The Anglican Communion is weighing reforms that would reduce the Archbishop of Canterbury’s central leadership role in a bid to hold together its 85 million members amid deepening
divisions over LGBTQ+ inclusion and women’s ordination.
For centuries, the Archbishop has served as both the Church of England’s senior bishop and the symbolic head of the global Communion, a legacy of the British Empire’s colonial past. But growing tensions between England’s increasingly progressive church and more conservative churches in Africa and Asia have pushed the structure to its limits.
To avoid a split, a Communion commission has proposed creating a rotating international figurehead, who would share leadership duties currently held by the Archbishop. The post would rotate every six years across the Communion’s five regions: Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.
Bishop Graham Tomlin, who led the review, said the Communion’s governance must evolve to reflect its changing global makeup. “We are very different than we were 100 years ago,” he told Reuters.
Tensions escalated after the U.S. branch of the Anglican Church consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003 and allowed same-sex marriage rites in 2015. In 2023, the conservative Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) rejected Archbishop Justin Welby’s leadership following the Church of England’s decision to bless same-sex unions. Gafcon, claiming to represent 85% of Anglicans, has rejected the proposed reforms, insisting churches that support such unions should leave the Communion.
Meanwhile, leadership at Canterbury remains vacant after Welby’s controversial tenure, which included calls for his resignation over a child abuse cover-up. The frontrunner for the role, Bishop Martyn Snow, has admitted he could not unify even the Church of England on issues of sexuality.
As the demographic and spiritual centre of Anglicanism shifts to Africa, critics argue the Church of England risks damaging its domestic standing by clinging to its historic global leadership.
The Communion’s deep divisions also weigh heavily on clergy like London priest Charles Bączyk-Bell, who married his partner in New York because the Church of England bans same-sex marriage. “There’s a sadness we couldn’t do it at home,” he said.
Many within the Communion now believe its leadership should be shared. “The role of Archbishop of Canterbury — that’s enormous,” said Bishop Joanne Grenfell. “Perhaps a bit too big for one person.” Photo by ukhouseoflords, Wikimedia commons.