Global Anglican Council leaders have concluded a Plenary meeting in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, with a call on senior Canterbury leaders who have denied the” faith in word and deed” to repent.
In a statement signed by Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, President of the Global Anglican Council, the factional group pointed to the discerning future for the Anglican Communion while stressing, “For more than two decades, we have in prayerful humility called for the repentance of those senior leaders of the Anglican Communion who have denied the Orthodox.”
Global Anglican Council leaders during the Plenary meeting in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. Credit: Global Anglican Council leaders
In a statement shared by Advent Cable Network Nigeria, the Global Anglican Church leaders disclosed that, “Greetings from Abuja, Nigeria where 347 Anglican bishops and 121 lay and clerical Anglican leaders from 27 provinces met from 3-6 March 2026, generously hosted by our brothers and sisters in the Church in Nigeria.”
The Church leaders noted the aim of their gathering, “We gathered together under the Word of God prayerfully to discern the Lord’s future for the Global Anglican Communion, founded on the person and work of Jesus Christ and the authority of his word, and his commission to make disciples of all nations.”
The Global Anglican Communion leaders described their activities during the Plenary, stating that “We met each morning for prayer, praise and hearing God’s word. Our Plenary sessions explored the implications of the MDS. Our Global Visions Event encouraged us in the work of fulfilling the Great Commission.”
While maintaining that “Reordering the Anglican Communion is now necessary, because a significant number of provinces who claim to be Anglican have abandoned the authority of the Scripture and failed to follow Christ faithfully”, the Church leaders further noted that “While matters of human sexuality are one expression of this, this is merely symptomatic of doctrinal and moral departures from the teaching of Scripture.”
They raised several criticisms and condemnation of certain practices of the leadership of the Canterbury Instruments of Communion.
A Senior Church leader addressing the Abuja Plenary. Credit: Global Anglican Council leaders
Expressing their disappointment on the leadership of the Canterbury Instruments of Communion, who according to them have, “Failed to exercise discipline and maintain biblical witness and uphold fundamental Anglican doctrine as expressed in its Reformation Formularies (the Thirty-nine Articles and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer including the Ordinal)”, they criticised them for seeking “to hold together a confused communion of institutional co-existence, based on the fiction of “walking together” with those who are walking away from truth of the gospel and the teaching of Jesus.”
Tracing the foundation of the Church to Jesus Christ, the Global Anglican hierarchy said, “The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord. The communion is a fellowship of churches who submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, whose life and teaching is revealed in the Scriptures”, also affirming that “We understand that the Bible is to be ‘translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the Church’s historic and consensual reading’ (Jerusalem Declaration, Article II), which reflects Article VI of the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion.”
“The Bible is God’s Word written (Article XX). It was breathed out by him and written for us by faithful messengers. It carries God’s own authority and is its own interpreter – it is clear, sufficient and true for all times. God’s Word is the final authority in the Church and in the life of discipleship”, they added.
According to the Global Anglican hierarchy, “The Canterbury Instruments have compromised the authority of the Scriptures by normalising hermeneutical pluralism, elevating cultural capitulation, and reframing the rejection of Scripture’s authority and clarity as “good disagreement”, and not what it really is _ false teaching.”
“We “reject the so-called Instruments of Communion, namely the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), and the Primates’ Meeting, which have failed to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion”, they added.
The condemned practices, which they termed contrary to the scripture, blaming on recent Archbishops of Canterbury who have failed, according to them, “to guard the faith by inviting bishops to Lambeth who have embraced or promoted practices contrary to Scripture.”
Particularly, the disclosed that “The Archbishop of Canterbury welcomed the provision of liturgical resources for the Church of England to bless people who had entered same-sex marriages”, a situation they viewed as “the moral and spiritual authority of the Seat of Augustine has been severely compromised by this.”
While upholding to Anglican doctrine and teaching, the leaders maintained that “There are not two Communions, but two incompatible definitions of communion – one confessional, the other institutional.”
Global Anglican Council leaders. Credit: Global Anglican Council leaders
They stated that “The Global Anglican Communion is a return to this historic sense of the Anglican Communion as “a fellowship of autonomous provinces bound together by the Formularies of the Reformation” (MDS).”
Stressing that, “The Global Anglican Communion is neither a breakaway nor an alternative communion”, the leaders affirmed that “We are returning the Anglican Communion to its roots”, while inviting all faithful Anglicans and all who wish to be Anglicans to be part of the Global Anglican Communion.
On 5 March 2026, Advocatus Africa reported that Archbishop Laurent Mbanda was unanimously elected as Chairman of the Global Anglican Council, likewise Archbishop Miguel Uchoa was unanimously elected as Vice – Chairman and myself, Bishop Paul Donison, as General Secretary.
