Archbishop Mullally's Confirmation of Election Challenged by CofE Priest // Anglicanism at Crossroads // TEC by the Numbers // Episcopal Bishop and Southern Baptist Clash over Disruption of Church //

ACNA Missionaries Face Opposition in Syria // Bp Null to Deliver 2026 Kuehner Lecture

Probably the greatest tragedy of the church throughout its long and checkered history has been its constant tendency to conform to the prevailing culture instead of developing a Christian counter-culture. — John Stott

The See of Canterbury must be returned to those who actually believe what the Church has always taught. — Bishop Ceirion Dewar

Everything the GSFA communiqué articulates maps directly onto what I have elsewhere called the Remnant Church thesis. — Rev. Dr. Ronald H. Moore

Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just; a God who is all love, but not holy; a God who has a heaven for everybody, but a hell for none; a God who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and bad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own, as truly an idol as any snake or crocodile in an Egyptian temple. The hands of your own fancy and sentimentality have made him. He is not the God of the Bible, and beside the God of the Bible there is no God at all. — J. C. Ryle

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

www.virtueonline.org

January 30, 2026

She came, she saw, she conquered; by that we mean she met the legal requirements to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Dame Sarah Mullally is now the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, without qualifier. Her elevation to the office was marked on January 27 with a ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

But does she meet the spiritual and theological requirements for the job? Not according to one priest, the Rev. Paul Williamson, who railed against her appointment in the cathedral. You can read my take on this here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/st-paul-s-london-church-of-england-priest-disrupts-archbishop-s-ceremony. VOL had earlier published his takedown of her appointment here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/first-woman-appointed-archbishop-of-canterbury-faces-safeguarding-criticism-bishop-sarah-mullally-s

The Daily Express called him a "heckler" when he objected to her appointment. He was swiftly escorted from the ceremony.

But Williamson's objections are not without foundation. They include appalling safeguarding failures by Mullally, which when examined by the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, were quickly dismissed. This is ironic because he himself was charged with similar failings. His boss at the time, Archbishop Justin Welby, resigned over his safeguarding failings.

Williamson also highlighted concerns from orthodox African Anglican bishops, many of whom do not recognize the ordination of women as bishops and oppose same-sex marriage.

Cottrell said that a "full opportunity" had been given for lawful objections, but none had been received and the process would therefore continue. Of course, the show must go on.

The British are known for their pageantry even if there is not much theology behind it. The music included hymns and readings, the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral singing an anthem by Elgar, and the gospel choir of Christ's Hospital School performing a Xhosa South African chant, "Thuma Mina" (Send Me, Lord). But where and to whom?

"These are times of division and uncertainty for our fractured world. I pray that we will offer space to break bread together and discover what we have in common—and I pledge myself to this ministry of hospitality. I want us to be a Church that always listens to the voices of those who have been ignored or overlooked, among them victims and survivors of church abuse who have often been let down. I am committed to equipping the Church to be a kind and safe place that cares for everyone, especially those who are vulnerable, as we rise to the challenge of God's call to justice, equity, peace and the care of creation."

We have heard all this before. Shades of Frank Griswold: "I am the presiding bishop of all." Words like "hospitality," "community," and "pluriform truths" could regularly be heard from Griswold's lips... and then it all crashed and burned.

GAFCON bishops of the Global South won't even recognize her authority, and the GSFA bishops, while not splitting from Canterbury, will doubtlessly not let her into their provinces for fear of reprisals from their own people.

Here is what Bishop Ceirion Dewar, a Missionary Bishop serving the Missionary Diocese of Providence (UK), had to say: "We are invited—once again—to mistake ceremony for substance, pageantry for piety, and novelty for faithfulness. We are asked to believe that the mere occupation of a throne confers apostolic authority, that legality can substitute for legitimacy, and that the historic See of Canterbury may be treated as a laboratory for ideological experiment rather than the spiritual anchor of English Christianity."

Let us speak plainly.

The See of Canterbury is not a prize to be won, nor a platform upon which to rehearse the slogans of the age. It is the ancient guardian of doctrine, the steward of a received faith, the watchman charged with handing on—not reinventing—the deposit entrusted once for all to the saints. When the Archbishop becomes a curator of contemporary opinion rather than a custodian of catholic truth, the office is hollowed out from within.

This moment is presented to us as one of "hope." Hope for whom? For the faithful clergy and laity who have watched orthodoxy sidelined, Scripture relativized, and the moral teaching of the Church dissolved into the acid of accommodation? Or hope for a managerial class that confuses numerical decline with "progress" and imagines that abandoning the faith will somehow make the Church relevant again?

What we are witnessing is not renewal but replacement. Not reform but rupture.

The Church of England is collapsing not because it has been too rooted in tradition, but because it has been ashamed of it. It has chased the approval of the world and forfeited the confidence of its own people. The result is empty churches, disillusioned priests, and a generation taught that Anglicanism stands for nothing in particular—and therefore means nothing at all.

The See of Canterbury must be returned to those who actually believe what the Church has always taught.

Returned to bishops who affirm the authority of Holy Scripture without embarrassment.

Returned to shepherds who preach repentance, sin, salvation, and sanctification without footnotes or apologies.

Returned to men formed by prayer, sacrament, and continuity with the undivided Church—not by ideological activism dressed up as compassion.

This is not about personalities. It is about faithfulness.

The Confirmation of Election may satisfy canon lawyers and politicians, but it does not silence the growing cry from the pews and the parishes: Enough. Enough with the pretense that departure from orthodoxy is courage. Enough with the fiction that contradiction of Scripture is progress. Enough with the idea that Canterbury can survive while severed from the tradition that made it what it is.

Canterbury belongs to the catholic and apostolic faith—or it belongs to nothing at all.

And until it is restored to traditional Anglicans who will guard that faith without fear or favor, every such ceremony will ring hollow, every speech about "hope" will sound rehearsed, and every claim to moral authority will continue to drain away like water through cracked stone.

The throne is ancient.

The faith is older.

And it will outlast those who think they can redefine it.

As a senior cleric in the CofE wrote and told VOL: There is no gospel of repentance and redemption. It is now absent throughout the higher echelons of the CofE—as well as among most of the clergy. "It's just a job; what does religion have to do with it?"

There you have it.

*****

ANGLICANISM IS AT A CROSSROADS, writes the Ven. Alex Uzor. The Anglican Communion is living through one of the most significant seasons in its history. Anyone paying attention knows that the shape of worldwide Anglicanism is shifting. What once looked like a single global family gathered around Canterbury now looks more like two distinct expressions of Anglican identity. One is centered in the historic institutions of the West. The other is rising from the Global South with strong conviction, missionary zeal, and a firm commitment to the Scriptures.

What we see today is a Communion where Canterbury still has a historical place but no longer speaks for the majority of Anglicans. Most Anglicans now belong to churches that stand with GAFCON and the Global South Fellowship. These churches have made it clear that authentic Anglican identity comes from faithfulness to Scripture, not from institutional loyalty. You can read his take here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/anglicanism-at-a-crossroads-the-rise-of-the-global-anglican-communion-and-the-future-of-canterbury

*****

BY THE NUMBERS. Ryan Burge, political scientist, statistician, and compiler of statistics, has come out with a new finding. Here is what he recently wrote: "This should come as a shock to no one who is vaguely aware of American religion—Episcopalians are old. In fact, two-thirds of their adult members have celebrated their 60th birthday. In contrast, just 6% are under the age of thirty. Put simply: for every young adult Episcopalian in the pews this Sunday, there will be about ten retirees. Oof."

*****

NOBODY IS GUILTY OF SAFEGUARDING FAILURES IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. The Archbishop of York will not face disciplinary action over his handling of a priest who faced sexual abuse allegations. Stephen Cottrell, the Church of England's second most senior cleric, faced criticism for not acting quickly enough when he was bishop of Chelmsford over priest David Tudor, whom he allowed to remain in post despite him having been barred from being alone with children by the Church and having paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim.

Tudor was subsequently banned from ministry for life in 2024 after admitting what the Church of England described as serious sexual abuse involving two girls aged 15 and 16.

Cottrell, while bishop of Chelmsford, twice renewed Tudor's contract as area dean in Essex despite having been "fully briefed" about his past.

But the president of Church tribunals, Sir Stephen Males, concluded in a finding published on Thursday that although "some mistakes were made in the handling of David Tudor's case," there was no case for Cottrell to answer at a disciplinary tribunal. Cottrell regrets that mistakes were made.

He previously insisted he had inherited a "horrible and intolerable" situation and "acted immediately" when fresh complaints were made about Tudor in 2019, adding that he had "no legal grounds" to suspend him before then.

*****

An Episcopal Bishop and a Southern Baptist leader found themselves at odds over the disruption of a church service in Minnesota. Minnesota Episcopal Bishop Craig Loya refused to condemn protesters who disrupted an evangelical church service in Minnesota, while Southern Baptist leader Dr. Albert Mohler condemned the incident as a violation of freedom of worship and assembly.

"[It is] an unspeakably evil intrusion of a leftist mob into a Christian worship service today in Minneapolis and must be called out for what it is—and Federal authorities should be fast and effective in response," Mohler wrote in a post across multiple platforms, including X and Threads. Mohler is president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/episcopal-bishop-and-southern-baptist-leader-clash-over-protesters-disruption-of-church-service

One of the disruptors was Don Lemon, a former CNN news anchor. Lemon was arrested on federal charges in connection with the anti-ICE protest at the Minnesota church.

*****

If you wonder whether anything good can be done while the country is in political turmoil, I have some good news for you. Jerry and Stacy are two ACNA missionaries on the front line in the Middle East bringing the gospel and social justice to bear on displaced Christians in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey.

They are presently trapped inside Syria where they are watching a genocide being committed against the Kurds, once U.S. friends whom we have abandoned in favor of a Syrian government—which the U.S. is supporting and praising for doing a "great job." Its president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, now the undisputed star of this year's United Nations General Assembly in New York, is a former al-Qaeda commander.

The couple are pouring out their hearts, trapped behind enemy lines. They say the Kurds cannot grasp why the U.S. has betrayed them. "There are at least 150,000 displaced people in the city where we are based. All the city's schools are closed to house them. There is no electricity. The city of Kobane is under siege with 300,000 displaced, no electricity, no water. It's freezing, and children are dying every night from exposure. They are cut off and waiting for the impending massacre. Help."

If you would like to help Love for the Least, their mission ministry, you can send a donation here: https://lovefortheleast.org/give/

*****

The Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Oreland, PA will host the 2026 Kuehner Lecture. This year's lecture, "The Role of Augustine in the English Reformation," will be presented by the Rt. Rev. Ashley Null. It will be held Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. Reception to follow. Null is a world leader in the writings of Thomas Cranmer. You can make a booking here: https://www.paperlesspost.com/go/kkN25D3Cg4y55ZqunZn5Wx?action=rsvp&skipLoadAnimation=true

*****

It is becoming more apparent to this writer that with increasing heresies flourishing in the Anglican Communion, THE JUDGMENT OF GOD is focused on bishops and clergy who have failed to proclaim the gospel to all and sundry. I have often wondered why orthodox and faithful Christians experience persecution but progressive churches do not. I have written a piece, "Why progressive and revisionist churches will never be persecuted," which you can read here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/the-judgment-of-god-why-progressive-and-revisionist-churches-will-never-be-persecuted

*****

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