The Anglican Church's split: When the culture wins over Scripture

The Anglican Communion just split in two. And it happened because the Church of England decided that 1,400 years of biblical faithfulness matters less than a headline.

On October 3, 2025, the Church of England announced Sarah Mullally, the 63-year-old bishop of London, as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to hold the post in the church’s history.

The celebration was immediate. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised her appointment. The Archbishop of York called it “delightful.” Progressive Anglicans hailed it as long-overdue progress.

But the controversy was just as swift.

Within two weeks, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), a coalition of conservative Anglican provinces representing millions across Africa, Asia, and the Americas, issued a blunt statement: They will no longer recognize the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Anglican Communion, they declared, would be “reordered.”

The office of Archbishop of Canterbury dates back to 597 AD. Over the nearly 1,400 years, 105 men held the post. The continuity of male leadership was rooted in the church’s understanding of Scripture, tradition, and apostolic order. That pattern is now broken.

This is not progress. This is capitulation. And the Church of England has just announced to the world that Scripture is negotiable when culture demands it.

Why this happened

The reasons for elevating this woman to the highest leadership position within the Church of England are multifaceted, but three forces converged to make it happen right now: cultural pressure, an institutional crisis, and theological compromise.

Culturally, the Church of England is drowning in progressivism. British society has fully embraced gender equity as an unquestionable good. To appoint another man would have been seen as regressive. The Church wanted to signal that it is “modern” and “relevant.”

Institutionally, the church is hemorrhaging members as secularism rises. And it is staggering from a sex-abuse scandal that forced Justin Welby’s resignation in November 2024 after an investigation found he failed to act on serial abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps.

Did the church feel compelled to appoint a woman precisely because of this scandal? The conclusion is inescapable: Male leadership has failed, so let’s try something different. Never mind that the problem was not maleness but sin and institutional rot. The solution was not biblical reformation but cultural accommodation.

Theologically, to justify the decision to erase role distinctions, supporters of the new female bishop point to Galatians 3:28, which says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” However, Paul is speaking of salvation here, not office. Likewise, supporters claim that 1 Timothy and Titus are culturally conditioned, but Paul grounds his instruction in creation order, not culture.

The real issue is whether Scripture is allowed to speak at all, or whether culture gets the final word.

And here’s the deeper problem: In 2023, Mullally called the approval of marriage for same-sex couples “a moment of hope for the Church.” Speaking at Canterbury Cathedral after her appointment, she pledged to be “a shepherd who enables everyone’s ministry and vocation to flourish, whatever our tradition.”

That language sounds warm to some, but it signals surrender. The church has chosen a leader who represents not just a shift on gender but a broader drift on sexuality, marriage, and biblical authority.

What Scripture actually says

Scripture has much to say about all of these issues, particularly for women. And while there are many important tasks that women can handle both within the family and the Church, the office of elder (or priest or bishop or overseer) is reserved for qualified men. Paul writes to Timothy: “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife…” (1 Timothy 3:1-2).

The language is unmistakably male. The qualifications assume male headship in the home and the Church.

Paul also writes, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet” (1 Timothy 2:12). This verse is not about worth or dignity, as men and women are equally made in the image of God, equally redeemed by Christ. Instead, it is about order, role, and God’s design for how His household should be governed.

Giftedness does not determine calling. God has designed the Church with a particular order that reflects the relationship between Christ and His Church. Just as Christ is the Head and the Church is His Bride, so the man is called to lead in the home and the Church in a way that mirrors that relationship (Ephesians 5:22-33). To overturn that order is not just to change a policy — it is to obscure the Gospel itself.

The Anglican tradition, like the broader Catholic tradition, has always understood this. The historic creeds and confessions affirm male-only ordination. To break from this is not to “update” the tradition. It is to abandon it.

And when you change one foundational pattern, you open the door to changing others. The Church of England first allowed women priests in 1994, then women bishops in 2014, and now a woman archbishop. Along the way, it began “blessing” same-sex unions and is now debating whether to formally recognize same-sex marriage. Once you decide that Scripture’s teaching on gender roles is negotiable, you have no principled way to resist the next demand.

The global fracture and the pattern of decline

The Anglican Communion is a global fellowship of 85 million Christians in over 165 countries. But it is fracturing along theological lines.

GAFCON chairman Archbishop Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda said it plainly, “This appointment abandons global Anglicans, as the Church of England has chosen a leader who will further divide an already split Communion.”

The conservative provinces, mostly in Africa and Asia, hold to the historic biblical position. They represent the majority of practicing Anglicans worldwide, and they are now taking steps to distance themselves from the Church of England.

GAFCON has announced the formation of the “Global Anglican Communion,” a new structure that will reject the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“We have not left the Anglican Communion; we are the Anglican Communion,” he stated. “The reset of our beloved Communion is now uniquely in the hands of GAFCON, and we are ready to take the lead.”

History confirms what happens next. When churches shift foundational practices on authority, gender, and sexuality, they decline. The Episcopal Church has lost more than 1.2 million members since the 1960s. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has split over the ordination of practicing homosexuals and same-sex marriage. Conservative congregations fled to form the Global Methodist Church, taking millions with them. The trajectory is identical: first women’s ordination, then the blessing of same-sex unions, then full-scale schism.

And here’s what Americans must understand: Liberty and truth stand or fall together. Freedom is never sustained by those who abandon conviction for cultural acceptance. The same theological weakness that invites doctrinal compromise invites political and moral tyranny. When churches lose the courage to uphold God’s design, they forfeit the moral authority to defend freedom itself.

A church that won’t stand on Scripture will not stand for freedom. A church that bends to culture on marriage and gender will bend on education, parenting, and religious liberty.

The call is clear, hold fast to the historic faith. Do not be moved by cultural pressure. God’s truth has outlasted every empire, every ideology, every revolution. It will outlast this one.

Guard the Gospel. The issue is not just church polity or gender roles. It is the authority of Scripture and the sufficiency of Christ. When the Church compromises on one, it compromises on the other.

Support faithful churches and leaders. If your denomination is drifting, find a church that isn’t. Support ministries committed to biblical fidelity. Be part of the remnant that refuses to bow.

And pray. Pray for the Church of England. Pray for Archbishop Mullally, that God would grant her wisdom and, if He wills, a change of heart. Pray for the Church in America, that we would not follow the same path.

For nearly 1,400 years, the Church maintained a pattern rooted in Scripture. Now that pattern is broken, and the fracture will spread.

Yet God is not done with His Church. He has preserved a faithful remnant in every generation, and He will do so again. The Gospel will endure. The gates of Hell will not prevail. But the Church must choose: Will we adapt to the culture, or will we hold fast to the anchor.

Stand firm. The truth is worth defending. And it will outlast every compromise.

Originally published at the Standing for Freedom Center.