Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans

The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, commonly known as GAFCON, is an international fellowship of Anglican provinces, dioceses, networks, and affiliated churches associated with the Confessing Anglican movement. It emerged from the Global Anglican Future Conference held near Jerusalem in June 2008. The conference brought together conservative Anglican leaders who opposed theological developments in parts of the worldwide Anglican Communion, particularly the ordination of an openly non-celibate gay bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States and the authorization or discussion of same-sex blessings and marriage. The movement's foundational document, the Jerusalem Declaration, presents a conservative account of Anglican identity, biblical authority, doctrine, and moral teaching. The 2008 conference called for a fellowship of confessing Anglicans that could maintain orthodox Anglican teaching and provide support to congregations and clergy who believed that their existing provincial or diocesan structures had departed from it. The organization initially operated under the name Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and adopted the GAFCON name in 2017, linking the continuing movement to the original conference. GAFCON has been particularly influential in Africa and Asia, while also supporting conservative Anglican structures in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. It played an important role in the formation of the Anglican Church in North America in 2009 and helped support later alternative or breakaway structures, including the Anglican Network in Europe, the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand, and the Diocese of the Southern Cross in Australia. Its network includes established Anglican provinces as well as branches and emerging jurisdictions serving Anglicans dissatisfied with official structures. The fellowship is governed by a primatial leadership body and operates through conferences, regional branches, affiliated provinces, and networks. Its stated objectives include proclaiming the biblical gospel, supporting faithful Anglicans, and extending the principles articulated at GAFCON gatherings. The movement recognizes the Jerusalem Declaration as a contemporary statement of its theological commitments. Its internal membership is not uniform on every issue: approaches to the ordination of women vary substantially among member churches, although the movement has generally maintained a conservative position on episcopal orders and human sexuality. GAFCON's size claims have been contested. The organization has claimed to represent more than 85 percent of practising Anglicans worldwide, while peer-reviewed demographic research has produced substantially lower estimates for the proportion represented by GAFCON-aligned provinces. These differing figures reflect the difficulty of comparing nominal membership, baptized membership, self-identification, and regular participation across Anglican provinces. In 2025 and 2026, GAFCON entered a new phase of institutional conflict with the Canterbury-based Anglican Communion. Its chairman, Laurent Mbanda, said that the fellowship had broken with the existing leadership arrangements while also insisting that it had not abandoned Anglican communion. GAFCON communications described the movement as the authentic or continuing Anglican Communion and rejected the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Anglican Communion's Primates' Meeting. In March 2026, its member churches chose not to appoint a rival primus inter pares and instead reorganized the existing Primates' Council as the Global Anglican Council. These developments remain central to the fellowship's evolving institutional identity.

GAFCON developed from a series of disputes over authority, doctrine, sexuality, and ecclesial recognition within the Anglican Communion. The immediate background included the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson, an openly non-celibate gay bishop, by the Episcopal Church in the United States. Conservative leaders, especially from Africa and Asia, regarded this and subsequent debates over same-sex blessings as evidence of a wider doctrinal crisis. In June 2008, conservative Anglican leaders and delegates met near Jerusalem for the first Global Anglican Future Conference. The meeting was organized as an alternative to the 2008 Lambeth Conference, which many traditionalists chose not to attend. Its final statement retained respect for the historic role of the Archbishop of Canterbury but rejected the idea that recognition by Canterbury was the defining basis of Anglican identity. Delegates adopted the Jerusalem Declaration and proposed a Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. The founding network included Anglican provinces and churches in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and emerging jurisdictions elsewhere. The Anglican Diocese of Sydney was particularly important in the movement's early administration, and Archbishop Peter Jensen became the fellowship's first secretary. In 2009, GAFCON-related leaders helped establish the Anglican Church in North America, which served Anglicans who had separated from or opposed official structures in the United States and Canada. Regional organization followed. A British Isles branch launched in 2009 and later became GAFCON GB & Europe. Its activities contributed to the creation of the Anglican Network in Europe and supported conservative evangelical initiatives in England. A South African branch was established in 2009 and brought together Anglicans from the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa, and the Traditional Anglican Communion. In 2016, GAFCON New Zealand was launched through conferences in Auckland and Christchurch. The Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand followed in 2019, with Jay Behan as its inaugural bishop. In Australia, GAFCON support contributed to the creation of the Diocese of the Southern Cross in 2022 after disagreements within the Anglican Church of Australia over same-sex marriage and related questions. The movement's internal debates have included the ordination of women. Member churches have adopted different rules: some ordain women as deacons, priests, or bishops, while others restrict ordination to men or permit women only in certain orders. In 2016, Elizabeth Awut Ngor became the first woman bishop among GAFCON member churches through the Episcopal Church of Sudan. A 2018 moratorium on further ordinations of women as bishops reflected continuing sensitivity around the issue, although Kenya later consecrated women bishops and Uganda affirmed that women could be ordained bishops. GAFCON's membership and numerical influence have been disputed. Its own communications have claimed that it represents more than 85 percent of practising Anglicans, whereas academic research has estimated that GAFCON-aligned provinces account for approximately 45 percent of practising Anglicans and slightly more than half of baptized members in Anglican provinces. Further research has also challenged the membership figures reported by some large member churches, illustrating the distinction between nominal and active affiliation. The appointment of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury in 2025 intensified the institutional dispute. GAFCON criticized the appointment, citing Mullally's views on same-sex blessings and arguing that the Church of England had surrendered its leadership role. Some opposition also reflected disagreement over women in senior episcopal office, although Church of Uganda Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba said his objection was based on theological and policy issues rather than Mullally's gender. In October 2025, Laurent Mbanda declared that GAFCON was the authentic Anglican Communion and rejected the authority of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting. GAFCON simultaneously maintained that it was not leaving the Anglican Communion, describing its position as continuity or reorganization. In March 2026, meetings in Abuja resulted in the decision not to elect a rival primus inter pares. Instead, the movement reorganized its existing primatial leadership as the Global Anglican Council. This marked a major constitutional and ecclesiological development, though the ultimate relationship between GAFCON and the historic Anglican Communion remains contested.

• 2026

  Global Anglican Council established

  [1]Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicansen.wikipedia.org

  GAFCON replaced its Primates' Council with a Global Anglican Council rather than electing a rival primus inter pares.

• 2025

  GAFCON asserts institutional primacy

  [1]Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicansen.wikipedia.org

  The movement rejected Canterbury-based Anglican governance while describing itself as the authentic or continuing Anglican Communion.

• 2022

  Diocese of the Southern Cross formed

  [1]Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicansen.wikipedia.org

  GAFCON helped support the creation of an alternative Australian Anglican diocese amid disputes over same-sex marriage and related doctrine.

• 2019

  Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand established

  [1]Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicansen.wikipedia.org

  A new confessing Anglican church was established in New Zealand following earlier GAFCON regional activity.

• 2017

  Movement rebranded as GAFCON

  [1]Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicansen.wikipedia.org

  The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans adopted the GAFCON identity associated with the 2008 conference.

• 2009

  Anglican Church in North America formed

  [1]Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicansen.wikipedia.org

  GAFCON-related leaders helped establish ACNA as an alternative Anglican province in North America.

• 2009

  British Isles and South African branches established

  [1]Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicansen.wikipedia.org

  The movement expanded through regional structures in the British Isles and South Africa.

• 2008

  First Global Anglican Future Conference

  [1]Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicansen.wikipedia.org

  Conservative Anglican leaders met near Jerusalem, adopted the Jerusalem Declaration, and initiated the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.

A global conservative Anglican fellowship emphasizing biblical authority, historic Anglican doctrine, opposition to same-sex blessings and marriage, and support for churches and clergy aligned with the Confessing Movement.

• International religious conference · 2008

  Global Anglican Future Conference

  The conference platform from which the movement originated. GAFCON gatherings bring together conservative Anglican bishops, clergy, and lay representatives to discuss doctrine, mission, ecclesial structures, and the future of global Anglicanism.

• Theological declaration · 2008

  Jerusalem Declaration

  A statement adopted at the first GAFCON meeting that sets out the movement's understanding of Scripture, historic Anglican formularies, Christian mission, and moral teaching. It functions as a contemporary doctrinal reference for the fellowship.

• Church network · 2009

  Regional GAFCON branches

  Regional fellowships connect member churches, clergy, and congregations in areas where conservatives seek mutual support or alternative Anglican structures. Examples include branches in Great Britain and Europe, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia.

• 2016GAFCON New Zealand launch

  New Zealand

  Conferences in Auckland and Christchurch organized a national GAFCON network in response to proposals concerning same-sex marriage within the local Anglican church.

  Outcome. The Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand was established in 2019.

  Source
• 2009Alternative Anglican structures in North America

  United States · Canada

  GAFCON supported Anglicans seeking a conservative alternative to existing Anglican structures in North America.

  Outcome. The Anglican Church in North America was formed.

  Source
• 2008Jerusalem Declaration and confessing Anglican fellowship

  Global

  GAFCON's founding initiative established a shared theological declaration and a continuing network for Anglicans who opposed perceived doctrinal revision within the Anglican Communion.

  Outcome. The initiative became the institutional basis for the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and later GAFCON.

  Source

• 2026

  Replace the Primates' Council with a Global Anglican CouncilStrategy

  Background

  GAFCON considered creating a rival primatial office but faced differing views among member churches over institutional design and the role of a primus inter pares.

  Action taken

  The movement decided not to elect a rival primus inter pares and reorganized its existing Primates' Council as the Global Anglican Council.

  Aftermath

  GAFCON presented the change as an act of continuity and reorganization rather than a departure from Anglicanism.

  Source

• 2025

  Reject Canterbury-based Anglican governanceStrategy

  Background

  GAFCON opposed the appointment of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury and criticized the Anglican Communion's handling of doctrine and discipline.

  Action taken

  GAFCON declared itself the authentic Anglican Communion and rejected several Canterbury-based institutions while stating that it remained within Anglican communion.

  Aftermath

  The movement announced plans to reorganize its leadership and intensified the dispute over recognition and authority within global Anglicanism.

  Source

• 2018

  Moratorium on further ordinations of women as bishopsStrategy

  Background

  Member churches held different positions on women's ordination, and the issue continued to divide the fellowship.

  Action taken

  GAFCON primatial leaders agreed to pause further ordinations of women to the episcopate.

  Aftermath

  The policy coexisted with differing practices among member churches, including later episcopal consecrations of women in Kenya.

  Source

• 2017

  Adopt the GAFCON brandStrategy

  Background

  The original Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans had developed from the 2008 Global Anglican Future Conference and its expanding regional network.

  Action taken

  The movement adopted GAFCON as its principal public identity.

  Aftermath

  The conference name became the umbrella identity for the international fellowship and its regional branches.

  Source

1. 1Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicansen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Official GAFCON websitegafcon.org