View source for Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans

{{Short description|Communion of conservative Anglican churches}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination
| name               = Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
| icon               = 
| icon_width         = 
| image              = Gafcon-logo-global-anglicans.png
| imagewidth         = 200px
| main_classification = [[Western Christian]] (with various theological and doctrinal identities, including Anglo-Catholic, Charismatic, Evangelical)
| orientation        = [[Confessing movement|Confessing]] [[Anglican]]
| polity             = [[Episcopal polity|Episcopal]]
| type               = [[Communion (Christian)|Communion]]
| theology           = [[Anglican doctrine]]
| founder            = 
| founded_date       = 2008
| founded_place      = [[Global Anglican Future Conference]], [[Jerusalem]]
| leader_title1      = Chairman
| leader_name1       = [[Laurent Mbanda]]
| leader_title2      = Vice Chairmen
| leader_name2       = [[Kanishka Raffel]], [[Miguel Uchôa]]
| leader_title3      = General Secretary
| leader_name3       = [[Paul Donison]]
| headquarters       = Sheffield, England
| scripture          = [[Protestant Bible]]
| website            = [https://www.gafcon.org/ gafcon.org]
| footnotes          = 
}}{{Distinguish|Global Anglican Future Conference}}
The '''Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans''' (branded as '''GAFCON''' or '''Gafcon''' after the [[Global Anglican Future Conference]]) is a communion of conservative [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] churches, aligned with the [[Confessing Movement]], that formed in 2008 in response to ongoing theological disputes in the worldwide [[Anglican Communion]].<ref name="Morgan2008">{{cite web |last1=Morgan |first1=Timothy C. |title=Anglicans Birth Global Confessing Movement |url=http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/06/gafcon_missteps_1.html |access-date=3 February 2025 |language=English |date=2008}}</ref><ref name="Conger2008">{{cite web |last1=Conger |first1=George |title=Anglican Conservatives Create "Confessing Movement" |url=https://juicyecumenism.com/2008/07/08/anglican-conservatives-create-confessing-movement/ |publisher=[[Institute on Religion and Democracy]] |access-date=3 February 2025 |language=English |date=8 July 2008}}</ref> GAFCON claims to represent upwards of 85% of the world's practicing Anglicans.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Bumgardner |first=David |date=2025-10-17 |title=A house divided: The Anglican communion's great reset |url=https://baptistnews.com/article/a-house-divided-the-anglican-communions-great-reset/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=Baptist News Global |language=en-US}}</ref> Peer-reviewed research from 2015 and 2016 indicates that GAFCON represents closer to 45% of practicing Anglicans and just over 54% of all Anglicans.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Muñoz |first=Daniel |date=May 2016 |title=North to South: A Reappraisal of Anglican Communion Membership Figures |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-anglican-studies/article/abs/north-to-south-a-reappraisal-of-anglican-communion-membership-figures/2DE9B1D5B85A164090A393735AACA1FB |journal=Journal of Anglican Studies |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=71–95 |doi=10.1017/S1740355315000212 |issn=1740-3553}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Gledhill |first=Ruth |date=2015-11-12 |title=Anglican membership figures could be out by millions |url=https://www.christiantoday.com/news/anglican-membership-figures-could-be-out-by-millions |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=www.christiantoday.com |language=en}}</ref>

Confessing Anglicans met in 2008 at the [[Global Anglican Future Conference]], creating the Jerusalem Declaration and establishing the '''Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans''' ('''FCA'''), which was rebranded as GAFCON in 2017. At its founding, it consisted of the Anglican provinces of Rwanda, Nigeria, Uganda, Alexandria, Chile, Congo, Kenya, Myanmar, South Sudan, and the newly formed [[Anglican Church of Brazil]], [[Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa]], and [[Anglican Church in North America]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

On October 16, 2025, the chairman of GAFCON, [[Laurent Mbanda]], the [[Anglican Church of Rwanda|Primate of Rwanda]], declared both that GAFCON intends to be recognized as the '''Global Anglican Communion''', asserting that they have not left the Anglican Communion but instead are the true Anglican Communion.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=The Future Has Arrived |url=https://gafcon.org/communique-updates/the-future-has-arrived/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=GAFCON: Global Anglicans |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Bumgardner |first=David |date=2025-10-17 |title=A house divided: The Anglican communion's great reset |url=https://baptistnews.com/article/a-house-divided-the-anglican-communions-great-reset/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=Baptist News Global |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Michael |first=Mark |date=2025-10-17 |title=Analysis: GAFCON Creates Global Anglican Communion |url=https://livingchurch.org/news/news-anglican-communion/analysis-gafcon-creates-global-anglican-communion/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=The Living Church |language=en-US}}</ref>

==History==
{{main|Global Anglican Future Conference}}
{{Anglican realignment}}
The Global Anglican Future Conference was held near Jerusalem in June 2008 at the initiative of theologically conservative African, Asian, Australian, South American, North American and European Anglican leaders who opposed the [[ordination of homosexuals]] and the blessing of same-sex unions by member churches of the Anglican Communion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.gafcon.org/about/history |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=GAFCON}}</ref> The meeting came as the culmination of a series of controversies in the Anglican Communion that began in 2003 when the openly non-celibate gay bishop [[Gene Robinson]] was consecrated by the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church USA]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Finer |first=Jonathan |date=November 3, 2003 |title=Episcopalians Consecrate First Openly Gay Bishop |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/03/episcopalians-consecrate-first-openly-gay-bishop/5e64c11e-346a-49d1-84d0-80e13a698cb2/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> GAFCON was organised as a conservative alternative to the 2008 [[Lambeth Conferences|Lambeth Conference]], which was boycotted by many traditionalists, except, most notably, Bishop Anis.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Butt |first=Riazat |date=2008-08-03 |title=Lambeth conference: Archbishop blames liberals for church rift |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/04/anglicanism.religion |access-date=2023-02-15 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> [[Mouneer Anis]] the Presiding Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East (a conservative himself on matters of human sexuality), however, publicly announced he would not be one of the traditionalists attending GAFCON 2008; his observation was that "the [[Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches|Global South]] must not be driven by an exclusively Northern agenda or Northern personalities."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-05-21 |title=Middle East Presiding Bishop will not attend GAFCON |url=https://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/3090-2/ |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=Thinking Anglicans |language=en}}</ref>

The GAFCON Final Statement produced at the first conference recognises the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] for his historic role in the Anglican Church but denies that his recognition is the cornerstone of Anglican identity. The statement also called for the formation of "A Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans."<ref>{{cite web |title=GAFCON Final Statement |url=http://gafcon.org/news/gafcon_final_statement/ |access-date=11 November 2014 |website=GAFCON}}</ref>

GAFCON was instrumental in the formation of the [[Anglican Church in North America]] in 2009. The ACNA was formed as an alternative church structure for those disaffected by the official Anglican structures in the United States and Canada. The [[Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America]], which covers much of South America, is a key constituent of the GAFCON movement. The [[Anglican Diocese of Sydney]], Australia, played an important role in forming the FCA and its Archbishop [[Peter Jensen (bishop)|Peter Jensen]] was the FCA's first secretary.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Sydney Synod endorses Jerusalem Declaration|publisher=Anglican Diocese of Sydney|date=October 20, 2008|url=http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/mediareleases/sydney_synod_endorses_jerusalem_declaration/|access-date=5 June 2010}}</ref>

On 6 July 2009, GAFCON was launched within the British Isles and by 2016 rebranded itself as GAFCON GB & Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Gafcon GB & Europe |url=https://gafcongbe.org/about |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=Gafcon GB & Europe}}</ref> Through this branch, the [[Anglican Network in Europe]] was created, and the [[Reformed Episcopal Church]] and [[Free Church of England]] have been members of GAFCON GB & Europe since 2008. In 2015, [[Rod Thomas (bishop)|Rod Thomas]] (a member of the executive of [[Anglican Mission in England|AMiE]]) was consecrated the [[provincial episcopal visitor]] for conservative evangelical members of the Church of England.

On 3 September 2009, GAFCON's South African branch was established by the initiative of Bishop [[Bethlehem Nopece]], of the [[Anglican Diocese of Port Elizabeth]]. It incorporates Anglicans from three denominations: the [[Anglican Church of Southern Africa]], the [[Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa]] (REACH-SA) and the [[Traditional Anglican Communion]].<ref>{{cite press release |title=Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans launched in South Africa |publisher=GAFCON |date=September 3, 2009 |url=http://www.gafcon.org/news/fellowship_of_confessing_anglicans_launched_in_south_africa/}}</ref> In 2023, REACH-SA was recognized as an "authentic Anglican province" by the Gafcon Primates' Council, and its presiding bishop, Glenn Lyons, was seated on the council.<ref name="reach-sa">{{cite news |title=New General Secretary for GAFCON |url=https://anglican.ink/2023/11/10/new-general-secretary-for-gafcon/ |access-date=11 November 2023 |work=Anglican Ink |date=November 10, 2023}}</ref>

GAFCON in New Zealand was launched in April 2016 in two conferences that took place in Auckland and Christchurch reuniting nearly 500 members from the entire country. Chairman Archbishop [[Eliud Wabukala]] from [[Anglican Church of Kenya|Kenya]] sent a message of support read at the conferences. Video greetings were also sent by Archbishop [[Foley Beach]] of the [[Anglican Church in North America]], and Bishop [[Richard Condie (bishop)|Richard Condie]] of the [[Anglican Diocese of Tasmania]] and chairman of GAFCON Australia. Rev. Jay Behan became the chair of GAFCON New Zealand. The creation of GAFCON New Zealand was a result of the passing of Motion 30 by the [[Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia]] and the subsequent document "A Way Forward", proposing the blessing of same-sex marriages, presented at their General Synod in May 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jill |date=2016-04-19 |title=Formation of Fellowship or Confessing Anglicans New Zealand |url=https://anglicanmainstream.org/formation-of-fellowship-or-confessing-anglicans-new-zealand/ |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=Anglican Mainstream |language=en-GB}}</ref> The [[Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand]] was established in 2019 with Behan as the inaugural bishop.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 May 2019 |title=A New Diocese & Bishop for the Church of Confessing Anglicans in New Zealand |url=https://www.gafcon.org/news/a-new-diocese-bishop-for-the-church-of-confessing-anglicans-in-new-zealand |access-date=14 October 2019 |website=GAFCON |publisher=}}</ref>

GAFCON helped to form the [[Diocese of the Southern Cross]] in 2022, a breakaway from the [[Anglican Church of Australia]] as a result of disagreements over same-sex marriage and other issues.<ref name="Baker">{{cite news |last=Baker|first=Jordan|title=Anglican church splits: conservatives form Australian breakaway |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/anglican-church-splits-conservatives-form-australian-breakaway-20220816-p5bact.html |access-date=16 August 2022 |work=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Diocese |first=Armidale Anglican |date=2022-08-24 |title=Our Bishop's response to the launch of the Diocese of the Southern Cross |url=http://www.armidaleanglicandiocese.com/our-bishops-response-to-the-launch-of-the-diocese-of-the-southern-cross/ |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=Anglican Diocese of Armidale |language=en-AU}}</ref>

On October 16, 2025, in response to the Church of England's announcement of [[Sarah Mullally]] as the new [[Archbishop of Canterbury]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Canterbury Appointment Abandons Anglicans |url=https://gafcon.org/communique-updates/canterbury-appointment-abandons-anglicans/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=GAFCON: Global Anglicans |language=en-AU}}</ref> the head of GAFCON, [[Laurent Mbanda]], formally declared that they are the authentic Anglican Communion. He further stated that the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lambeth Conference, and the Anglican Consultative Council and Anglican Communion's Primates Meeting, have "failed to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Future Has Arrived |url=https://gafcon.org/communique-updates/the-future-has-arrived/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=GAFCON: Global Anglicans |language=en-AU}}</ref> GAFCON's primates also announced their intention to reorganize as the "Global Anglican Communion" in response.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Michael |first=Mark |date=2025-10-17 |title=Analysis: GAFCON Creates Global Anglican Communion |url=https://livingchurch.org/news/news-anglican-communion/analysis-gafcon-creates-global-anglican-communion/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=The Living Church |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Felsbourg |first=Hannah |date=2025-10-17 |title=GAFCON announces new communion |url=https://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/2025/10/gafcon-announces-new-communion/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=The Melbourne Anglican |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-17 |title=Orthodox Anglicans create new Communion that rejects leadership of Archbishop of Canterbury |url=https://www.christiantoday.com/news/orthodox-anglicans-create-new-communion-that-rejects-leadership-of-archbishop-of-canterbury |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=www.christiantoday.com |language=en}}</ref> They reiterated that they are not leaving the Anglican Communion, but have reorganized it under themselves as the true Anglican Communion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bumgardner |first=David |date=2025-10-17 |title=A house divided: The Anglican communion's great reset |url=https://baptistnews.com/article/a-house-divided-the-anglican-communions-great-reset/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=Baptist News Global |language=en-US}}</ref> As Mbanda explained, "We cannot continue to have communion with those who advocate the revisionist agenda, which has abandoned the inerrant word of God as the final authority and overturned Resolution I.10, of the 1998 Lambeth Conference."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mbanda |first1=Laurent |title=The future has arrived: GAFCON takes control of the Anglican Communion |url=https://anglican.ink/2025/10/16/the-future-has-arrived-gafcon-takes-control-of-the-anglican-communion/ |website=Anglican Ink |access-date=16 October 2025}}</ref>

== Membership ==
GAFCON claims to represent upwards of 85% of the world's practicing Anglicans.<ref name=":4" /> This claim is disputed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bumgardner |first=David |date=2025-10-17 |title=A house divided: The Anglican communion's great reset |url=https://baptistnews.com/article/a-house-divided-the-anglican-communions-great-reset/ |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=Baptist News Global |language=en-US}}</ref> Peer-reviewed research from 2015 and 2016, published in the ''[[Journal of Anglican Studies]]'' by [[Cambridge University Press]], indicates that GAFCON represents closer to 45% of practicing Anglicans and just over 54% of all Anglicans.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> In 2020, additional peer-reviewed research focused on the Church of Nigeria, GAFCON's largest member church. The Church of Nigeria claims 18 million nominal members,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-30 |title=About |url=https://anglican-nig.org/about/ |access-date=2025-10-18 |language=en-GB}}</ref> but research published in the ''Journal of Anglican Studies'' found that 7.4 million Nigerians self-identified as Anglicans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McKinnon |first=Andrew |date=May 2020 |title=Demography of Anglicans in Sub-Saharan Africa: Estimating the Population of Anglicans in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-anglican-studies/article/abs/demography-of-anglicans-in-subsaharan-africa-estimating-the-population-of-anglicans-in-kenya-nigeria-south-africa-tanzania-and-uganda/833CD17ACFB3823B2F43DBA4FCBE1B1F |journal=Journal of Anglican Studies |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=42–60 |doi=10.1017/S1740355320000170 |issn=1740-3553}}</ref>

==Organization==
The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans aims to extend the goals of the GAFCON conferences into a movement, to "preach the biblical gospel [...] all over the world" and "provide aid to [...] faithful Anglicans" disaffected from their original churches.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jerusalem Declaration - June 2008 |url=https://www.gafcon.org/about/jerusalem-declaration |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=GAFCON}}</ref> The fellowship recognizes the Jerusalem Declaration, written at the 2008 GAFCON meeting, as a "contemporary rule." The fellowship is administered by a "Primates' Council" originally consisting of Primates from the African provinces of the [[Anglican Communion]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Structure |url=https://www.gafcon.org/about/structure |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=GAFCON}}</ref>

===Member provinces===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;"
|-
!  Provinces
!  Territorial jurisdiction
! data-sort-type="number"|  Membership (in thousands of people)
! [[Anglican Communion]] member province
! [[Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches]] member
! Represented on GAFCON Primates Council
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Alexandria"| [[Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria|Anglican Province of Alexandria]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Algeria]], [[Djibouti]], [[Egypt]], [[Eritrea]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Libya]], [[Somalia]], [[Tunisia]]
| N/A
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes ([[Samy Fawzy]])
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Brazil"| [[Anglican Church in Brazil]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Brazil]], [[Colombia]], [[Venezuela]], [[Central America]]
| N/A
| No
| Yes
| Yes ([[Miguel Uchôa]], vice chairman)
|- valign="top"

| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Chile"| [[Anglican Church of Chile]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Chile]]
| 20<ref name="iach.cl">{{Cite web |url=http://www.iach.cl/2018/11/05/iglesia-anglicana-de-chile-se-convierte-en-la-provincia-40o-del-mundo/ |title=Iglesia Anglicana de Chile se convierte en la provincia 40º del mundo, Anglican Church of Chile Official Website (Spanish) |access-date=7 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107225133/http://www.iach.cl/2018/11/05/iglesia-anglicana-de-chile-se-convierte-en-la-provincia-40o-del-mundo/ |archive-date=7 November 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes ([[Enrique Lago]])
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Congo"| [[Province of the Anglican Church of the Congo]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Republic of Congo]]
| 500<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/church-of-christ-in-congo-anglican-community-of-congo|title=Church of Christ in Congo – Anglican Community of Congo – World Council of Churches|website=www.oikoumene.org|language=en|access-date=14 June 2016}}</ref>
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes ([[Georges Titre Ande]])
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Europe"| [[Anglican Network in Europe]] (proto-province)
| style="vertical-align: top;" | Europe
| N/A
| No
| No
| No
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Kenya"| [[Anglican Church of Kenya]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Kenya]]
| 5,000<ref>{{Cite web|title=OUR HISTORY - ACK|url=https://www.ackenya.org/mission-of-the-church/about-mission/|access-date=2021-08-08|website=Anglican Church of Kenya|language=en-US}}</ref>
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes ([[Jackson Ole Sapit]])
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Myanmar"| [[Church of the Province of Myanmar]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Myanmar]]
| 62<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/church-of-the-province-of-myanmar|title=Church of the Province of Myanmar – World Council of Churches|website=www.oikoumene.org|language=en|access-date=14 June 2016}}</ref>
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes ([[Stephen Than Myint Oo]])
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Nigeria"| [[Church of Nigeria]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Nigeria]]
| 18,000<ref name="Church of Nigeria">{{cite web|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/church-of-nigeria-anglican-communion |title=World Council of Churches |access-date=6 January 2016}}</ref>
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes ([[Henry Ndukuba]])
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="North America" | [[Anglican Church in North America]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | Canada, Mexico, United States
| 122<ref name="acna-2021-stats">{{cite web |title=Congregational Reporting: 2021 in Review |url=https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rp70xuodivly2bm/AABmdX40gdldjDnRub3Puloka/Congregational%20Reporting/Congregational%20Report%20of%202021%20to%20Provincial%20Council%202022%20FINAL.pdf?dl=0 |publisher=Anglican Church in North America |access-date=5 July 2022}}</ref>
| No
| Yes
| Yes ([[Steve Wood (bishop)|Steve Wood]])
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Rwanda"| [[Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Rwanda]]
| 1,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/province-of-the-episcopal-church-in-rwanda|title=Province of the Anglican Church in Rwanda – World Council of Churches|website=www.oikoumene.org|language=en|access-date=14 June 2016}}</ref>
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes ([[Laurent Mbanda]], chairman)
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Southern Africa"| [[Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa]]<ref name="reach-sa" />
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Malawi]], [[Namibia]], [[South Africa]], [[Zimbabwe]]
| 100<ref>{{cite web|title=Church Denominations in South Africa|url=http://www.sachristian.co.za/church.html|publisher=SA Christian|access-date=18 December 2011|archive-date=20 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140620221648/http://www.sachristian.co.za/church.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
| No
| No
| Yes ([[Siegfried Ngubane]])
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="South America"| [[Anglican Church of South America]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | Argentina, [[Bolivia]], [[Paraguay]], [[Peru]], [[Uruguay]]
| 23<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/anglican-church-of-south-america|title=Anglican Church of South America – World Council of Churches|website=www.oikoumene.org|language=en|access-date=14 June 2016}}</ref>
| Yes
| Yes
| No
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="South Sudan"| [[Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[South Sudan]]
| 3,500
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes ([[Justin Badi Arama]])
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Uganda"| [[Church of Uganda]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Uganda]]
| 11,000<ref name="anglican-studies">{{Cite journal|last=Muñoz|first=Daniel|date=May 2016|title=North to South: A Reappraisal of Anglican Communion Membership Figures|journal=[[Journal of Anglican Studies]]|language=en|volume=14|issue=1|pages=71–95|doi=10.1017/S1740355315000212|issn=1740-3553|doi-access=free}}</ref>
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes ([[Stephen Kaziimba]])

|}
===Non-provincial GAFCON branches===

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;"
|-
!  Branches
!  Territorial jurisdiction
! data-sort-type="number"|  Membership (in thousands of people)
! Other affiliated entities
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Australia"| Gafcon Australia
| style="vertical-align: top;" | Australia
| TBD
| [[Anglican Diocese of Sydney]], [[Anglican Diocese of Tasmania]], [[Diocese of the Southern Cross]]
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Europe"| Gafcon GB and Europe
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Continental Europe]], [[Great Britain]]
| TBD
| [[Anglican Network in Europe]], [[Free Church of England]], [[Reformed Episcopal Church]]
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Ghana"| Gafcon Ghana
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Ghana]]
| TBD
| [[Anglican Diocese of Sunyani]]
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Ireland"| Gafcon Ireland
| style="vertical-align: top;" | Ireland, Northern Ireland
| TBD
| 
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="New Zealand" | [[Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand|Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa New Zealand]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | New Zealand
| TBD
| 
|- valign="top"
| style="vertical-align: top;" data-sort-value="Tanzania"| Gafcon Tanzania
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[Tanzania]]
| TBD
| [[Anglican Church of Tanzania]] Dioceses of [[Anglican Diocese of Tabora|Tabora]], [[Anglican Diocese of Mara|Mara]], [[Anglican Diocese of Mpwapwa|Mpwapwa]], [[Anglican Diocese of Tarime|Tarime]], [[Anglican Diocese of Kibondo|Kibondo]], [[Anglican Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro|Mount Kilimanjaro]], [[Anglican Diocese of Rorya|Rorya]], [[Anglican Diocese of Shinyanga|Shinyanga]], [[Anglican Diocese of Lake Rukwa|Lake Rukwa]], and [[Anglican Diocese of Western Tanganyika|Western Tanganyika]]<ref name="tanzania-member-dioceses">{{cite web |title=A COMMUNIQUE FROM GAFCON TANZANIA |url=https://www.gafcon.org/news/communique-from-gafcon-tanzania |website=Gafcon Global Anglicans |access-date=29 September 2022}}</ref>

|}
== Ordination of women ==
The [[Ordination of women in the Anglican Communion|ordination of women]] to [[holy orders]], the offices of deacon, priest (presbyter), and bishop, remains controversial in GAFCON.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Townsend |first=Matt |date=2018-03-06 |title=Analysis: A Dilemma for GAFCON |url=https://livingchurch.org/news/analysis-a-dilemma-for-gafcon/ |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=The Living Church |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A Statement on the Consecration of a Female Bishop in South Sudan {{!}} GAFCON |url=https://civicrm.gafcon.org/news/a-statement-on-the-consecration-of-a-female-bishop-in-south-sudan |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=civicrm.gafcon.org}}</ref> Among the member churches of GAFCON, there is a diversity of approaches to women's ordination. Nigeria only ordains women to the diaconate within limitations; Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda ordain women as priests.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Petersen |first=Kirk |date=2023-11-07 |title=Province of Central Africa Approves Ordination of Women |url=https://livingchurch.org/news/province-of-central-africa-approves-ordination-of-women/ |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=The Living Church |language=en-US}}</ref> Kenya and South Sudan have ordained women as bishops.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-06 |title=Anglican Church in Kenya appoints first two women bishops |url=https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2021/08/06/89000/ |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=Episcopal News Service |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nzwili |first=Fredrick |date=2024-01-19 |title=Africa’s six Anglican women bishops meet and issue call to combat Africa's 'triple threat' |url=https://religionnews.com/2024/01/19/africas-six-anglican-women-bishops-meet-and-issue-call-to-combat-africas-triple-threat/ |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=RNS |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2006, the [[Church of Nigeria]] planned to ordain women to the diaconate, but not as priests or bishops.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 July 2006 |title=Women Clergy a Future Possibility for Nigeria, says Bishop |url=https://www.christiantoday.com/article/women.clergy.a.future.possibility.for.nigeria.says.bishop/7052.htm |access-date=2021-09-14 |website=[[Christian Today]] |language=en}}</ref> In 2010, the church moved forward with those plans and began to ordain women as deacons, with limitations "for specific purposes like hospital work and school services".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nigeria: Cleric Okays Women Ordination {{!}} WWRN - World-wide Religious News |url=https://wwrn.org/articles/33610/ |access-date=2021-09-14 |website=wwrn.org}}</ref> The Church of Nigeria continues to prohibit the ordination of women as priests or bishops.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rubenstein|first=Mary-Jane|date=2004-06-01|title=An Anglican Crisis of Comparison: Intersections of Race, Gender, and Religious Authority, with Particular Reference to the Church of Nigeria|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfh033|journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion|volume=72|issue=2|pages=341–365|doi=10.1093/jaarel/lfh033|pmid=20681098|issn=0002-7189|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The [[Church of Uganda]] has ordained women as deacons since 1973 and as priests since 1983.<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 3, 2017|title=50 Years of Shared Responsibility with God-called Women in the Church of the Province of Uganda|url=https://ucudir.ucu.ac.ug/bitstream/handle/20.500.11951/234/Byaruhanga_Keynote%20Address%20on%2050%20Years%20of%20Shared%20Responsibility%20with%20God-called%20Women%20in%20the%20Church%20of%20the%20Province%20of%20Uganda_2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|access-date=September 14, 2021|website=Uganda Christian University}}</ref> The [[Anglican Church in North America]] allows each diocese to decide whether to ordain women as deacons or priests but does not permit the ordination of women as bishops.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Andrew Gross|date=2017-09-08|title=College of Bishops Statement on the Ordination of Women|url=https://anglicanchurch.net/college-of-bishops-statement-on-the-ordination-of-women/|access-date=2021-09-14|website=The Anglican Church in North America|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2023, the [[Diocese of the Southern Cross]] (Australia) welcomed its first female priest.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sandeman |first=John |date=2023-01-30 |title=Gafcon's Southern Cross diocese gets a woman minister, and church number four |url=https://theothercheek.com.au/gafcons-southern-cross-diocese-gets-a-woman-minister-and-church-number-four/ |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=THE OTHER CHEEK |language=en-AU}}</ref>

Women in the episcopacy continues to divide GAFCON.<ref name=":5" /> In 2016, the [[Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan|Episcopal Church of Sudan]] consecrated the first woman, [[Elizabeth Awut Ngor]], as bishop and the first woman  bishop among the GAFCON members.<ref>{{Cite web |last=lwilson |date=2021-08-06 |title=Anglican Church in Kenya appoints first two women bishops |url=https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2021/08/06/89000/ |access-date=2021-09-14 |website=Episcopal News Service |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2018, the primatial bishops of the GAFCON member churches agreed to a moratorium on further ordinations of women to the episcopate.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Conger|first=George|date=2018-04-22|title=GAFCON adopts moratorium on women bishops|url=https://anglican.ink/2018/04/21/gafcon-adopts-moratorium-on-women-bishops/|access-date=2021-09-14|website=Anglican Ink © 2021|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Task Force on Women in the Episcopate, Interim Report (2019) {{!}} GAFCON|url=https://www.gafcon.org/resources/task-force-on-women-in-the-episcopate-interim-report-2019|access-date=2021-09-14|website=www.gafcon.org}}</ref> In 2021, the [[Anglican Church of Kenya]] consecrated two women as bishops, [[Emily Onyango]] was consecrated as an assisting bishop and [[Rose Okeno]] was consecrated as the diocesan bishop of the [[Anglican dioceses of Maseno|Diocese of Butere]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Conger|first=George|date=2021-01-27|title=Appointment of women bishop in Kenya challenged|url=https://anglican.ink/2021/01/26/appointment-of-women-bishop-in-kenya-challenged/|access-date=2021-09-14|website=Anglican Ink © 2021|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Rose Okeno consecrated as first female bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya|url=https://citizentv.co.ke/news/rose-okeno-consecrated-as-first-female-bishop-of-the-anglican-church-of-kenya-13099724/|access-date=2021-09-14|website=Citizentv.co.ke|date=13 September 2021|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Shilitsa|first=John|title=History as first woman bishop, Rose Okeno, takes the reins|url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001423334/history-as-first-woman-bishop-rose-okeno-takes-the-reins|access-date=2021-09-14|website=The Standard|language=en}}</ref> In 2022, Archbishop Kaziimba of the Church of Uganda confirmed that a woman may be ordained a bishop in the Church of Uganda.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Uganda Is Ready for A Female Bishop- Archbishop Kaziimba |url=https://ugandaradionetwork.net/story/uganda-is-ready-for-a-female-bishop-archbishop-kaziimba- |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=Uganda Radionetwork |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-18 |title=Uganda is ready for a female Bishop: Archbishop Kaziimba |url=https://www.independent.co.ug/uganda-is-ready-for-a-female-bishop-archbishop-kaziimba/ |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=The Independent Uganda |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2025, GAFCON opposed the appointment of [[Sarah Mullally]] (who expressed liberal views on [[Blessing of same-sex unions in Christian churches|blessing same-sex couples]] in the [[Church of England]]) as the next [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], stating that her appointment was a cause for "sorrow" and demonstrated that the Church of England had "relinquished its authority to lead".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Diseko |first1=Libo |title=Sarah Mullally: Choice of new Archbishop of Canterbury met "with sorrow" by conservative group Gafcon |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c179yvn08njo |access-date=4 October 2025 |work=BBC News |date=3 October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Burgess |first1=Kaya |title=Sarah Mullally announced as new Archbishop of Canterbury |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/religion/article/sarah-mullally-new-archbishop-canterbury-news-bjx65l9jt |access-date=4 October 2025 |work=The Times |date=3 October 2025 |url-access=limited}}</ref> While some were opposed to the appointee being a woman, the Church of Uganda's Stephen Kaziimba stated his opposition to Sarah Mullally's appointment was based on her views, not her gender.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaziimba |first=Stephen |date=2025-10-04 |title=Uganda statement on the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury |url=https://anglican.ink/2025/10/04/uganda-statement-on-the-appointment-of-the-archbishop-of-canterbury/ |access-date=2025-10-05 |website=Anglican Ink © 2025 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-04 |title=Why Church of Uganda rejects Mullally’s appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/why-church-of-uganda-rejects-mullally-s-appointment-as-archbishop-of-canterbury-5216896 |access-date=2025-10-05 |website=Monitor |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Global Anglican Future Conference]]
* [[Anglican realignment]]
* [[Homosexuality and Anglicanism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.gafcon.org/ Official website]
* [https://www.gafcon.org/about/jerusalem-declaration The Jerusalem Declaration]

{{Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans}}
{{Anglican Church in North America}}

[[Category:Anglicanism]]
[[Category:Anglican realignment]]
[[Category:Anglican Church in North America]]
[[Category:Schisms in Christianity]]