Why The Anglican Schism Is About More Than Women And LGBTQ Issues
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(OPINION) In the wake of the historic schism that has fractured the worldwide Anglican Communion, lazy and ignorant narratives have already begun to emerge. The secular media and even some progressive Christian outlets would have you believe this is a simple story of progress versus bigotry — a misogynistic, homophobic and unenlightened conclave of Global South bishops mostly from the African continent breaking away because a woman was put in charge.
This narrative is not only wrong; it’s an insult, deeply rooted in racism and white progressive paternalism, to the 75 to 85 million Anglicans who just declared their independence from the Church of England’s failed leadership.
No, the issue is not that a woman was elected Archbishop. The truth is far more damning.
This schism isn’t primarily about gender or sexuality.
It’s about decades of cowardice, fecklessness, and theological colonialism from the See of Canterbury, the historic seat of the Anglican Communion’s “first among equals,” which has repeatedly sent the message: your interpretation of the Holy Scriptures is irrelevant, not as enlightened as ours, or, worse, abusive and backward.
It’s not about women in holy orders
Let’s dismantle the first lie: that this was a rejection of female leadership.
While some GAFCON-aligned provinces do not ordain women to the episcopacy, many do. In fact, the Anglican Church of Kenya, a major GAFCON province, consecrated the Right Reverend Dr. Emily Onyango as a bishop in 2021. While GAFCON’s leadership did issue a letter expressing “regret” that this broke a moratorium, the consecration happened and Kenya remains a core member.
The issue with Archbishop-elect Sarah Mullally was never her gender; it was her theology.
Had the Church of England elevated a conservative or traditionalist woman (like Jill Duff, the respected Bishop of Lancaster), GAFCON and GSFA bishops would have at least been open to dialogue. Instead, Canterbury chose a self-described pro-choice feminist and the chief architect of the divisive same-sex blessing liturgies. Indeed, Mullally’s regrettable appointment is the final, unambiguous sign that it had abandoned biblical authority.
What did the Anglican Communion leadership think was going to happen? Truly, the Church of England never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity!
It’s not about ‘The Gays’
A similarly simplistic charge is that of homophobia. For over a quarter-century, the standard for the entire Anglican Communion was Lambeth Resolution I.10 from 1998, which upholds the historic definition of marriage and does not permit the blessing of same-sex unions.
The same resolution also calls for compassion and love for LGBTQ+ persons and condemns discrimination and prejudice against them. But it is the Church of England, not the Global South, that has abandoned the consensus.
To understand the Global South’s position, particularly in Africa, one must look past Western cultural lenses and into history. In Uganda, for instance, the church was forged in the blood of martyrs who were executed for refusing the homosexual advances of a pagan king.
It is a profound historical ignorance to equate their theological descendants’ stance with mere bigotry.
Does this mean GAFCON is without its own issues? No.
Inhumane laws against LGBTQ+ people in some member countries are a serious problem. But this often stems from a worldview that lacks the modern Western category of “sexual orientation,” viewing homosexual practice, not identity, as the primary issue.
The West’s failure to seek to understand this different framework is a failure of its own.
Church of England: What is it good For?
This brings us to the real sickness that killed the Anglican Communion: the impotence of its leadership.
As my bishop and I argued in Baptist News Global two years ago, the Church of England’s compromise on same-sex blessings was a “disastrous” and “lose-lose position for everyone.” It has left orthodox and compassionate non-affirming believers, like the Communion Partners in The Episcopal Church, isolated while failing to satisfy progressive activists.
By refusing to admit that two contradictory positions on sexual ethics cannot both be true, the Church of England abandoned not only Scripture and tradition, but basic reason.
For decades, the Church of England has treated the Global South not as partners, but as a colonial outpost. While church attendance in England plummeted, the faith exploded across Africa and Asia. Yet, instead of listening, Canterbury chose to placate a dying, progressive institution at home.
This paternalism is now financial. As Global South provinces have stood their ground, they have been met with a progressive chorus of “good riddance,” with the implicit threat of cutting off the English money on which many of them rely. That is not communion; it’s coercion.
Archbishop Mullally’s election was the final act of this theological colonialism. It was a declaration that the faith, the numbers, and the concerns of the global majority meant nothing.
This wasn’t a schism born of hate. It was a long-overdue divorce from a parent church that has become, in its cowardice, worthless.
This article was originally published by The Roys Report.
David Bumgardner is a writer, theologian, and educator living in Columbus, Ohio.