The Journey of the Anglican Churches in the Global South

By David W. Virtue, DD

www.virtueonline.org

February 3, 2026

Two distinguished emeritus archbishops, John Chew (Southeast Asia) and Mouneer Anis (Egypt), have written a history outlining the journey of the Anglican churches in the Global South following the heretical theology and disastrous behavior of a number of North American Episcopal bishops.

Three archbishops—Mouneer Anis, John Chew, and Peter Akinola (Nigeria)—met informally in Cairo in 2003 with no fixed agenda except to reconnect more formally with other orthodox primates and provinces of the Global South, following the disastrous consecration of an openly homosexual American bishop in the person of V. Gene Robinson.

This action galvanized the Global South bishops as nothing had ever done before. The world of the Anglican Communion would change forever. The book traces the history of that change by the Global South from the first Global South encounter through nine encounters and conferences, also called "trumpets." The use of the word "trumpets" is not without significance. They are biblical references symbolizing important announcements, calls to worship, warnings, divine interventions, and judgments.

For the Global South, it was a clear call to a warning of God's judgment on Western Anglican provinces which had departed from "the faith once for all delivered to the saints."

With the Church of England publicly and joyfully welcoming same-sex couples, a milestone had been reached. Archbishop Samy Fawzy of the Anglican Province of Alexandria reaffirmed Resolution 1:10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference that forbade legitimizing or blessing same-sex unions. A red line had been crossed, alienating 75% of the Anglican Communion and announcing an impaired and broken communion. The Global South issued an "Ash Wednesday statement" arguing that the Church of England could no longer take the lead of the Anglican Communion while it openly disregarded the traditional teaching of the Communion.

They went one step further, saying that the current Archbishop of Canterbury no longer had the moral qualification to lead the Anglican Communion.

Participants at "The Ninth Trumpet" encounter in Cairo (2024) cemented their claims on the communion. The GSFA's 1st Assembly drew 13 active primates, 44 bishops, 46 clergy, and 36 lay leaders. They approved a covenantal structure that made all faith and order matters the responsibility of the Primates Council. Henceforth, they would be responsible for guarding the faith. They declared the Anglican Communion's instruments of communion "dysfunctional," thus negating the Windsor Continuation Group's efforts that were never followed through.

They concluded by saying that the GSFA would fulfill their historic vocation in a rapidly changing communion to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, to build one another up in their faith, and foster true unity.

As a result, the growth of the Anglican churches in the Global South has been phenomenal. In 1900, Africa represented just 1% of the Anglican Communion. By 2005, that figure had risen to 55%, and today, Global South churches comprise 75% of the Communion.

They are the vibrant majority whose voices are now being heard above the din of "scornful wonder" and "sore oppression by schisms rent asunder, and heresies distressed,” derived from the hymn "The Church's One Foundation."

Once voiceless during the colonial era, the Global South now stands as a vibrant majority whose voice is now being heard. These churches remain steadfast, refusing to follow certain Western churches that have departed from the faith and traditions handed down by the saints over centuries.

The delicate relationship between the GSFA and GAFCON got a brief mention with a statement that read, "We did not try to bring GAFCON under the GSFA or the opposite, but simply to coordinate ministries."

GAFCON and GSFA have shared beliefs but different aims. Both groups share fundamental beliefs about the Christian faith, but they differ in their aims and approaches to the Anglican Communion. GAFCON, also known as the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, is a renewal movement that has declared the creation of a "Global Anglican Communion." This movement is led by Archbishop Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda. GAFCON seeks to restore the Anglican Communion's original structure as a fellowship of autonomous provinces bound together by the Formularies of the Reformation.

By contrast, the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans is committed to maintaining the unity of the visible church and the fabric of the Anglican Communion. They honor the 1998 Lambeth Conference Resolution 1:10 and are not aligned with the Canterbury Communion or the Church of England. The two groups have long shared a common view that the Communion is no longer working, but they differ as to how to respond to the crisis.

This historic volume comes with a heavy appendix of more than 120 pages and 43 pages of photos. It is a must-read for concerned Anglicans and scholars tracing the ups and downs of the communion over a turbulent period in its continuing journey to bring about the kingdom of God.

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