal Western churches and conservative provinces in Africa and parts of Asia.
One central issue concerns the ordination of women to senior leadership roles. While the Church of England began ordaining female priests in 1994 and female bishops in 2015, some Anglican provinces continue to reject women serving as bishops or archbishops, arguing that such roles conflict with traditional interpretations of scripture.
Another point of contention involves sexuality and church doctrine. The new Archbishop of Canterbury supported the Church of England’s 2023 decision to allow prayers that bless same-sex couples in civil partnerships or marriages. Although the measure stopped short of recognising same-sex marriage within the church, conservative leaders argued it represents a departure from historic Anglican teaching on marriage.
These disagreements have increasingly strained the unity of the Anglican Communion, particularly between Western churches and influential Anglican provinces such as those in Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda, where church leaders hold strongly traditional views on theology and church governance.
Mullally’s leadership has also drawn scrutiny over safeguarding procedures during her tenure as Bishop of London. Critics have raised concerns about how a complaint involving alleged clerical misconduct was handled within the diocese.
A formal complaint connected to the matter was reviewed by church authorities but dismissed in January 2026. Nevertheless, wider debates about safeguarding failures within the Church of England continue to influence perceptions of church leadership and accountability.
The Abuja gathering reflects the growing confidence of conservative Anglican leaders who argue that the demographic centre of Anglicanism now lies in the Global South rather than in Britain under the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Some GAFCON leaders maintain that their churches represent a majority of practising Anglicans worldwide and therefore believe leadership structures should reflect that reality. Discussions at the meeting include creating a council-based leadership model that could serve as an alternative authority within the Anglican world.
If implemented, such a move would represent one of the most serious institutional fractures in Anglican history, potentially challenging centuries of tradition in which the Archbishop of Canterbury has functioned as the Communion’s unifying figure.
The Anglican Communion has faced tensions over doctrine and governance for more than two decades, particularly following debates on sexuality, gender roles and church authority. The emergence of rival leadership structures to that of the new Archbishop of Canterbury could deepen those divisions and reshape relationships among Anglican provinces.
For now, the church leaders gathered in Abuja face a delicate task of balancing theological convictions with the question of whether a global communion built on historic ties can remain united amid sharply different visions for the future of Anglican Christianity.