First Female Appointed Archbishop Of Canterbury, Steps Into A Troubled Church Of England, Beset By Division & Shame

Dame Sarah Mullally

In a historic move, the Church of England/(Anglican) has appointed a woman to be the Archbishop of Canterbury. 63 year old Dame Sarah Mullally former United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS) midwive and NHS Chief nurse, appointed as the first female Bishop of London in 2018, is now appointed the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. The first ever woman to hold such position of leadership in the Church of England. Mullally is now the Spiritual leader of the Global Anglican Communion boasting of eighty- five (85 million) members* . And two-thirds of the membership, that is, fifty- seven (57million) members of them are in mother continent - Africa.

Trouble In Church
Anglican or Church of England is in trouble because of a number of factors. According to statistics, Anglican is experiencing a dwindling in the number of its membership especially in its Western provinces.

"The COVID-19 pandemic saw a significant decline in church attendance, marking a radical discontinuity even with previous downward trends" , Anglican Church of Canada statistics officer revealed.

Adding more complications to the church is the issue regarding gays and lesbians members of the Church of England. Also, the position of the Church in handling same- sex marriages and the ordination of homosexual clergy in the Church continue to be a source of cultural and theological division within the Church of England between it's Western provinces and Asian & African provinces.

Anglican Realignment
Due to these cultural and theological divisions, a more conservative wing (mostly Asian & African provinces have been and have broke away from the "Mother Church" that is, Church of Canterbury - global leader of Anglican. This breaking away is described as Anglican Realignment. Breakaway groups like Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) have emerged , more conservative against the more liberal leaning Western Church of England. All these has promoted division and controversy within the Church of England.

Shameful Cover Ups
A crisis of trust and intergrity has hit the Church.This mistrust has it's genesis from the Church failure to deal or stop with issues of abuse within its walls. For decades allegations of abuse, child abuse and institutional cover- ups have plagued the Church of England. Justin Welby the then Archbishop of Canterbury had to resign in 2024 on how the church handled the allegations of serial sexual abuse by John Smyth. John Smyth in his sado- sexual activities is accused of having groomed and savagely beaten as many as 130 boys and young men in three countries across five decades spanning from the 1970s to 1980s. In 1984, Smyth was sent by the Church of England to Zimbabwe. Again, in Zimbabwe, Smyth was charged with the manslaughter of a 16 year old Zimbabwean boy" by the name Guide Nyachuru in December of 1992 and though never convicted, an incident Smyth later called an “unfortunate incident ”. An Independent Review Report led by Keith Makin published in 2024, described by one of Smyth victims, Bishop of Guildford Andrew Watson, saying:

"I want to express my deep sadness at all that has happened, and my admiration for those who have doggedly persevered in having the truth told. The report won’t make for easy reading for anyone involved: but it’s my hope and prayer that it might bring at least some measure of relief to Smyth’s victims – British and African, known and unknown"

While some 30 boys and young men are known to have been directly physically and psychologically abused in the UK - and around 85 boys and young men physically abused African countries, including South Africa and Zimbabwe - the total "likely runs much higher ", the report said. John Smyth has been described as the; "most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England". According to Makin Report published in 2024, the Church of England "knew of the abuse and failed to prevent further abuse".

"The Church knew about the abuses that John Smyth was doing. They should have stopped him. Had they stopped him, I think my brother_ [Guide Nyachuru] _would still be alive," Edith Nyachuru sister to Guide Nyachuru in an interview with the BBC, November, 2024.

Smyth, who left the UK for Zimbabwe in 1984, was accused of beating boys and young men and forcing them to strip naked. Smyth died in Cape Town in 2018 with a UK police investigation against him still ongoing.

Strong & Mixed Reaction To Mullally Appointment

Dame Sarah Mullally is
Dame Sarah Mullally in response to her appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury said she intended to be a "shepherd". According to the Telegraph, Mullally expressed a commitment to service, a desire to "listen deeply" to people and God, and a focus on bringing people together for hope and healing. Mullally acknowledged the Church of England's past failures in safeguarding (in line with shameful cover up of physical and sexual abuse within church walls), stating that the Church of England/ Anglican had left "a legacy of deep harm and mistrust "

Low Key Congratulations From The Vatican

The Vatican offered muted congratulations (showing little enthusiasm or interest) to Mullally appointment.And its not surprising because these two churches, the Catholic & Anglican, theologically differ on the role of women in their respective churches. Cardinal Kurt Koch of Vatican department n promoting Christian Unity said the Catholic & Anglican churches,

"have grown greatly in mutual understanding and affection" , despite,

"occasional tensions", between them.
Theological Tensions Between Anglican & Catholic

And the most serious of such tensions is on the role of women in the two churches. In the Catholic church women are barred from ordination but in the Anglican Church, since 1994, women have been allowed to be ordained since 1994 and the first female Bishop came twenty years later in 2024.

Thrilling Development
The Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba had this to say on appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally;

"The historic appointment of the first woman is a thrilling development "

This church of Southern Africa, called the appointment "historic"

further stating that,
"we heartily welcome the announcement"

And Bishop Emily Onyango ordained as a Bishop in Kenya described the news that Dame Sarah Mullally is now to be ordained as the Spiritual Leader of Global Anglican church as a "new dawn"

Telling BBC Focus, Onyango hit on GAFCON'S view of being against ordination of women as neither theologically nor biblically sound, but more patriarchal which is not very useful to the church"

Bishop Onyango heaped praises on Dame Sarah Mullally describing her as,

"a humble person who listens, which is what the church needs. When you have a hardline stance and don't listen to people, then there are a lot of problems".

Placing Bishop Onyango at odds with Archbishop of her county, Kenya,who happens to be part of GAFCON's leadership opposed to appointment of Mullally. Indeed, a divided church.

Sadness & Dismay
The more conservative wing of the Church of England was not at all amused by the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally to be the Archbishop of Canterbury and to be the Spiritual leader of the Global Anglican Church. Responding to the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury, Gafcon said,

"Today’s announcement (Mullally next Archbishop of Canterbury) will cause sadness and dismay among Anglicans worldwide ".

GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) views the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury with sorrow and opposition, stating it abandons global Anglicans by choosing a leader who supports same-sex couple blessings and a female episcopate, which GAFCON believes violates biblical teaching . The group contends this appointment signals Canterbury's loss of authority to lead the Global Anglican Communion and asserts that the responsibility for guiding the Communion now rests with GAFCON. GAFCON leaders also called on Mullally to repent and return to orthodox teachings .

Rejected
GAFCON declared that the Archbishop of Canterbury can

"no longer function as a credible leader of Anglicans" and by appointing Mullally, the "Mother Church" that is, the"Church of Canterbury" has relinquished its authority to lead" the Anglican Global Communion. The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) went on to warn that has expressed “sorrow” at the announcement warning that her appointment“abandons global Anglicans” and will “further divide an already split communion.

Chairman of Gafcon Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, said the Archbishop of Canterbury can

“no longer function as a credible leader of Anglicans, let alone a focus of unity",

The chairman cited its 2023 Kigali Commitment in which it declared it would

“no longer recognise the Archbishop of Canterbury as an Instrument of Communion".

"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… she cannot provide leadership to the Anglican Communion”, GAFCON emphasized.

Whats Next For GAFCON?
Given all this commotion, rejection, confusion and drama playing around since announcement of Mullally as the next Spiritual leader of Global Anglican Communion...where do the more conservative wing of the Church of England go from here?

Gafcon said the “ reset ” of the Anglican Communion is now in its hands, announcing that it will host a Global Bishops’ assembly in Abuja, Nigeria, in March 2026. By the way, Nigeria is the largest Anglican province on the African continent and accounts for over 41% of Anglicans in Sub-Saharan Africa. Studies have shown that it likely has the most active members within the Anglican Communion.

Heading For A Showdown
Bishop Sarah is going to be “enthroned ” on one hand as Archbishop of Canterbury in March 2026 and become the Spiritual leader of Global Anglican Communion including African and Asian provinces. On the other hand Gafcon is planning a Global Bishops meeting in Nigeria in the same month of March 2026 to dethrone her from being the leader of Global Anglicans. Indeed, the Church of England at the moment is in trouble and one cannot be further away from truth when they point out that this church is now a divided church.

Theological Differences Between Mother Church & African, Asian Anglican Churches

Canterbury, considered "The Mother Church" for it was the first Anglican church is considered, moreso, by GAFCON that it has moved in a more liberal direction very fast & very far from certain theological underpinnings ideologies, which the more conservative wing of Anglican in Asia & African provinces still embrace. By the way two thirds of Anglican members, an estimated 57 million are in Africa. So in other words, one third, 28 million members of the Anglican who live in the West are ideologically and theologically divided from two- thirds majority mostly in Africa and Asia - indeed, a divided church.

Source of division
Where is this division coming from. Basically source of tension and division within the Church emanates from three fundamental issues.

a) blessing of same- sex marriages
b ) ordination of women in church
c ) ordination of homosexual clergy.
Blessing of same- sex unions
In 2002 the Diocess of New Westminster in the Anglican Church of Canada permitted the blessing of same- sex unions. In 2023, the Church of England announced that it would authorize "prayers of Thanksgiving, dedication and for God's blessing for same-sex couples GAFCON is objected to Dame Sarah Mullally support of same- sex couples accusing Mullally of promoting;

"unbiblical and revisionist teachings regarding marriage and sexual morality"

Mullally on her part described blessing of same- sex marriages as a "moment of hope"

Ordination of women
The more liberal wing of Church of England, since 1994 has allowed women to be ordained. And in 2014, the first female Bishop was ordained in the Church of England. Bishop. The same Dame Sarah Mullally now appointed Archbishop of Canterbury was appointed Bishop of London in 2018. However, like the Catholic church, the more conservative wing of Church of England disagrees with ordination of women within the Church. Reverend Dr Laurent Mbanda,the Archbishop of Rwanda and chairman of GAFCON's leadership council, argued that:

"the majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires a male- only episcopacy ".

A Church Beset By Shame & Division
Dame Sarah Mullally is taking reins of a church beset by shame and division. Shame from cover up on boy physical and sexual abuse within the Church walls and doing nothing to stop such abuse. Furthermore, deepening division between the conservative and liberal wings of the Church. This is the the church Mullally is taking over. A church struggling to stay relevant in an increasingly secular nation and world.A church trying to bridge an ever widening gap between its more conservative and its more liberal wings. A church trying to reclaim trust after exposure of shocking child abuse and shameful cover up of abuse scandals by the same institution. The former Archbishop, Justin Welby resigned last year, 2024, after facing the shame of failure to report serial abuser, John Smyth accused of physically and sexually abusing dozens of boys in England, South Africa and Zimbabwe in the 1970s and 1980s.

Conclusion
Dame Sarah Mullally is stepping into a declining(*especially in the West*), troubled, shamed and divided Church. Is she going to bring hope and healing? is she going to bring unity to the ever theologically and cultural widening division between the pro- liberal Western church and the more conservative African & Asian provinces of the Church of England (Anglican)? Mullally seems willing to keep the Global Anglican Communion together but GAFCON has always called for erring church leaders (including Dame Sarah Mullally who GAFCON considers is part & parcel of erring Anglican church leaders) to repent and return to the Bible's teaching. But until they do so, for now GAFCON has maintained, cannot and will not walk with erring church leaders in their apostasy. So whats next?.... Time will tell.

F. Madondo (African Teacher) [email protected]