(UPDATED) Pictured: the Global Anglican Council, Credit: Advent Cable Network Nigeria
Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to all of you, brothers and sisters around Australia.
Let’s dig in.
What was G26?
From the 3rd to the 6th of March, 2026, 347 bishops and 121 lay and clerical leaders from 27 provinces met in Abuja, Nigeria to discuss the future shape of global Anglican fellowship.
Unpacking the G26 statement ‘The Abuja Affirmation’
The statement outlined what many expected; that the existing structures of the old Anglican Communion centred on Canterbury have failed to maintain doctrinal accountability, particularly in relation to biblical teaching on sexuality and the authority of holy Scripture. The re-ordering of the Anglican Communion has begun.
What was announced in Abuja is simply the outcome of nearly two decades of the Gafcon Primates calling for the re-ordering of the global Anglican churches according to biblical, historic Anglican doctrine and devotion.
Some will argue that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the so-called ‘Instruments of Communion’ never had the authority to exercise discipline over bishops and dioceses who had departed from ‘the faith once delivered to the saints’ (Jude 4).
However, all that was required was for them to withdraw the hand of fellowship from those who defiantly and repeatedly rejected the authority of the Bible on matters of salvation importance (1 Cor 15:1-3).
In response, the Abuja Affirmation has confirmed the “reordering” of the Anglican Communion around a common confession. Global Anglicans are united, not merely by an historical, institutional connection, but by the gospel of Jesus Christ through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Our communion is in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as revealed in the Scriptures and expressed in the Jerusalem Declaration, the historic formularies of Anglicanism, including the Thirty-Nine Articles and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
In other words, the current flashpoint of controversy within Anglicanism has not been about two separate communions but of two competing beliefs, of what it means to be an authentic Anglican communion of churches.
The difference between the two is profound.
One definition is confessional. That is, grounded in the life of the God as revealed in the Bible. The other is institutional, centred on historical structures that attempt to hold together provinces and churches with fundamentally incompatible theological commitments and practices.
One is life-giving, the other is destructive.
This ‘confessional’ understanding of what it means to be a fellowship of churches or a communion is but a recovery of historic, biblical, Anglican doctrine and devotion. It is Anglican doctrine and discipline in practice – for the flourishing of the church, the spread of the gospel and for the glory of God.
Gafcon has said from the beginning in 2008, ‘We are not a breakaway movement or a rival communion’, but a re-ordered global fellowship of Anglicans according to the biblical, historic and doctrinal commitments that originally defined the relationship of provinces, dioceses and churches.
Implications for us in Australia
For you, as an Australian Anglican, the most immediate question may be what global Anglican re-alignment means in practical terms.
The Abuja Affirmation includes a commitment to support orthodox believers in provinces where revisionist teaching has been embraced. This includes England, Wales, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.
Individuals, congregations and dioceses that hold to the 2008 Jerusalem Declaration can be part of the Global Anglican Communion, not standing alone, but part of a wider, global fellowship of orthodox Anglicans.
For most day-to-day local church life will continue as usual for the time being, but the deep and lasting impact of the Abuja Affirmation under God, will be the strengthening of the fellowship we already share in the gospel. For example, greater collaboration in evangelism, global prayer, sharing theological and material resources, standing alongside the suffering church and much more.
There will be much discussion about structures that will hold Global Anglicans together in the years ahead. How faithful provinces, dioceses and congregations will ultimately be related to one another remains to be seen, as does the question of how bishops, clergy, and laity who have concluded they cannot remain within compromised ecclesial structures will be supported.
Whatever the situation, it has always been the intention of Gafcon to stand with faithful Anglicans in difficult circumstances.
The Abuja Affirmation reflects a conviction shared by many Anglicans across the Global South: that Anglican unity can only be maintained and strengthened by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our primary desire is to remain as faithful stewards of the doctrine and practice that we have inherited from our forebears and pass this heritage on to the next generation.
We are part of a global household of faith that is apostolic in its foundation and global in its reach.
Abuja has affirmed that genuine Anglican unity is not institutional, but unity created by the Spirit of God working through his word to make us One in Jesus Christ.
Yours in gospel partnership,
Peter Smith,
Gafcon Australia Chair