A disappointing decision: The Australian Church Record on Canterbury’s new Archbishop
From The Australian Church Record:
“The ACR regrets this appointment and laments the way it will likely accelerate the weakening of the Church of England and the bonds which hold together the Anglican Communion.”
“The Australian Church Record (ACR) notes the announcement that Dame Sarah Mullally has been appointed to the office of Archbishop of Canterbury, and as such, the Primate of All England and metropolitan bishop of the Province of Canterbury. The ACR regrets this appointment and laments the way it will likely accelerate the weakening of the Church of England and the bonds which hold together the Anglican Communion.
At the heart of the English Reformation in the sixteenth-century was the gospel of Jesus Christ. The supreme authority of the Holy Scriptures declared that the great problem of the sinfulness of mankind could only find its remedy in the once for all sacrifice of Christ on the cross. By faith, and faith in Christ alone, could anyone stand before almighty God, and that gift of faith was precisely that which the world needed. At the cost of his life, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer stood for these truths and bequeathed a noble theological heritage to the Church of England in the Book of Common Prayer, the 39 Articles of Religion, and the Ordinal.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is not merely a symbolic primate; historically, he is called to safeguard doctrine, discipline, and unity under the lordship of Christ. From Augustine of Canterbury to Thomas Cranmer to the modern incumbents, that office has borne the responsibility of upholding the priority of the gospel throughout the English church. As a global Anglican communion came into being the office took on a moral responsibility to keep calling churches back to the teaching of the Scriptures and the centrality of the crucified and risen Saviour. Yet in our day …”
– Read the full statement here.
Appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury — Response from Sydney
Appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury
We acknowledge the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury with a spirit of prayerful reflection and gospel-centred concern.
We commend Dame Sarah’s distinguished record of public service in healthcare and recognise her achievements in administrative leadership.
However, we also recognise that this appointment comes at a time of profound theological tension within the Anglican Communion. The recent trajectory of the English Church–particularly regarding issues of human sexuality, biblical authority, and unity–has caused deep concern among those who hold to the historic and reformed teachings of Scripture.
Her public comments show she has strayed from the clear teaching of scripture and promoted serious error that will neither advance unity nor the mission of the church.
The office of the Archbishop of Canterbury once held a symbolic leadership role in the global Anglican Communion. However, due to a tragic failure to uphold biblical teaching, successive Archbishops have forfeited the trust of orthodox Anglicans, who now look to other leaders.
The Church of England and its new leadership must urgently return to the message of faith, hope, and love entrusted to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bishop Peter Hayward
Commissary for the Archbishop of Sydney (on leave) 4 October 2025
Other responses to the appointment of the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury
From Church Society:
We note the election of Dame Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury. We offer our congratulations and prayers for her as she prepares to take up this ministry, and we hope to be able to meet with her in due course to discuss the urgent need for reformation and renewal of the Church of England in biblical faith.
While the milestone election of a female archbishop creates additional problems of disunity in the Church in England and around the world, we note the positive comments of the Bishop of Ebbsfleet about this here.
But we need a change of direction, not just of sex. More concerning is the appointment (for the third time in a row to this position) of someone who does not seem to actually hold to the doctrine of the Church of England on marriage and sexual ethics but wants it to change. We pray that at a time when there is serious fracture and distrust on this subject, as there is on serious safeguarding issues as well, that God would give bishop Sarah the wisdom she will need to help restore confidence and credibility to the church.
From The Church of England Evangelical Council:
The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) joins Anglicans across the world in praying for Bishop Sarah Mullally on the announcement that she is to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
Bishop Sarah will take up her role as the next Archbishop of Canterbury at a difficult time for the Church of England, set against a backdrop of global conflict and instability.
At home, the Church of England faces challenges because of declining attendance, financial pressures and their impact on sustaining parochial ministry. This is in the context of the significant divisions created by the Living in Love and Faith process. More broadly, across the Anglican Communion, in recent years there has been a significant loss of confidence in the role of the Archbishop and a cry for leadership consonant with our Anglican doctrinal heritage.
These challenges exist within a wider context of political fragility—both in the UK and abroad—with contentious debates domestically, including the proposed assisted dying legislation, immigration, and ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East.
We therefore pray that God will enable Bishop Sarah to hold to the apostolic faith and call the Church of England to recommit to the historic doctrines and formularies entrusted to it. We pray that this might be a moment where the current drift away from a biblical and Anglican understanding of marriage and sexual ethics is either halted or a way is found to secure biblical convictions in the Church of England for the future. Above all, our hope is that she will lead the Church of England in presenting the unchanging good news of the gospel afresh to our needy world.
In 2 Timothy 1:14, Paul implores Timothy to ‘guard the good deposit’. We pray that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Sarah will be enabled to do the same.
From Anglican Futures:
The wrong Archbishop for this cultural moment? – Their conclusion:
The crowning achievement for most Archbishops of Canterbury is the highlight of hosting a “Lambeth Conference” of all the Communion’s bishops. One is due in 2032, the year before the archbishop is due to retire – but whether there will be a Communion to gather is doubtful.
Bishop Mullally may, as many say, be “really kind”. She may, as she says, “…intend to be a shepherd who enables everyone’s ministry and vocation to flourish, whatever our tradition…”, but the thing about shepherds is they have to know both where the good pasture is and where the wolves are.
Given that in less than two hours today Bishop Mullally repeated her failings at home and further alienated the Communion abroad, it is hard to imagine a worse start for the new incumbent of the chair of St Augustine, or a worse morning for the Church of England. There might be “Nothing like a Dame”, but she has just over six years from January to put things right.
– Do read the whole article.
And at The Critic:
The lanyard class Archbishop – by George Owers, writing about the “quiet revival” happening in many places –
“If I were to try to imagine a candidate for the new Archbishop of Canterbury who is the furthest away from this, the worst and least suitable replacement for Welby possible, I would probably pick someone along the following lines. They’d be a former state bureaucrat who made an entire career out of the sort of bland HR department-inspired managerialism that is destroying the church, probably a senior civil servant in (say) the NHS. They’d be on record as having every tick-box lazy progressive political and theological opinion imaginable. They would, of course, have lived and worked in London for most of their life and be a thoroughgoing metropolitan. …”
Photo via The Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.
Canterbury Appointment Abandons Anglicans — Gafcon responds to the appointment of the new Archbishop of Canterbury
From Gafcon:
To my dear brothers and sisters in our Gafcon family,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The news has finally arrived after months of prayer and long waiting. But it is with sorrow that Gafcon receives the announcement today of the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. This appointment abandons global Anglicans, as the Church of England has chosen a leader who will further divide an already split Communion.
For over a century and a half, the Archbishop of Canterbury functioned not only as the Primate of All England but also as a spiritual and moral leader of the Anglican Communion. In more recent times, the See of Canterbury has been described as one of the four “Instruments of Communion,” whilst also chairing the other three Instruments, namely the Lambeth Conference, the Primates Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.
However, due to the failure of successive Archbishops of Canterbury to guard the faith, the office can no longer function as a credible leader of Anglicans, let alone a focus of unity. As we made clear in our Kigali Commitment of 2023, we can “no longer recognise the Archbishop of Canterbury as an Instrument of Communion” or the “first among equals” of global Primates.
We had hoped that the Church of England would take this into due consideration as it deliberated over the choice of a new Archbishop of Canterbury and would choose someone who could bring unity to a divided Anglican Communion. Sadly, they have not done so.
Though there are some who will welcome the decision to appoint Bishop Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, the majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy. Therefore, her appointment will make it impossible for the Archbishop of Canterbury to serve as a focus of unity within the Communion.
However, more concerning is her failure to uphold her consecration vows. When she was consecrated in 2015, she took an oath to “banish and drive away all strange and erroneous doctrine contrary to God’s Word.” And yet, far from banishing such doctrine, Bishop Mullally has repeatedly promoted unbiblical and revisionist teachings regarding marriage and sexual morality.
In 2023, when asked by a reporter whether sexual intimacy in a same-sex relationship is sinful, she said that some such relationships could, in fact, be blessed. She also voted in favour of introducing blessings of same-sex marriage into the Church of England.
Anglicans believe that the church has been given authority by God to establish rites and ceremonies and to settle doctrine controversy, “and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s Word” (Article XX). The church cannot bless or affirm what God has condemned (Numbers 23:8; 24:13). This, however, is precisely what Bishop Mullally has sought to allow.
Since the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury has failed to guard the faith and is complicit in introducing practices and beliefs that violate both the “plain and canonical sense” of Scripture and “the Church’s historic and consensual” interpretation of it (Jerusalem Statement), she cannot provide leadership to the Anglican Communion. The leadership of the Anglican Communion will pass to those who uphold the truth of the gospel and the authority of Scripture in all areas of life.
Gafcon gathered in Jerusalem in 2008 to reset the Anglican Communion back onto its biblical foundations. Today’s appointment makes it clearer than ever before that Canterbury has relinquished its authority to lead. The reset of our beloved Communion is now uniquely in the hands of Gafcon, and we are ready to take the lead.
For such a time as this, Gafcon has summoned global orthodox Anglican bishops to Abuja, Nigeria, from 3 to 6 March, 2026, for the G26 Bishops Assembly. This may be the most significant gathering of faithful Anglicans since 2008.
Today’s announcement will cause sadness and dismay among Anglicans worldwide. Yet, every morning, Anglicans throughout the world recite the words of Psalm 95: “Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
Today, that is our prayer for all bishops and leaders within the Anglican Communion, including Bishop Sarah Mullally. We pray that as she takes upon herself the weight of this historic office, she will repent, and earnestly work with the Gafcon leadership to mend the torn fabric of our Anglican Communion.
May all our hearts be softened to hear the voice of God in Scripture, and may we all be inclined to obey, as we move out in gospel mission to a lost and hurting world, for the glory of God.
Yours in Christ,
The Most Reverend Dr Laurent Mbanda
Chairman, Gafcon Primates Council
Friday 3rd October, 2025.
via e-mail.
“Church of England’s treatment of Bernard Randall is evil”
“The Church of England’s treatment of former school chaplain, Rev Dr Bernard Randall, deserves to be described as evil.
The Christian Legal Centre is rightly calling for Dr Randall to be restored to ministry after statutory authorities found that he did not pose a safeguarding risk. …”
– Julian Mann writes at Christian Today.
Photo: Christian Concern.
Church of England Newspaper suspends publication
The Church of England Newspaper’s Editor, Andrew Carey, has announced that there will be no further published editions of the CEN until further notice. Instead, a weekly newsletter (by email?) will be sent out “for the foreseeable future” –
“In 1828, a group of young evangelical clergy set up a newspaper called The Record. One of its earliest subscribers and supporters was a young John Henry Newman. The Newspaper formed what became known as the ‘Recordite’ faction in the C of E opposing Tractarianism. It was in the 1950s that the Record merged with The Church of England Family Newspaper to become CEN. …”
Has Living in Love and Faith come to an end? An open letter to the Archbishop of York
At Psephizo, Ian Paul writes to the Archbishop of York:
“Dear Stephen
I read with interest your address to York Diocesan Synod on 5th July, and one word leapt out for me: ‘final’. Near the end of your address, you comment:
The Living in Love and Faith process is not yet complete. Some final proposals will be brought to the February 2026 meeting of the General Synod.
If that is the case, I am and countless others (on all sides of this debate) will be delighted. This has been a disastrous and divisive process since 2017; I wonder whether you realise how damaging it has been, and whether you will ever publicly acknowledge that. It sprang out of Justin’s spontaneous and ill-conceived phrase ‘radical new Christian inclusion rooted in scripture and Christian theology’ which was both incoherent (how can this be new if it’s rooted in existing theology?) and immediately open to misinterpretation …”
– Read it here.
Image: Ian Paul speaks at last year’s Church of England General Synod.
Mass, indulgences and relics at Canterbury Cathedral
“Nearly 500 years after the English Reformation, Canterbury Cathedral, the mother church of the Protestant Church of England, will be given over to a Roman Catholic Mass, celebrated by the pope’s own representative in the country in honor of the martyr Thomas Becket, who died in the cathedral in 1170.
…the Mass will award those in attendance a plenary indulgence … celebrated by Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendia, apostolic nuncio to the United Kingdom …
And while the only relics left at the cathedral are some bloodstains of Becket’s, the Roman Catholic parish of St. Thomas, also in Canterbury, has acquired a relic — a bone of Becket’s, which will be taken to the cathedral for the Mass.”
– At Religion News Service, Catherine Pepinster previews the Roman Mass to be held in Canterbury Cathedral tonight, Australian time.
Alternative Anglican Ordinations: seven South African deacons
Law and Religion UK introduces a guest post on recent events in London:
“Seven lay ministers from dioceses across the Church of England were ordained in May 2025 by a visiting Anglican bishop from South Africa.
In this guest post, Andrew Atherstone provides the first report of this event, based on interviews with several of the leading participants.
‘On Wednesday 21 May 2025, the Archbishop of York received notification from the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa (REACH SA) of their plans to ordain “missionary clergy” for ministry in England.
“A group of churches from various Church of England dioceses”, declared Bishop Martin Morrison from Gauteng, “have approached us with a request: that we consider ordaining a number of emerging leaders, all of whom are appropriately selected and theologically trained.” Following the commendation of the Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF) in December 2023 by the Church of England’s House of Bishops, these young leaders found themselves unable “in good conscience” to pursue ordination through the normal channels, and their congregations were deeply concerned that “no clear or lasting pastoral provision has yet been made”, especially in terms of “legal and permanent structural protections or future ministry pathways”.
Therefore, Bishop Morrison explained to the Archbishop, REACH SA had decided to accede to their request for ordination. He emphasised: “This decision has been made with the aim of sustaining and advancing faithful Anglican evangelical witness and to ensure we do not lose a generation of gifted gospel workers to ordained ministry.”
Morrison’s letter was copied to the Bishop of London (in the absence of an Archbishop of Canterbury) and to the Bishop of Leicester (lead bishop of the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) project until his sudden resignation in early June). …’ ”
– Read the full report here. (Paragraph breaks added for clarity.)
Church of England responds to House of Commons votes
“There have been two instances this week of votes in the House of Commons on issues where members have been free to vote in line with their personal opinions. The Church of England has issued press releases in each case.
First, a change to the law on abortion was approved …
Second, MPs in the House of Commons voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, with 314 votes in favour and 291 against, a majority of 23.”
– from Thinking Anglicans. Not a good time for the not-yet-born, the old, or the very ill in England.
Bishop of Leicester steps down as lead on Living in Love and Faith
“The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, has announced that he is stepping down as lead bishop for the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process.
On Facebook on Friday afternoon, he wrote that he was doing so ‘with a very heavy heart’. He was ‘hugely grateful to the staff team that I have worked with over the last 18 months and similarly the Working Group members who have given hours of their time to seek an agreed way forward in the Church of England on matters of sexuality, relationships, and marriage. I hope it may yet be possible to reach such an agreement, but I don’t think that can happen under my leadership.’…”
Image from an October 2024 (now deleted) video by Bishop Snow.
75 Years of Church Society
In the latest Church Society podcast with Ros Clarke:
“Church Society is celebrating 75 years since its formation from the Church Association and the National Church League in 1950.
In this episode of the podcast, we hear from Andrew Atherstone, Gerald Bray and Lee Gatiss about the history of Church Society before 1950, in the past 75 years, and into the present day.”
– Listen here. 35 minutes.
Anglican Communion participants in choice of next Archbishop of Canterbury announced
“The Archbishop in Jerusalem, Dr Hosam Naoum, is to be one of the five representatives of the global Anglican Communion who help to decide the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
The names of the Communion representatives were announced on Tuesday morning, along with those selected from among the central members elected by the General Synod for a five-year term.
Previously, the Canterbury Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) has had only one representative of the Anglican Communion…”
– Church Times reports on the latest in the search for a new Archbishop of Canterbury.
See also:
‘Omnishambles’ May Delay Canterbury Selection – The Living Church.
Alternative Spiritual Oversight – An Invitation – CEEC
From the Church of England Evangelical Council.
And a reminder to pray for our brothers and sisters in England who are seeking to stand for the faith ‘once for all delivered to the saints’.
Bishop Martyn Snow responds to “What kind of future awaits the faithful?”
“I am grateful to Anglican Futures for reviewing my booklet, ‘Can we Imagine a Future Together? Intercultural Lessons for Living in Love and Faith’. The review is thoughtful and constructive, and they are kind enough to offer words of personal encouragement to me – I have indeed spent many hours on Living in Love and Faith (LLF) and heard much pain and anger!
And yet the opening analysis is that the booklet ‘offers little hope’ for faithful Anglicans.
Unsurprisingly, I take issue with this … Obviously, it all depends on what you regard as a good outcome to the LLF process! …”
– Anglican Futures has published this response by Bishop Martyn Snow to their review of his booklet ‘Can we Imagine a Future Together?’.
Bishop Snow is the lead bishop for the ‘Living and Love and Faith’ process in the Church of England. Doubtless, there will be responses to Bishop Snow’s response.
Image: Bishop Snow at the 2024 Church of England General Synod.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…