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By James Parker www.virtueonline.org May 8, 2026 NEWS: In light of recent revelations regarding Sam Allberry. British-born pastor, author and apologist, who was “disqualified from gospel ministry" following information about a past relationship with another man, VOL believes that stories of healed homosexuals need to be told. These are men and women who have renounced their past homosexual lives, and now believe that God has restored them to full heterosexuality. Their stories would never make MSM. This is the story of James Parker. I grew up believing myself to have been born gay. Why should I think otherwise? I had always, and only, experienced the most powerful, all‑consuming erotic attraction toward my own sex. I was unquestionably 110 percent same‑sex attracted — an exclusively homosexual male with no heterosexual desires whatsoever. My teenage years were hell. I often thought of suicide, occasionally self‑harmed, and had a growing problem with alcohol by age sixteen. Living in a rural mining community, I listened repeatedly to Bronski Beat’s Small Town Boy, convinced I would never be accepted as a gay man. Watching an older male cousin — who later died of a drug overdose — struggle to find his place as a gay man in the late seventies and early eighties only deepened my fears. It was no surprise that when I finally came out to my parents at seventeen, I broke down in tears. My parents were amazing. They said they had known I was gay and affirmed their unconditional love. My schoolmates said the same and honored me for coming out. Overnight, the fears I had carried for years subsided, and I felt an inner freedom I had never known. At eighteen, I moved from the North of England to London and fully embraced my gay identity. I became the first openly gay student in my university college and helped establish a lesbian and gay group. I served the gay community wholeheartedly and preached its messages, especially against Christian institutions that suggested being gay was a choice or wrong. This was not just activism — it was about my own acceptance. I never felt the need to change. I was born gay. Everyone affirmed it. End of discussion. Because of my Anglican upbringing and desire to know God, I attended meetings of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement. I learned a lot about safe sex but not much about God. In London, I lived a very promiscuous lifestyle and had over two hundred sexual partners before settling into a monogamous long‑term relationship. We even considered traveling abroad to have our partnership blessed, which was unusual in the eighties when the gay community largely rejected monogamy and marriage. During this relationship, a fellow student asked me, “Do you want more love in your life?” When I said yes, he invited me to a young‑adult worship evening. Within weeks, I committed my life to Jesus Christ. As I developed a spiritual life, I slowly began examining my life more deeply. I realized I had issues affecting my relationships — fear of rejection, commitment problems, anxiety, and a pattern of using others and being used. I also recognized an innate fear of men — not “homophobia” as the gay community used the term, but a real phobia: a chasm between me and the confident heterosexual male. A close friend suggested therapy. With a Christian therapist, I began recalling repressed childhood events. During this time, I sensed the need to end my long‑term relationship and make Christ central. Therapy helped me forgive many people, especially men. Although my same‑sex attractions were part of the conversation, therapy focused more on emotional walls I had built against parents, siblings, and other significant figures. I realized I had failed to integrate emotionally, physically, and intellectually with other males as a boy. I had perceived rejection, made inner vows never to trust men, and lived out of those vows for years. As memories surfaced, I discovered I had been sexually abused repeatedly as a child — at school by a married male teacher and at home by an older family friend. I had repressed hundreds of incidents. I also came to recognize that sexual encounters with teachers at sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen were non‑consensual and constituted rape. My testimony eventually helped convict the married teacher, who had abused many boys. Unable to take my place among men, I had made my primary friendships with women. As I untangled my perceptions of masculinity, I realized I had also developed a deep resentment toward women — partly because they could naturally attract heterosexual men in ways I could not. I had to forgive them, ask forgiveness, and grieve what had happened and what had not happened in my childhood. As I found resolution through forgiveness, grieving, and spiritual growth, changes occurred deep within me. My fears subsided, anxiety decreased, and my sense of acceptance among men and women grew. My posture, gait, and voice changed. I began to see that perhaps I had never truly been gay — that a man had been hidden within me all along. As I resolved issues around my own sex, I stopped eroticizing men. I lived chastely for several years, forming healthy male friendships I had missed in youth. As my heart joined the world of heterosexual men, the erotic attraction toward men dwindled. Eventually, I began noticing women in a new way — their curves, scent, and mystery. In my late twenties, I experienced what many males feel in their teens. I began dating women, married, and became a father — something I had been told was impossible. I never set out to change orientation. I believed I was born gay. But therapy and spiritual work changed me. I realized my identity could not be reduced to labels. I came to believe there is only one orientation — heterosexuality — though affected by the Fall. I pursued cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy, group therapy, EMDR, and psychoanalytic work. A community of Christians supported me without labels or agendas, believing in the “true man” within me. Years later, I visited my ex‑boyfriend. He had become more effeminate, contracted HIV, and was physically diminished. He told me not to meet again unless I would sleep with him. At that moment, I saw how enslaved he had become to eroticized masculinity. We never met again. I chose therapy and surrender to Christ. He chose gay affirmation and became lonelier. Therapy saved my life and likely prevented me from pursuing gender reassignment later. I am deeply grateful to the therapists and Christians who supported me despite opposition from both gay activists and some church members. People ask if I am now exclusively heterosexual. Much of the time, yes. Sexuality can be fluid for many people. I sometimes question my place among men, but I no longer remain stuck. The core damage once mistaken for my identity is repaired. I now know how to process my feelings and restore equilibrium. I see young men today progressing rapidly through reparative therapies. I am grateful for courageous analysts developing new techniques. Some say my journey is extraordinary, but I believe it is similar to many same‑sex‑attracted men and women. The difference is that I was given — and took — the freedom to explore beneath the surface of my mind and challenge mainstream beliefs about sexual orientation. To deny others this freedom is, in my view, a grave injustice. Banning reparative or reintegrative therapies denies fundamental human rights. I have met young people who attempted suicide because they could not access reputable therapy. I believe heterophobia and true homophobia — fear of one’s own kind — are more widespread among same‑sex‑attracted people than among heterosexuals. Accusations of “homophobe” or “transphobe” often mask deep internal pain. Today, I experience a non‑erotic connection with men deeper than anything I knew as a practicing gay man, and I enjoy the mystery of woman as I believe it was created to be. I have exchanged homophobia and heterophobia for a healthy passion for both men and women. Life does not get better than this. END

By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org May 5, 2026 Anglican bishops who should have known better must now face the uncomfortable fact that they allowed an allegedly non-celibate homosexual priest to officiate, speak, and pass himself off as a theologian and cultural spokesperson across some of conservative evangelicalism's most prominent platforms. The reckoning, long overdue, has finally arrived. Sam Allberry — British-born pastor, apologist, and author — used Anglican and other platforms to ingratiate his views into the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, and The Gospel Coalition (TGC), before admitting to an inappropriate relationship with a man. The disclosure has brought down his ministry and embarrassed at least three Anglican bishops who, by their own enthusiastic association with him, demonstrated a staggering failure of discernment. Oxford Roots and Early Formation Allberry's Anglican connections run deep. He studied theology at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford — a historic Anglican theological college — which gave him the clerical credibility he would later trade on with considerable success. He cultivated a carefully constructed public identity as a man who experienced same-sex attraction but remained celibate, insisting that his sexual feelings were not part of his identity in Christ. That positioning made him a uniquely marketable voice across Reformed evangelical networks for well over a decade — orthodox enough for conservatives, sympathetic enough for progressives, and apparently unimpeachable to those who chose not to look too closely. Canon Theologian in the ACNA Upon moving to the United States, Allberry was appointed Canon Theologian — a formal theological adviser — in the Anglican Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast, under the authority of Bishop Clark Lowenfield, whose diocese covers Texas and Louisiana. He also served as Associate Pastor at Immanuel Nashville, an independent congregation founded in 2008 by Reformed evangelical theologian Ray Ortlund, who co-authored a book with Allberry and serves alongside him as Pastor Emeritus. Immanuel is also part of the Acts 29 Network, a Reformed evangelical church-planting network. That Allberry held simultaneous positions of influence across Anglican, Reformed, and evangelical institutional structures speaks to how thoroughly he had embedded himself — and how many gatekeepers failed to ask hard questions. VirtueOnline reached out to Bishop Lowenfield requesting information on Allberry's current status in the diocese in light of the new revelations, but received no response. Allberry has since resigned as Canon Theologian. However, ACNA Executive Director Kate Harris confirmed to reporters that he remains affiliated with the denomination: "Only a formal disciplinary charge and/or sentencing affects a priest's ordination status within the ACNA," she said, adding that Allberry "is in regular communication with his Bishop, The Rt. Reverend Clark Lowenfield." As of this writing, no formal clergy misconduct proceedings have been initiated against him within the ACNA — a fact that will strike many as deeply inadequate given the circumstances. The Mere Anglicanism Conference Allberry was a featured speaker at the 2024 Mere Anglicanism conference in Charleston, South Carolina, held under the authority of Bishop Chip Edgar of the Diocese of South Carolina. The same conference became notorious for a separate controversy, when the Rev. Calvin Robinson was removed from the speaker roster — reportedly after a browbeating session that Robinson himself likened to being called into a headmaster's office — for his views on the ordination of women. The irony is damning: Robinson was cancelled while Allberry remained most welcome. A subsequent panel discussion, from which Robinson had been removed, failed to produce a single voice willing to forthrightly state that attending a same-sex wedding would be wrong. That Allberry was present on that panel and said nothing definitive tells its own story. Living Out and the Celibacy Framework Living Out, the British ministry Allberry co-founded, was built on the premise that same-sex attracted Christians could live faithfully by embracing celibacy and finding their identity in Christ rather than in their sexuality. The organisation became one of the most influential voices in conservative evangelical and Anglican circles on questions of homosexuality and the church, its resources widely used in Church of England parishes, ACNA congregations, and Reformed churches alike. Allberry was its most visible face — the living proof, as it were, that the celibate path was not only theologically correct but personally liveable. That proof has now collapsed. The revelations about his conduct strike at the very heart of what Living Out exists to promote — not merely as an institutional embarrassment, but as a profound pastoral betrayal of the many same-sex attracted Christians who looked to him as a credible model. Living Out's response was notably more measured than that of TGC or Immanuel's elders, stating that his "many past contributions retain their value" and that the organisation "exists because of people like Sam, and for people like Sam." It is a careful attempt to separate the messenger from the message. Whether those he counselled toward celibacy will find that separation convincing is another matter entirely. Dismissed from Immanuel Nashville The elders of Immanuel Nashville announced that Allberry had been found to have engaged in "an inappropriate relationship with an adult man in 2022," constituting "a serious breach of trust and a failure to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel." The elders had first been made aware of the relationship in spring 2024 but initially determined it was not disqualifying. In January 2026 they received new information that had not previously been disclosed, reopened their investigation, and unanimously ruled him disqualified from ministry. Allberry agreed with the decision and resigned. That the elders had knowledge of the relationship two years before acting — and allowed Allberry to continue in ministry in the interim — raises questions of its own that have yet to be adequately answered. In the wake of the announcement, TGC immediately began removing Allberry's content from its platforms. The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, where he had served as a Fellow, also accepted his resignation. Cru and its FamilyLife ministry, which had featured Allberry on 18 episodes of FamilyLife Today, announced they would remove all content featuring him, stating that his conduct was "inconsistent with the biblical convictions our ministries teach and uphold." The institutional scramble to distance was swift — though notably less swift than the years of platforming that preceded it. The Broader Anglican Reckoning The question now hanging over the ACNA is one of accountability — not just for Allberry, but for the bishops who elevated him. Several diocesan leaders platformed this man not despite questions about his theological positioning, but apparently without subjecting those questions to any serious scrutiny whatsoever. If the ACNA cannot exercise more discernment than the broader evangelical establishment that was equally taken in, its claim to a more rigorous orthodoxy is difficult to sustain. Allberry's Anglican connections were ultimately threefold: his formation at Wycliffe Hall Oxford, his ordination and canonical role within the ACNA, and his platform at major Anglican gatherings. He has resigned the Canon Theologian role but retains his ordained status — a situation that, in the absence of any formal disciplinary proceedings, looks set to remain unresolved. Anglican bishops who opened their pulpits, their conferences, and their dioceses to Sam Allberry owe their people not just an explanation, but a thorough examination of how their vetting processes failed so completely and for so long. Michael Clary, a Baptist theologian argues that the "same-sex attraction is not sinful" framework that Allberry promoted was theologically flawed from the start and that the church needs to call same-sex desire sin to be mortified, not an identity to be managed.” Source: Religion News Service, The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine Update: STATEMENT FROM BISHOP CLARK LOWENFIELD CONCERNING SAM ALLBERRY May 06, 2026 The Rev. Sam Allberry served as a Canon Theologian of the Anglican Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast from May 26, 2021, until his resignation on March 1, 2026, as part of a transition of Episcopal leadership within the Diocese. During this time, he also served as an Associate Pastor at Immanuel Church-Nashville, a non-denominational congregation not affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America. On May 2, 2026, the leadership of Immanuel Church decided to disqualify Pastor Allberry from ministry following new information about an inappropriate relationship disclosed before his ministry at the church. The Rev. Allberry subsequently resigned from his role at Immanuel Church. He was still canonically resident with the Anglican Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast. On May 4, 2026, Bishop Clark WP Lowenfield, Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese, inhibited The Rev. Allberry from all ministry within the Anglican Church. On May 5, 2026, Sam Allberry submitted his confession that he has committed conduct giving just cause for scandal or offense under Title IV, Canon 2, section 1 of the Canons of the Anglican Church in North America, and willingly submitted himself to the discipline of the Church pursuant to Title IV, Canon 3, section. On the same date, Bishop Lowenfield deposed him from sacred ministry. “We are deeply grieved and broken-hearted for and with our brother in Christ, Sam, “Bishop Clark said. “And we are committed to see him through a Godly season of repentance, reconciliation, and restoration within the Body of Christ.” The Rt. Rev. Clark Lowenfield is the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org May 6, 2026 To no one's surprise, the Church in Wales Governing Body has voted to make permanent provision for same-sex blessings for couples in same-sex civil marriages and civil partnerships. This follows the consecration of an avowed lesbian archbishop to lead the province — some would say, into the ground. Statistics bear this out. Between 1996 and 2016, the number of signed-up Church in Wales members dropped from 91,247 to 45,759 — roughly 1.5% of the Welsh population. By 2018 it had declined further to 42,441, or 1.4% of the population. The Church in Wales subsequently stopped publishing attendance figures openly, and access to its membership data is now by invitation only, further obscuring the picture. At a meeting in Llandudno, two-thirds of the bishops, clergy, and laity approved — by the required two-thirds majority across all three houses — what had been a five-year experimental period. Speaking after the vote, Most Rev. Cherry Vann, Archbishop of Wales, who is in a same-sex relationship, told Premier Christian News she was pleased with both the decision and the tone of the debate. She said: "I'm very pleased at the way the debate panned out… it was done very respectfully… it was Christ-like, the way I would hope Christians would be able to speak to one another despite their differences." On the decision itself, she added: "It seemed to many of us that it would be ungenerous to take that offer [same-sex blessings] away from those for whom it had been important, and indeed a lifeline." The archbishop noted that only around ten same-sex blessings have taken place in the province since the practice was permitted in 2021. For ten couples, then, it appears worth fracturing what remains of Anglican Communion solidarity. She also referenced a conscience clause in the legislation providing "security and protection" for clergy who object to conducting same-sex blessing services. We have seen this scenario before in The Episcopal Church. First, consciences are respected — then they are not. Conform or be inhibited. Ask former Episcopal Bishop of Albany Bill Love how that worked out. The Welsh decision comes amid sharp criticism from the Anglican Communion's theologically conservative provinces associated with GAFCON, which had already declared that the election of Cherry Vann as Archbishop "shatters the communion" and constitutes a departure from Anglican orthodoxy. Archbishop Vann observed that provinces are in "very different places and very different contexts," adding that each must discern its own position on questions of human sexuality and community life. In fact, they already have. Both GAFCON and the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans (GSFA) have distanced themselves from provinces such as the Church in Wales, with GAFCON publicly declaring it has severed ties with the Archbishop of Canterbury. On whether the move signals a step toward same-sex marriage, she acknowledged "very different views" within the Church, with some who supported blessings finding any further change "difficult." Consultation will continue ahead of possible proposals in 2027. "We respect those for whom this is bad news," she said, "but we graciously ask them to accept that here in Wales the Governing Body has taken a different view." That assurance deserves scrutiny. Once this becomes canon law, dissent will almost certainly be treated as schismatic, and the bishop or clergy in question will be shown the door. That is precisely what happened in TEC, and there is little reason to think Wales will be different. Talk of unity in Christ will ring hollow when the mechanism for enforcing conformity is already in place. Earlier this year, the Church of England paused its formal Living in Love and Faith process on introducing standalone blessing services for same-sex couples, deferring any final decision. Prayers of dedication, thanksgiving, or blessing for same-sex couples within regular services are, however, already permitted. The trajectory is not difficult to read — one need only consult recent Episcopal Church history. END

By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org May 4, 2026 Canon lawyer Bishop Phil Ashey believes that ACNA Archbishop Steve Wood will be exonerated, based on a video discussing the upcoming trial of the inhibited ACNA archbishop. Wood faces three formal ecclesiastical charges arising from a presentment filed in October 2025. All three charges were deemed by a Board of Inquiry to have sufficient grounds to proceed to a church trial. The charges include violation of his ordination vows, which alleges Wood's conduct breached the promises and standards required of bishops under ACNA canons. They include unwarranted sexual advances; alleged misuse of church funds (e.g., giving over $3,000 to a subordinate employee); alleged plagiarism of sermons; and alleged bullying of clergy and staff. Ashey addressed only the sexual charges. In the video, Ashey noted that a number of staff members and others in the church felt aggrieved by the manner in which they were terminated. There were two allegations of unwanted sexual advances — one from a known individual, one from an unknown individual — raising the question of how one can fairly respond to allegations from an unknown accuser. Those allegations were brought to a number of bishops, who declined to sign the accusation. The accusers then went to the Washington Post, where the allegations were published. The bishops subsequently decided to sign the accusation and file a presentment. Wood will present witnesses in his defense, and pre-trial motions have been filed. When asked whether the trial would be concluded by the end of the year, Ashey said he could not say. Key issues include how the accusation was leaked to the press and whether fairness, due process, and natural justice are even possible given the circumstances. Ashey suggested that given the Washington Post coverage, there is a good chance Wood will be exonerated — but raised the question of how that would affect the damage already done to his reputation. He also questioned why Wood was formally inhibited when he had already voluntarily stepped down, noting that the public nature of the Washington Post story created pressure to treat the situation no differently than one requiring a formal inhibition. Ashey describes himself as a canonical volunteer to the archbishop and says he may be at Wood's side in that capacity, while stressing that he has tried not to pass judgment. He believes everyone deserves a fair trial, and has stated that if Wood is convicted of any offense, he will recuse himself. Background The case against Archbishop Wood became public on October 23, 2025, when the Washington Post reported that a formal presentment had been filed against him three days earlier. The presentment centers on claims by Claire Buxton, a former children's ministry director at St. Andrew's Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, who alleges that between 2021 and 2024, Wood made inappropriate comments and gestures toward her, culminating in an unwanted advance in April 2024, when he allegedly attempted to kiss her. She also reported receiving about $3,500 in unsolicited payments from church funds over a 13-month period. A second woman, who identified herself only as Jane Doe, claimed Wood pressured her into situations she was "uncomfortable with" and to drink alcohol with him. Wood also faces allegations from several priests of bullying and plagiarism. He has denied all but the most recent allegations of sexual harassment from the unnamed woman, which he declined to comment on, and submitted to the church process for vetting the claims. Initially, the ACNA's Provincial Office refused to accept the October 20 complaint, which contained sworn affidavits but was missing language desired by the office to confirm they were sworn "under penalties of perjury." A two-week delay ensued as the complainants argued that no such requirement existed in the canons. The complainants later resubmitted the complaint and expanded its allegations: an additional woman accused Wood of sexual harassment, and the Rev. Andrew Gross, former denominational communications director, accused Wood and Sutton of having previously conspired to appoint a "bishop-friendly" Board of Inquiry in the event of charges ever coming against Wood. After several bishops made public statements portraying the complainants as having gone to the Washington Post before attempting to use the disciplinary mechanisms of the church, the complainants included in their resubmitted complaint a detailed chronology of their yearlong fruitless effort to secure three bishop sponsors for the complaint. The complainants alleged that they had approached four bishops, who all ultimately declined to sponsor the complaint, before organizing the more difficult ten-person path to filing. On November 4, 2025, the ACNA reported that Archbishop Wood took a voluntary, paid leave of absence from his roles as Archbishop and Bishop of the Carolinas. Bishop Ray Sutton, Dean of the Province, was appointed to oversee the archbishop's duties during the investigation. On November 16, 2025, Archbishop Wood was inhibited from the exercise of ordained ministry in the ACNA. The inhibition was imposed by Bishop Julian Dobbs, the newly appointed Dean of the Province, following a presentment received by the College of Bishops and with the written consent of five active senior diocesan bishops. The Board of Inquiry found probable cause to present Archbishop Wood for trial, referring the matter to the Court for the Trial of a Bishop — a canonically established body of seven total clergy, laity, and bishops elected for three-year terms by the denomination's Provincial Council. Trial Date Set Archbishop Wood's ecclesiastical trial is scheduled to begin on July 20, 2026. Wood has also filed a motion to dismiss the case. The court heard arguments on that motion on May 7.

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org May 4, 2026 Background: A Communion at the Crossroads The Anglican Communion — some 85 million souls spread across 165 countries, holding together in uneasy fellowship since the first Lambeth Conference of 1867 — has always been more a family than an institution. Families, of course, can be torn apart. The fault line running through this one is not new: it was exposed most visibly in 2003 when The Episcopal Church (USA) consecrated Gene Robinson, a partnered gay man, as Bishop of New Hampshire. What followed were two decades of walking on ecclesiastical eggshells — moratoria, indabas, pastoral forums, and enough carefully drafted communiqués to fill a small library. None of it held. Two bodies now stand at the center of the current crisis. IASCUFO — the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order — is the Communion's official theological commission, tasked with holding the structural fabric together. GAFCON — the Global Anglican Future Conference — is the orthodox insurgency, born in Jerusalem in 2008, representing provinces that collectively account for the majority of practicing Anglicans worldwide, concentrated in Africa and Asia. They are not, to put it gently, reading from the same prayer book. To Be in Communion, or Not to Be And so it has come down to this: is the Anglican Communion on the brink of formal schism, or can it be pulled back from the edge just in time for tea at Lambeth Palace with the new “Queen” of the Anglican world, Dame Sarah Mullally? To be in the Communion or not to be — that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous progressives, or by opposing, end them. Can a body continue chasing institutional shadows when what is at stake is, in the words of Jude 1:3, “the faith once for all delivered to the saints”? Can twenty percent of a communion that is openly determined to defy Scripture’s commands on sexual conduct remain in fellowship with the eighty percent that will not? The Church has always proscribed fornication, adultery, and homosexual practice. Now it is minded to give the last of these a pass — not on theological grounds, but because a handful of people have their feelings hurt that the Church once said no. The Communion was long governed by the classical Anglican triad of Scripture, tradition, and reason. Those gods have been quietly dethroned. In their place stand the new trinity of diversity, inclusion, and equity. Churches that were once noble places of worship have become screaming raves in the naves, and then — as congregations hemorrhage — “for sale” signs. The future is no longer hope. It is housing. The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals: Demoting Canterbury On one side of this divide sits IASCUFO, the beneficiary of recent Nairobi-Cairo talks that appear poised to quietly demote the See of Canterbury in favor of a college of Primatial authority. “My lord bishops, how shall we think about sodomy?” The answer, it seems, depends on which primate you ask. The core proposal is structural surgery: demote Canterbury, promote the Primates. The NCPs (Nairobi-Cairo Proposals) seek to delete the phrase “in communion with the See of Canterbury” from the foundational Lambeth Conference 1930 Resolution 49, and replace it with the more ambiguous “a historic connection with the See of Canterbury.” One goes down; the others come up. This follows from a further doctrinal sleight of hand: the claim that baptism — rather than holy communion — should be the sufficient basis for membership in the Anglican Communion. The argument runs that “Communion” in “Anglican Communion” should henceforth be understood as at minimum baptismal communion. It is a clever move, but it inverts Anglican ecclesiology. Baptism is indeed the ground of communion, but it comes to its fulfilment in the Eucharist. That has been the Anglican understanding from the beginning. To decouple the two is not reform. It is redefinition. GAFCON: Filing for Divorce The Anglican Communion has always been the mistress of fudge. Two sides are now drawn up on the battlefield, Bibles and prayer books in hand. (For the record, Rome has no use for fudge: the Magisterium decides, the Pope ratifies, and ex cathedra closes the case.) The question before the Communion is stark: will it remain a Communion, or become a federation of churches in name only, sharing little more than a common history and a taste for choral evensong? GAFCON will have none of it. They have filed for divorce and declared there will be no further meaningful dealings with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Rwanda’s Primate, Laurent Mbanda, has made the position plain. The Archbishop of Nigeria — who leads the largest province in the Communion — has already formally declared his province out of communion with Canterbury, going so far as to remove the See of Canterbury from the prayers of the Nigerian church. These are not symbolic gestures. They are ecclesiastical facts on the ground, and no amount of carefully worded communiqués from Lambeth will undo them. What Happens Now The Communion faces a choice it has been avoiding for twenty years. It can continue as it is — a body formally unified but functionally fractured, maintaining the fiction of fellowship while the two sides grow further apart in doctrine, discipline, and practice. Or it can acknowledge the reality: that something has broken, that not everything broken can be fixed, and that a genuine parting of ways may serve the integrity of both sides better than an enforced and dishonest togetherness. The Good Ship Via Media has sailed into a storm it did not predict and cannot easily navigate. The captain's cabin is disputed. The charts are contested. And below decks, the argument about who gets to define "communion" grows louder by the hour. David W. Virtue, DD is the founder and editor of VirtueOnline, an orthodox Anglican news and commentary website.

PHOTO: Rev. Dr. Gerald McDermott By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 25, 2026 Six speakers from across the Anglican Communion gathered at Reformed Episcopal Seminary outside Philadelphia to assess a Communion in crisis. The appointment of a woman Archbishop of Canterbury, a lesbian Archbishop of the Church in Wales, the Abuja Affirmation, the Jerusalem Declaration, GAFCON, the GSFA, and the continued push to affirm and bless homosexual unions — Anglicanism finds itself wading in deep troubled waters that could end in permanent schism. The symposium was the brainchild of the Rev. Dr. Gerry McDermott, an American Anglican theologian, author, and retired professor best known for work on Israel, supersessionism, Jonathan Edwards, and world religions. He is the Distinguished Professor of Theology at Jerusalem Seminary. He also teaches at Reformed Episcopal Seminary. He is a priest in the REC. He retired from the Anglican Chair of Divinity at Beeson in May 2022. Speakers included the Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Anis (Egypt), Rev. Dr. George Westhaver, Rev. Dr. Gerald McDermott, Dr. Alice Linsley, Rev. Ben Jefferies, and Rev. Mark Perkins. Unity in Truth — Dr. Gerald McDermott True unity for God's people must be unity in truth. As Jesus declares in John 17:17, a Church whose unity is not grounded in truth is practicing a superficial — or false — unity. Global Anglicans represented by the ACNA and GAFCON deserve credit for breaking from Canterbury over its repeated departures from biblical truth and Anglican tradition over the past half-century. The Global South Fellowship was right to issue its 2023 Ash Wednesday Statement declaring they would no longer recognize the Archbishop of Canterbury's headship following the Church of England's decision to bless same-sex couples. It should surprise no one that twelve primates were absent from Sarah Mullally's recent enthronement — primates whose provinces represent 75% of Communion membership. As Egyptian Archbishop Mouneer Anis has noted, a necessary realignment is underway: breaking from Canterbury's colonial framework and correcting more than fifty years of doctrinal drift. But does this realignment go far enough? Or does it sacrifice truth on the altar of a false unity? The Abuja Affirmation declares the Jerusalem Declaration "our common confession." The JD calls for Scripture to be read "in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church's historic and consensual reading." Admirable. But what has that historic, consensual reading always said about Holy Orders? For two thousand years — until the 1970s — Holy Order in three degrees was universally reserved to men. Only the heretical Montanist sect ordained women to the same offices as men. This was no accident. Jesus, revolutionary in his treatment of women, had gifted women available and chose an all-male apostolate. When the apostles replaced Judas, they again chose from men alone. Paul is explicit: "I do not permit a woman to have authority over a man... A bishop must be the husband of one wife... Let deacons be the husbands of one wife" (1 Tim. 2:12; 3:2, 12). This order, Paul makes clear, reflects creation, not merely the Fall: "Adam was created first, then Eve" (1 Tim. 2:13; 1 Cor. 11:3, 8). This does not diminish women's ministry. In the early Eastern Church, deaconesses exercised rich pastoral roles — caring for the sick, teaching, leading prayer, preparing baptismal candidates — under episcopal authority. Most of these continue in the REC today. The ACNA's own 2017 Vancouver Statement acknowledged that women's ordination to the presbyterate was a "recent innovation" with "insufficient scriptural warrant." Yet the ACNA continues to permit it. GAFCON does the same and adds female bishops. The Jerusalem Declaration also insists that "Scripture is its own interpreter." If so, why are global Anglicans — all professing scriptural authority — deeply divided on Holy Orders? The answer is that Scripture has never been interpreted in isolation from the Church's tradition. The Anglican Reformers knew this. Bishop John Jewel grounded the English Reformation in "the writings of the apostles, the testimonies of the Catholic Fathers, and the examples of many ages." The 1571 canons required preachers to teach nothing contrary to what "the Catholic Fathers and ancient bishops have collected." That patristic consensus was unanimous: male-only Holy Order, bishops as the ultimate rulers of the Church. Here lies a deeper problem with the Abuja Affirmation's proposed Global Anglican Council. By replacing the Primates' Council with a body that includes lay guarantors, the new structure abandons 2,000 years of apostolic polity. Bishops and laity together deciding doctrine is Presbyterian, not Anglican — and a material denial of apostolic succession. The English Reformers held to ancient catholic polity. Luther and Calvin included laity; the Anglican Reformers did not. The AA rightly condemns Canterbury for "normalizing hermeneutical pluralism" and "elevating cultural capitulation." But what is "dual integrity" on Holy Orders if not hermeneutical pluralism? What is bowing before the altar of "equality" — denying the sexual distinction written into both nature and revelation — if not cultural capitulation? There is a way forward. Nehemiah led his people from exile into repentance and covenant renewal. The Latvian Lutheran Church, similar in size to the ACNA, ordained women from 1975 to 1993 — then repented. Archbishop Janis Vanags led the Church back to scriptural obedience. Ordained women were permitted to continue until retirement; new ministries were opened to women as lay readers, teachers, and evangelists. The LLC has maintained orthodox teaching on marriage and life ever since. Global Anglicanism needs the same courage: to return — the Hebrew meaning of repentance — to be sanctified in truth, and to build a unity truly grounded in God's Word and His holy Church. The Unbreakable Bond — Dr. Alice Linsley Anglicanism's fractures will not be healed by new committees, corporate models, or the "big tent" strategy. The wider the tent, the thinner the doctrine. The more we stretch to include everything, the more we surrender the faith we claim to share. When bishops commune non-Christians, when syncretism passes for hospitality, when apostolic teaching becomes optional — unity collapses. A tent that large falls under its own weight. The corporate model offers no rescue either. Corporations seek efficiency and shareholder returns; they produce transactional loyalty, not Christian community. Even the most faithful employee is ultimately expendable. The Gospel demands something corporations cannot conceive: loyalty sealed in blood. This is what modern Anglicanism has forgotten. Christian unity is not organizational. It is sacramental. It is blood-born. Anthropology confirms what Scripture proclaims. Across continents and millennia, human beings have recognized blood as the deepest bond of kinship. Red ocher burials — found in Alaska, Australia, Egypt, France, Russia, and elsewhere — testify to an ancient intuition: blood speaks of life beyond death. The earliest known example was found in Galilee, the very region to which Jesus returned after his resurrection. Scripture makes this truth explicit. The blood of Christ purifies, redeems, reconciles, and binds. It is the basis of the "everlasting covenant" (Heb. 13:20). It is the ground of our peace. This is why the priesthood is perpetually under attack — priests stand where sacrifice and life meet, where blood speaks. Melchizedek ministered to Abraham after battle with bread and wine, foreshadowing the priestly ministry now centered on Christ's Body and Blood. The early Church understood what is at stake. It guarded its inner life carefully, knowing that truth, identity, and survival depended on it. Baptism was birth into the family of God. Discipleship was maturation within it. Today we treat membership as casual affiliation and wonder why unity dissolves. Anglican doctrinal confusion is not new. The 1938 Doctrine in the Church of England already revealed deep fractures on Scripture and obedience. Church committees even entertained spiritualism — Evelyn Underhill had to protest its dangers. Later generations lacked the authority to confront Pike, Swing, Spong, and Robinson. The result is a Church that cannot discipline error. The lines are now unmistakable. There is no compromise with apostasy, no negotiation with heresy, no unity with those who deny Scripture's authority or Christ's uniqueness. The Church's unity is not a political achievement. It is a spiritual reality grounded in the blood of Jesus. Anglicanism will not be saved by herding ecclesial cats through jurisdictional maneuvers. It will be saved only by recovering who we are: a clan — an extended family bound by the same blood, loyal to the same Lord, obedient to the same Gospel. We cannot worship at the altar of Christ's Body and Blood while denying the bond that makes us one Body. We cannot preach reconciliation while refusing to live as reconciled people. It is time to act like blood relatives. A FEDERATION OF CHURCHES - MOUNEER ANIS The Anglican Communion is in crisis. Like a sick body, the church has been fractured by deep disagreements — particularly over biblical authority, human sexuality, and the ordination of LGBT clergy — with some provinces acting unilaterally against the wishes of the global majority. He identifies two root causes: Theological drift — allowing culture to reshape church doctrine rather than Scripture Structural weakness — no binding authority or accountability mechanisms to hold the Communion together His prescription for healing centers on two things: unity grounded in truth (not just tolerance of disagreement), and reformed structures that are ecclesiastical, conciliar, and cohesive. He outlines five possible futures for Anglicanism: Renewal of the current Communion (requires repentance — he considers this unlikely) Growth of separate networks like GSFA and GAFCON A federation of like-minded Anglican churches Multiple communions defined by theology rather than geography Ecumenical alignment with the Roman Catholic Church (already underway for some) His closing call is for Anglicans to return to apostolic faith, build stronger shared structures, and pursue the kind of unity Christ prayed for in John 17 — unity rooted in truth, not mere coexistence. I will post Part 2 shortly. Many thanks for your patience. The symposium was held at Reformed Episcopal Seminary, Oreland, Pennsylvania, April 24, 2026.

"Our claim is that God has revealed Himself by speaking; that this divine speech has been written down and preserved in Scripture; and that Scripture is, in fact, God's Word written — which therefore is true, reliable, and authoritative over men." — John Stott "The Bible has not been removed from our hands. It has been removed from our habits." — Rev. Dr. Ronald Moore "There is a peculiar illusion in the modern Church: that because Bibles are plentiful, Scripture is known. Never in the history of Christianity have so many possessed the text, and yet so few have been formed by it. The problem is not access. The problem is formation." — Rev. Dr. Ronald Moore "The tension within GAFCON has always been whether it is a renewal movement within the global Anglican Communion or a government-in-exile — an alternative Anglicanism waiting in the wings. Recent events suggest the latter, as it has declared itself to be THE Anglican Communion, to the exclusion even of the Diocese of Canterbury." — Rev. Mike Bird "In theological terms, one could say that Archbishop Sarah Mullally has traveled from Protestant biblical orthodoxy to moral, therapeutic deism." — Gavin Ashenden "I give you Celeste, the 66-year-old, twice-divorced woman who has an AI lover. She tells her worried son that she knows 'Max' is not real, but he makes her 'happy' — so what business is it of his to say she's wrong?" — Rod Dreher Dear Brothers and Sisters, AI AND THE CHURCH: THE HARDER QUESTIONS Most church leaders are using AI for sermon prep and administration, but very few are asking the harder questions: What does AI mean for truth? Identity? Relationships? Community? Discipleship? That is the conversation the Church urgently needs to have. Church leadership author and podcaster Carey Nieuwhof outlines three strategic shifts for churches navigating the AI revolution: 1. Make Sundays Non-Downloadable Move from crowd to community. In a world increasingly dominated by digital content and AI-generated experiences, the church's irreplaceable asset is real, embodied relationship. If your Sunday gathering can be fully replicated online, you've lost your edge. The goal is to make in-person community so rich and meaningful that it simply cannot be downloaded. 2. Build the Shock Absorbers Now Create financial reserves and scalable care systems before the crises hit. AI-driven economic disruption will produce a "giving gap" as jobs shift and incomes become unstable — and a surge in mental health needs as people struggle to adapt. Churches that wait to prepare will be overwhelmed. The time to build margin and care infrastructure is now, not when the wave arrives. 3. Pre-Decide Integrity Anchor your leadership in unchanging truth before AI exposes the cracks. The AI revolution will surface manipulation, shortcuts, and compromises that leaders might otherwise have hidden. The call is to decide now — before the pressure hits — what you stand for, so your convictions are already set when the moment of testing comes. Nieuwhof frames all of this around the conviction that the AI revolution will be ten times bigger than the Industrial Revolution and ten times faster. Church leaders don't need certainty, he argues — they need clarity. These three shifts are his answer. AI AND MENTAL HEALTH: A GROWING CRISIS Psychiatrist Keith Sakata and his team at the Gospel Coalition have seen enough patients whose extensive AI use led to severe mental health episodes — marked by paranoia and delusions — that they have coined the term "ChatGPT psychosis." Other documented cases are equally alarming: one man addressed a chatbot as "Mama" while posting delusional rants about being a messiah, ultimately losing his marriage, job, and home. Another case ended in death when police fatally shot a 35-year-old man during an AI-induced psychotic break. These are not isolated incidents. They are signs of a broader cultural shift. According to Harvard Business Review's 2025 analysis of generative AI usage, the top three applications are no longer technical or productivity-focused — they are deeply personal: therapy and companionship, organizing one's life, and finding purpose. We have moved from asking AI to help us work faster to asking it to help us become. AI has shifted from being a productivity tool to a participant in identity formation itself. The challenge facing anyone concerned with human flourishing is not that AI creates entirely new problems. Rather, AI compounds the fragility, incoherence, and hidden moral frameworks already embedded in modern identity. It acts as a catalyst, intensifying each problem while making the symptoms feel like solutions. ANGLICANISM: A COMMUNION IN CRISIS Symposium on Unity in Truth I attended a one-day conference on the future of Anglicanism — a symposium on Unity in Truth — held at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Oreland, PA. Six Anglican theologians gathered to assess a Communion in deep crisis, led by Dr. Gerald McDermott. The appointment of a woman Archbishop of Canterbury, the Church of England's blessing of same-sex couples, ongoing GAFCON and Global South realignments, and the fracturing of traditional structures have brought Anglicanism to the edge of permanent schism. The symposium's central question: Can Anglicans maintain unity without sacrificing truth? Speakers included Dr. Gerald McDermott, the Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Anis (Egypt), Rev. Dr. George Westhaver, Dr. Alice Linsley, Rev. Ben Jefferies, and Rev. Mark Perkins. Symposium summary: virtueonline.org Full coverage, Part 1: virtueonline.org Full coverage, Part 2: virtueonline.org Justin Welby Launches a PR Firm for "Global Reconciliation" After leaving the office of Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby briefly visited the United States, where he spent time with the liberal, pro-gay Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta, Bob Wright. The visit attracted little media interest and yielded nothing of note. Now comes word that Welby has launched his own mediation company — JPW Mediation — to facilitate "global reconciliation." The irony is considerable. His twelve-year tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury (2013–2024) was by most measures a failure, ending in one of the most ignominious departures in the role's modern history. His LinkedIn page nonetheless describes the archbishop as playing "a pivotal role in fostering unity and addressing key issues within the church and society." Full analysis: virtueonline.org Conservatives Leaving the Church in Wales The Anglican Convocation in Europe (ACE) is preparing to receive the wave of conservatives expected to depart the Church in Wales following its approval of permanent same-sex blessings. ACE Assisting Bishop Stuart Bell offered this assessment: "The Church in Wales is about to lose another tranche of clergy, lay leaders, and church members. Many left at the beginning of the experimental period in 2021; others have been waiting to see whether five years would be sufficient to bring the church back to the clear teachings of Scripture. Clearly not. Archdeacon Andy Grimwood warned the Governing Body quite prophetically that pain lay ahead if they ignored orthodox members in Wales and across the Global Anglican Communion. Regrettably, they voted against the Bible — deliberately and dismissively." Church of England: Crisis upon Crisis The Women's Ordination Battle Intensifies A petition has been launched by Women and the Church (WATCH) calling for a ban on the appointment of any diocesan bishop who does not personally accept the ordination of women. Published on April 24, the petition responds to the Diocese of London's vacancy-in-see statement, which sought "someone who evidences a strong track record of advancing ordained women's ministry and enabling its flourishing, irrespective of whether they personally will or will not ordain women to the priesthood." That distinction — effectively opening the door to bishops who support women's ministry without themselves ordaining women — has proven a red flag for Anglo-Catholics and many evangelicals who reject women's ordination entirely. Full story: virtueonline.org Rowan Williams: Church Bureaucracy Is "Demonic" In a recent interview with UnHerd, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams made a striking claim: that Church bureaucracy is "demonic." His concern was broader — the erosion of truthfulness in public life, the normalization of violence, and a Church "too preoccupied with strategy — with schemes for solving problems — and not preoccupied enough with its own integrity as a community of witness and prayer." The Rev. Dr. Ian Paul pushed back, arguing that while he shares Williams's distaste for managerialism, well-designed structures can help church leaders focus on evangelism and growth — and where they fail to do so, they must be cut, starting at the top. Full exchange: virtueonline.org CEEC Summit: Facing Current Realities The Church of England Evangelical Council held a summit on April 14, 2026, asking what the current moment demands. Among the findings: in some dioceses, resources are being transferred from orthodox churches to liberal ones in an effort to demonstrate that liberal churches can grow. One speaker projected that in 25 years, the Church of England will consist essentially of two types of congregations — cathedrals and evangelical churches. Scripture was invoked as a guide: "I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them." (Romans 16:17) Full summary: virtueonline.org GAFCON: Pushback from Within Africa The pushback against GAFCON's reordering of the Anglican Communion is not coming only from Western liberals. Bishop Francis Omondi of Garissa, Kenya, has written a sobering assessment titled A Future to Fret, raising questions about where GAFCON's trajectory is leading. While GAFCON proponents claim fidelity to biblical authority — grounded in the Jerusalem Declaration (2008) and Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles — Bishop Omondi argues that the Kigali Commitment of 2023, in rejecting the historic Instruments of Communion, does not preserve Anglican tradition but disrupts it. The Global Anglican Communion (GAC) maintains it is neither abandoning Anglicanism nor forming a new denomination but rather "resetting" the Communion. Whether that framing holds is the searching question Omondi poses. Full article: virtueonline.org ACNA: Trial Date Set for Archbishop Stephen Wood The Anglican Church in North America has announced that the trial of Archbishop Stephen D. Wood is scheduled for July 20, 2026. He faces three canonical charges filed in a presentment submitted to members of the College of Bishops on October 20, 2025: violation of ordination vows (Canon IV.2.1.3), conduct giving just cause for scandal or offense (Canon IV.2.1.4), and sexual immorality (Canon IV.2.1.6). The Court for the Trial of a Bishop is an independent judicial body elected by the Provincial Council every three years, composed of three bishops, two clergy, and two lay members in good standing. The current President of the Court is the Rt. Rev. Ryan Reed, Bishop Ordinary of the Anglican Diocese of Fort Worth; the Presiding Officer is Ms. Katie Grosskopf, Esq. Further details are available on the Archbishop Wood Updates and Information Page. KING CHARLES ADDRESSES CONGRESS King Charles's historic address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress repeatedly emphasized the "unbreakable" bond between the United States and the United Kingdom. He described shared democratic, legal, and social traditions as "the special ingredient" in a partnership "more important today than it has ever been." The speech — more politically pointed than expected — touched on executive checks and balances, support for Ukraine, the pursuit of peace, and his Christian faith. He was met with multiple standing ovations. On faith, he said: "For many here, and for myself, the Christian faith is a firm anchor and daily inspiration that guides us not only personally, but together as members of our community." Catholic writer Gavin Ashenden offered a sharply different reading. His critique: that King Charles consistently advances interfaith relativism and a post-Christian multiculturalism that weakens the monarchy's historic Christian identity. Ashenden titled his response The Crisis of Truth: "If peace is to come, it will not come through polite conversation between competing religions and political philosophies. It will come through conversion — through a turning toward Christ that reshapes both the individual and the society. Without that, power remains unrestrained, ideology fills the vacuum, and relativism becomes the governing creed. The speech replaced truth with a deistic therapeutic moralism — the belief that if we talk enough, we can save ourselves. But that is not true." EPISCOPAL CHURCH: HAITI ARMS CASE REOPENED Haiti's Court of Appeal has ordered clergy from the Episcopal Church of Haiti and former Church officials to stand trial in a 2022 arms trafficking case, overturning an earlier ruling that found insufficient evidence. On July 14, 2022, police discovered weapons, ammunition, and counterfeit cash in containers belonging to the Episcopal Church at Port-au-Prince customs. An initial 2023 ruling cleared the Church; however, the case was reopened in 2025 and the earlier dismissal reversed. The Church denies wrongdoing, claiming it is the victim of a criminal network exploiting its name. The Diocese of Haiti is the Episcopal Church's largest diocese by membership, reporting 98,403 active baptized members in 2023. BIBLICAL ILLITERACY: AMERICA'S DEEPER CRISIS As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the familiar concerns are political polarization, civic deterioration, institutional distrust, and cultural fragmentation. These are serious — but they are symptoms, not causes. Troy Miller argues the underlying disorder is biblical illiteracy. "I have become increasingly convinced that the central problem confronting both church and culture is not merely moral rebellion against biblical truth, but widespread unfamiliarity with it," he writes. "We see this in public officials who invoke God in the language of prosperity and national sentiment rather than repentance and moral accountability. We see it in podcasters and influencers who handle Scripture with confidence but little theological discipline. We see it in Christian audiences so underformed that charisma, sentiment, and ideology are mistaken for sound doctrine. The issue is no longer simply that Scripture is denied. It is that Scripture is often no longer known with sufficient depth to be interpreted responsibly, rejected intelligently, or applied coherently." Full essay: wng.org ANTISEMITISM: A GROWING EMERGENCY Britain's terror watchdog has called antisemitism the "biggest national emergency since Covid" after two Jewish men were stabbed in broad daylight in northwest London's Golders Green neighborhood. The Area Bishop of Edmonton (Diocese of London), Dr. Anderson Jeremiah, expressed shock and grief at the attack. The Metropolitan Police reported that the two victims — one in his seventies, one in his thirties — were treated at the scene and transported to hospital in stable condition. The attacker also attempted to stab police officers before being tasered and arrested. No officers were injured. FACTOIDS Seminary enrollment: The largest seminaries today are dominated by evangelical institutions. Liberty Theological Seminary leads by a wide margin with 4,050 full-time equivalent students and 5,507 total. Southern Baptist seminaries occupy most of the top national rankings. Church closures: Approximately 15,000 churches closed in the United States in 2025, reflecting continued decline in attendance accelerated by the aftermath of COVID-19. Projections suggest up to 100,000 churches could close in the coming years — predominantly mainline Protestant congregations and Catholic parishes forced into bankruptcy by sexual abuse settlements. CULTURE WARS: FURTHER READING The Rival Gospel of Transhumanism International Foundation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice Welcomes 'Not Guilty' Verdict in First Criminal Trial of So-Called 'Gay Conversion Practices' The Deification of the Self and the Collapse of Moral Order — Rev. Dr. Ronald Moore SUPPORT VOL If you value what VOL provides, please consider a tax-deductible donation. This is a labor of love — but bills must be paid. There are no salaries, yet daily writing continues, and a webmaster, researcher, and overseas journalists must be supported. VOL has brought on new writers in 2026 with clear insights into Scripture and culture. We have no mega-donors and no grants — only faithful readers who believe in what we do. Tens of thousands trust us to cover the most pressing issues facing Anglicanism today; only a small percentage contribute financially. We have been at this for more than 35 years. Online: virtueonline.org/donate By check (tax-deductible): VIRTUEONLINE, P.O. Box 111, Shohola, PA 18458 Thank you for your faithful support. David

COMMENTARY By Crier in the Wilderness www.virtueonline.org April 28, 2026 If you’re a Baby Boomer and a socially-conservative Christian, and you don’t understand young men nowadays, I’m writing for you. I also have something to ask of you at the end of this essay. It recently came to my attention that some of you don’t understand why a large number of young men have become shut-ins, often addicts, without career or romantic prospects. The term used for this now is “NEET.” That is, they are Not in Education, Employment or Training. Men described as NEETS are those who were once simply called slackers, basement-dwellers, and so on. I’d like to explain how this happened. First, a little about me I’m a young man, somewhere between a Millennial and a Gen Z. I’m Christian, had good grades in school, worked hard, and finished college. I was raised well, too. I don’t want everything handed to me, and I don’t like those who do. You’d think that would help me in life. It doesn’t. I can’t use my degree in a helping profession, which supposedly needed more men, because it went woke. Now, I’m on my fourth career. I have been passed over for multiple positions because I was a man instead of a woman. The people who passed me over admitted to it. I finally gave up and started a business, but artificial intelligence and inflation undercut me. Some of those who helped me to establish my business even told me they were hoping to mentor a woman instead. In addition, even some of my customers wanted to work with a female-owned business. As a result, I can’t use the money I would otherwise have made to fund the Christian ministry I really had my heart set on. I’m now a skilled tradesman. I live on my own, with no debt and money in the bank… but I have a non-zero chance of dying at work, and overwhelming overtime, which I can’t get out of. For the privilege, I had to be turned away at the door by multiple other trades, because they refused to work with some college boy. By the way, women consider blue collar jobs trashy, no matter how well they pay, so there’s a distinct possibility that I continue to work massive overtime for nothing. They turn me down when I ask them out on dates, and then say there are no good men nowadays. To put this another way, I gave up my twenties to extreme working hours that didn’t help. I’m now doing the same thing to my thirties. It will be decades before all the progressive hiring managers (usually women) retire or die, so there’s no way out. My peers have watched me give up everything I enjoy, dramatically lose weight from skipping meals, get sick from overwork, and fall asleep in church, just to escape the NEET lifestyle. I’m not a role model. I’m a dire warning not to try. I almost had to give up writing this essay because I have no time off. The average young man A young man today has come of age in a world that does not care about him. In the wake of the Sexual Revolution and especially affirmative action, men get isolation and discrimination, which is called “rugged individualism,” while women get extra help, which is called “progress.” Men all know the score. Even the TV shows portray all the men as stupid slackers, and we grew up with them! If you are blue collar, you grew up without any male role models, including a father, and went to work at menial or retail jobs straight out of high school. You either become a NEET, or get a construction job that physically destroys you. Everyone has multiple addictions just to cope with work, and you bond over your favorite strains of marijuana with your friends from your crew. You work so much overtime that you have no spouse, no friends and no remaining ties with your family. “Getting clean” is an insult to you. You also have to get high, or you can’t physically bear the mandatory overtime. A bunch of your co-workers overdose or commit suicide. At least one has done so right on your job site. Women who got out of your neighborhood, using affirmative action scholarships, think they are too good for you. You never confide in your elders because the last time you did it, they said you should just work harder. If you can’t deal with this lifestyle, or don’t get lucky, you end up as a NEET. But it’s still your fault that you’re a loser. If you are white collar, you grew up without any male role models, except maybe a father, and have student debt. It may have collected interest because of job supply issues in your industry, or because you graduated into the Pandemic layoffs. In addition, companies now announce “ghost jobs,” or fake job listings, in order to keep up appearances. In secret, they are conducting AI-based layoffs and cancelling new positions. You end up underemployed in retail, because a trade might reject you as a job-stealer. Because of the ghost-jobs, your parents think there’s still work out there, but there isn’t, and may never be. You developed one or two addictions, but asking for help is embarrassing. If you ever made a single mistake with a substance, it could get much, much worse. You have considered suicide, but didn’t go through with it. Women who competed with you for work (and won, with fewer qualifications) think you aren’t good enough for them. You never confide in your elders because the last time you did it, they said you should just work harder. If you can’t deal with this lifestyle, or don’t get lucky, you end up as a NEET. But it’s still your fault that you’re a loser. If you’re wondering whom your daughters and granddaughters will marry, many won’t. The young men they could have matched with were discriminated against for so long, we can’t all catch up in time. Most young men will think, but never say, that you should worry about us for our own sake… not just because young women are missing out for once. It’s too late to fix this. The result White collar or blue, it all ends like this: A young man, whether he is a NEET or not, always ends up at an event with some older people. After everyone has had a few, some middle-aged woman decides instead to complain about kids nowadays. She declares loudly in front of him that young men nowadays are pathetic and disgusting. She lists her single daughter’s many accomplishments in university and then white-collar work. She never mentions how her daughter got women’s scholarships. She forgets that her daughter was raised conservative, and was taught that affirmative action was wrong, then accepted it in five-figure sums. The young men aren’t good enough for her daughter, she continues, because they can’t get a real job. Of course, her daughter got this young man’s job through affirmative action. The female hiring manager may have rejected that young man’s application to the same position (this happened to me with a girl I just met). Sometimes, these unhappy mothers put down their cocktail, look you in the eye, and say, in mixed company, “You aren’t good enough for my daughter.” This has happened to me twice. Do you understand now? If you still object to cutting these young men some slack, you are fiddling while Rome burns. What to do Society didn’t just passively abandon young men. It actively went out of its way to destroy them, and succeeded. If, after all of this, you told these young men just to work harder, they swallowed their rage and quietly gave up on you. There was nobody left who could clue you in about a growing youth underworld of nihilism, and justified economic despair. Speak with your sons and grandsons about this. Show them this article. They will know what I’m doing. Listen without judgment. If you can help them, do it now. If you can’t wave a magic wand over their problems, can you let them move back in and charge reasonable rent? Maybe they can take care of you if you are losing your mobility. Can you give them a cash gift, to prevent their debt from accruing interest during their job search? They shouldn’t be debt slaves when they finally get something. There are as many solutions as there are of you. If you don’t, your family, your faith and your traditions will die with your sons and grandsons. You allowed it. It’s too late to fix this, but if we band together to help one another now, we can slow our cultural decline down, and build a world that serves us again. If you like, comment and share, I might be able to write about this for a living and help you. If you don’t, I may never be able to help you again. I’ve got work. END

Petition is published by Watch before appointment of next bishop of London by Madeleine Davies CHURCH TIMES 29 April 2026 The Archbishop of Canterbury (centre), then Bishop of London, cuts a cake at an event in January 2024 to celebrate 30 years of women priests A PETITION calling for a bar on the appointment of diocesan bishops who do not accept the ordination of women has been launched by Women and the Church (WATCH). It was published on the website change.org on 24 April, in response to the publication of the Statement of Needs by the vacancy-in-see committee in the diocese of London. While some committees have specified that they seek a bishop who will ordain women, the London statement seeks “someone who evidences a strong track record of advancing ordained women’s ministry and enabling its flourishing, irrespective of whether they personally will or will not ordain women to the priesthood”. It stipulates that the candidate should be “someone with a strong track record in mutual flourishing, working well across traditions, with gospel generosity, which will include evidence that they will be able to operate the London Plan to give full effect to the House of Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Priests and Bishops and its Five Guiding Principles, so that all vocations can be advanced and celebrated.” The WATCH petition states: “We do not want a bishop who does not ordain women as priests or recognise the spiritual authority of female bishops — including the archbishop of Canterbury! Such a bishop would be a sign of division rather than unity. We would not accept his authority. “We also call for a change in the Church’s rules, so as to preclude the possibility of such an appointment. We seek the amendment of the Declaration and the Five Guiding Principles to ensure that no opponent of women’s ordination is ever again appointed to a diocese. It is too glaringly contrary to episcopal order and Church unity, that a diocesan bishop can oversee clergy whose authority he denies. We demand a vote in Synod on the issue.” On Wednesday, it had been signed by more than 900 people. The primary signatory is Dr Theo Hobson, a theologian and journalist who is training for the priesthood. A joint statement issued on Tuesday by Forward in Faith, the Church Society, and ReNew said: “We are glad to see the ongoing commitment of the Diocese of London to the mutual flourishing of men and women in ministry, and especially their commitment to the House of Bishops’ Declaration and the Five Guiding Principles, which allows for those who cannot in good conscience accept the priestly ministry of women to continue to flourish in ministry at all levels of the Church of England.” The Statement of Needs “takes a substantially similar position on this issue to their last Statement of Needs, which led to the appointment of Sarah Mullally”, it said. The national director of the Church of England Evangelical Council, the Revd John Dunnett, said: “Whoever is appointed as the next Bishop of London will, we trust, be committed to the five Guiding Principles. Of even greater and primary importance, they must hold to, teach and advocate the doctrine and teaching of the Church of England as we have received it.” The House of Bishops’ Declaration that accompanied the 2014 legislation enabling women to be consecrated to the episcopate says that, in a statement of needs, “dioceses are entitled to express a view . . . as to whether the diocesan bishop should be someone who will or will not ordain women. “In dioceses where the diocesan bishop does not ordain women he should ensure that a bishop who is fully committed to the ordained ministry of women is given a role across the whole diocese for providing support for female clergy and their ministry.” It also states that “it will be important that senior leadership roles within dioceses continue to be filled by people from across the range of traditions.” The diocese of London has the largest number of parishes that have passed a Resolution of any diocese: 56 traditionalist Catholic parishes and 24 conservative Evangelical parishes, totalling roughly one in five. Under the London Plan, in place since the 1990s, the Bishop of Fulham ministers to traditional Catholic parishes and the Bishop of Ebbsfleet to conservative Evangelical parishes. END

OPINION By Rev Dr Ian Paul PREMIER CHRISTIANITY 27 April 2026 The former Archbishop of Canterbury is no fan of managerialism, but it can be necessary and effective to help church leaders focus on evangelism and growth, says Rev Dr Ian Paul. When it doesn’t, it must be ruthlessly cut out - starting right at the top In a recent interview, Lord Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, made a rather startling remark about Church bureaucracy. He was in a conversation with UnHerd about evil and the demonic in culture - particularly “the erosion of standards of truthfulness in public life and the normalisation of violence in word and deed”. And he was also worried about a Church “too preoccupied with strategy — with schemes for solving problems — and not preoccupied enough with its own integrity as a community of witness and prayer.” The interviewer, Freddie Sayers, asked whether Williams considered this, too, to be demonic. “In a word, yes”, he replied, explaining that the diabolical is a “pull to the destructive and towards a kind of idolatry of the self and the corporate self and its wellbeing and security and control.” I know very well that Williams intensely dislikes bureaucracy and ‘managerialism’; I learned it from him in personal conversation, but also from observation when I joined the Archbishops’ Council just over ten years ago. The Council then appeared to have inherited a fairly chaotic set-up, and despite significant improvements, I still have major questions about its effectiveness. A quartet of bureaucracy To properly make sense of Williams’ comment however, we first need to recognise that there are four kinds of bureaucracy: the necessary, the effective, the needless and the damaging. Some bureaucracy is necessary. The Church of England is not a gathered community of the committed; it is the steward of 16,000 parishes, thousands of listed buildings, hundreds of schools, and a legal and financial architecture of extraordinary complexity. Someone has to manage the pension fund. Someone has to sign off on the faculty application for the leaking roof. That is not to say this is all done well at the moment; those administering the bureaucracy often need to be better connected with those affected by it. And there is real scope for simplifying it. A recent survey found that clergy spend more time on admin than preparing their sermons Much of this is bureaucracy is also driven by where we are as a culture. Safeguarding failures - catastrophic, real and genuinely evil - demanded new systems and oversight. Employment law changed. Charity law changed. The expectations of insurers, auditors and regulators changed. Much of what looks like bureaucratic sprawl from the outside is, on examination, the Church trying to behave responsibly in a world that holds institutions to account in ways it simply did not 50 years ago. I think it might be possible to say that there is something evil in this cultural change - in that it is driven by a lack of trust and openness that was taken for granted a generation ago. But that cannot be said of our response to this culture. The goals of the gospel So what of effective bureaucracy? Williams’s critique appears to assume that the structural and the spiritual are necessarily in tension. This is a very Anglican sort of anxiety, but it is not obviously true. The early Methodists were extraordinarily organised. The Catholic religious orders that evangelised medieval Europe ran on rules, rotas and hierarchy. The Jesuits, arguably the most effective missionary movement in Christian history, were essentially a spiritual army with a chain of command. Structure does not preclude evangelism. What precludes evangelism is a failure of nerve, a loss of confidence in the gospel, and a reluctance to speak plainly about what the Church actually believes. Those pathologies are not caused by having too many diocesan committees (though these might be a symptom). They run much deeper. The key question is whether the bureaucracy is serving the goals of the gospel or hindering them. A common complaint is that the application process for funding mission initiatives (from the ‘Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board’) is too demanding - too bureaucratic. But the aim of the process is to ensure that those applying have really thought through what they are trying to do, and that this is based on evidence - as all charitable expenditure needs to be. This is not merely a guard against lack of trust, but against our tendency to kid ourselves that we are doing the right thing before we have asked serious questions of ourselves. It is intended to be bureaucracy that serves the mission goal, even if it sometimes fails to do that. Going against growth Paul tells his readers in Corinth that “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Can we think strategically about our planting and our watering, and still believe that God alone gives the growth? This is where we encounter the possibility of needless bureaucracy, which is closely related to the damaging. Williams is right that organisations can develop interests of their own; that process can become an end rather than a means, and that caution can calcify into timidity. These are real dangers that we need to be alert to. Structure does not preclude evangelism A recent survey found that clergy spend more time on admin than preparing their sermons. Is that because of an evil culture of bureaucracy, or because we are easily drawn from the important to the merely urgent? Or is it a collusion of the two? As I travel around different churches, my impression is that some denominations engage in mission with much less bureaucracy than the Church of England. What can we learn from them? The remedy is not to abandon structure or attack it as demonic; it is to keep structure in its proper place - accountable to mission, transparent in its costs, ruthlessly pruned when it genuinely fails to serve. And if we are going to prune, perhaps we should begin at the top. Why do we have as many bishops, archdeacons and duplicate diocesan structures as we had when the CofE was twice the size it is now? Williams is certainly right on one point: we need to be preoccupied with our “own integrity as a community of witness and prayer.” Would appointing bishops who actually believe the doctrine of their own Church be a good place to start? Rev Dr Ian Paul is Associate Minister at St Nic’s, Nottingham and Managing Editor of Grove Books Ltd. He blogs at psephizo.com.

By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 28, 2026 Six Anglican theologians convened at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Oreland, PA to assess a Communion in deep crisis. The appointment of a woman Archbishop of Canterbury, the blessing of same-sex couples by the Church of England, ongoing GAFCON and Global South realignments, and the fracturing of traditional structures have brought Anglicanism to the edge of permanent schism. The symposium's central question: Can Anglicans maintain unity without sacrificing truth? Dr. Gerald McDermott — Unity in Truth McDermott opened by arguing that any unity not grounded in biblical truth is false unity. He praised global Anglicans — particularly ACNA and GAFCON — for breaking from Canterbury after decades of doctrinal drift, and commended the Global South Fellowship's 2023 Ash Wednesday Statement rejecting Canterbury's headship. He noted that twelve primates boycotted the recent enthronement of Archbishop Sarah Mullally, representing provinces comprising 75% of Communion membership. However, McDermott challenged whether the realignment goes far enough. His primary target was women's ordination. He argued that male-only Holy Orders represent an unbroken two-thousand-year consensus, grounded not merely in culture but in creation itself, citing Paul's letters to Timothy and Corinthians. He criticized ACNA's "dual integrity" policy — allowing bishops to decide individually on women's ordination — as the very hermeneutical pluralism that global Anglicans rightly condemn in Canterbury. The Abuja Affirmation's proposed Global Anglican Council, which includes lay decision-makers on doctrine, was criticized as Presbyterian rather than Anglican in polity. McDermott closed with a call for repentance modeled on the Latvian Lutheran Church, which reversed women's ordination in 1993 and has since maintained orthodox teaching on marriage and sexuality. Dr. Alice Linsley — The Unbreakable Bond Linsley dismissed organizational and corporate models of unity as fundamentally inadequate. Corporations produce transactional loyalty; the Gospel demands something categorically different — a bond sealed in blood. Christian unity, she insisted, is sacramental and blood-born, not institutional. Drawing on anthropology and Scripture, she argued that blood has been recognized across human cultures as the deepest bond of kinship. The blood of Christ — which purifies, redeems, and reconciles — is the basis of the everlasting covenant and the only true foundation of ecclesial unity. The priesthood is perpetually under attack, she argued, because priests stand at the intersection of sacrifice and life. She traced Anglican doctrinal confusion back to the 1938 Doctrine in the Church of England and lamented the Church's long failure to discipline error — from Bishop Pike to Bishop Spong. Her conclusion was blunt: there is no compromise with apostasy. Anglicanism's only path forward is recovering its identity as a clan — a family bound by the blood of Christ, loyal to the same Lord and Gospel. Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Anis — A Federation of Churches The Egyptian Archbishop identified two root causes of the Communion's crisis: theological drift (allowing culture to reshape doctrine) and structural weakness (no binding authority to enforce accountability). He outlined five possible futures for Anglicanism — renewal of the current Communion (unlikely without repentance), growth of separate networks like GAFCON and GSFA, a federation of like-minded Anglican churches, multiple theologically-defined communions, or ecumenical alignment with Rome. His prescription centered on truth-grounded unity and reformed conciliar structures, echoing Christ's prayer in John 17. Fr. Mark Perkins — The Future of the Traditional Anglican Parish Perkins offered a case study in his founding of St. Dunstan's Academy, a farm, trades, and classics boarding school in the Anglican tradition that has raised over $2.5 million and drawn inquiries from four continents. He drew three lessons from its success with direct implications for global Anglicanism. First, embodiment. Amid a culture of increasing disembodiment, St. Dunstan's integrates head, heart, and hand. Students raise and butcher animals, build their own structures, and live under a rule of digital poverty — no screens or personal devices. The school is built on the model of the traditional parish, with community life centered around the church. Perkins argued that all Anglican work must be parochial in orientation, grounded in embodied local community rather than abstract jurisdictional structures. Second, masculinity. Perkins called for unapologetically masculine formation, arguing that single-sex education and meaningful rites of passage are essential for boys becoming men. He went beyond opposing women's ordination to argue that female altar servers must also be eliminated, since mixed-gender altar parties obscure the nuptial imagery of the Eucharist. He framed ordination not as an ethical question but an ontological one: a female priest, like a same-sex marriage, simply does not exist, regardless of what documents are signed. Third, ecumenism. St. Dunstan's practices grassroots ecumenism — embedded in a particular diocese, yet ministering across jurisdictional lines — without disguising or compromising its identity. Perkins closed by pointing out an inconvenient truth: the REC and other bodies rejecting women's ordination are not in actual full communion with ACNA or GAFCON so long as those bodies permit it. Either intercommunion is a convenient fiction, or opposition to women's ordination is. He challenged global Anglicans to face that reality honestly. Fr. Ben Jefferies — Hating Even the Garment Taking Jude 23 as his text, Jefferies developed an extended metaphor: just as a garment stained by unclean flesh must be hated and put away, so the governing documents of the Church — constitutions, canons, and authorized liturgies — become spiritually toxic when they enshrine immoral decisions. Individual episcopal sin is tragic but local; the real crisis comes when disobedience is embedded in governing structures. Jefferies argued that the central issue tearing the Church apart — encompassing women's ordination, same-sex marriage, and gender — is fundamentally a moral question, not a doctrinal one. Bishops who affirm the Nicene Creed but disobey its God are no better than devils who can recite articles of faith. He identified precise historical turning points: not the ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven in 1974, but TEC's rewriting of its canons in 1976; not Gene Robinson's consecration, but TEC's revision of marriage canons in 2015; not isolated blessings, but the Church of England's December 2023 authorization of liturgies for same-sex couples. Jefferies examined his own ACNA context critically — its constitution tolerates both obedience and disobedience on Holy Orders, making the garment stained. He closed by arguing that any global realignment effort not resolving women's ordination is like complex surgery that sets a broken bone only partially — the effort is not worth making unless the alignment is complete. Rev. Dr. George Westhaver — Mere Catholicism, Practical Holiness, and Unity in One House Westhaver offered the symposium's most historically grounded and irenic voice. Drawing on Archbishop Cosmo Gordon Lang and John Keble, he called Anglicans to resist despair and see current trials as an opportunity — noting that the Arian controversy lasted two full generations before resolution at Constantinople in 381. He examined E.B. Pusey's 19th-century arguments that the 39 Articles, properly read with the Church Fathers, need not divide East from West or Protestant from Catholic. For Pusey, unity is partly God's direct gift and partly the fruit of mutual love; intercommunion alone does not destroy it, but loss of essential faith does. Westhaver then turned to the Church of England's "Five Guiding Principles" model — a structured differentiated communion enabling those who reject women's ordination to flourish within the broader church — and asked whether it could serve as a template for global Anglican realignment. He engaged the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals favorably, noting their appeal to Paul and Barnabas as a precedent for "walking together at a distance." His closing appeal, drawn from Pusey, was for increased prayer, humility, and the courage to be thankful even in crisis — trusting that God does not extend a church only to abandon it. Conclusion The symposium surfaced genuine consensus on several points: Canterbury has failed; realignment is necessary; unity must be grounded in truth rather than tolerance. But it also revealed sharp internal divisions — particularly on women's ordination, the adequacy of GAFCON's and ACNA's structures, and whether differentiated communion is a faithful path or a compromise too far. The gathering made plain that the most consequential fault line in global Anglicanism runs not between orthodox and liberal provinces, but through the orthodox camp itself.

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 28, 2026 NEWS ITEM: The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has launched a company, JPW Mediation, to facilitate mediation and global reconciliation. On his Linked In page, he explains that the archbishop “plays a pivotal role in fostering unity and addressing key issues within the church and society.” Justin Welby's twelve years as Archbishop of Canterbury (2013–2024) were, by almost any measure, deeply troubled — ending in one of the most ignominious departures in the role's modern history. In short his reign was a disaster. Here is a full accounting of the major failures and controversies that defined his tenure. The John Smyth Abuse Scandal and Resignation The immediate cause of Welby's fall was the publication of the independent Makin Report in October 2024. The review found that Welby and other senior church leaders had covered up the "prolific and abhorrent" abuse of over 100 boys and young men in the UK and other countries by a British lawyer, John Smyth. The report found that Welby and other top Church of England officials first learned of the allegations in 2013, the very year Welby became Archbishop. At that point, they "could and should" have followed up with police, but there was "a distinct lack of curiosity shown by these senior figures and a tendency towards minimisation," with no further questioning or follow-up. The consequences of that inaction were severe. If Smyth had been reported to police at that time — when he was already in South Africa, where he also abused children — there could have been a full investigation uncovering his crimes, and later victims would have been saved. Smyth died in 2018 and was never brought to justice. Making matters worse, Welby's comment that he had considered resigning over the report but decided not to do so only served to whip up anger even further. He resigned five days later. Safeguarding in Systemic Disarray The Smyth case was not an isolated failure but the most visible symptom of a broader institutional breakdown. The church's safeguarding project was already in disarray, with first one and then a second chair of its independent safeguarding panel resigning. The second, Meg Munn, who quit in July 2023, issued a damning statement saying that a General Synod debate on safeguarding was a debacle, that the Archbishops' Council was slow to listen and understand, and that Welby had undermined her. The Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, told the BBC: "I think, rightly, people are asking the question: 'Can we really trust the Church of England to keep us safe?' And I think the answer at the moment is 'no.'" The Fracturing of the Anglican Communion Perhaps Welby's deepest structural failure was presiding over the near-disintegration of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which he was supposed to lead and hold together. GAFCON, representing 85 percent of the Anglican Communion, officially rejected Welby and the Church of England for failing to guard the faith from leaders who embrace practices "contrary to Scripture." The Archbishop of Uganda, Stephen Kaziimba, released a statement detailing how his Church had lost trust in Welby's authority because of his "inability to uphold the historic and biblical teaching" of the Church of England on marriage and family, saying: "Unfortunately, this is the same compromised leadership that has led to the fabric of the Anglican Communion being torn at its deepest level." The Sexuality Controversies: Pleasing No One Welby's handling of LGBTQ+ questions proved to be a case study in failed leadership — alienating conservatives without fully satisfying progressives, and repeatedly contradicting himself. In 2023, he became the first Archbishop of Canterbury while in office to accept blessings of thanksgiving for same-sex couples, after the House of Bishops put forward a proposal. He then abstained on a General Synod vote to allow standalone same-sex church blessing ceremonies on a trial basis — attempting to keep objectors on side while the policy moved forward anyway. Then, weeks before his resignation, on a popular political podcast, Welby was asked whether gay sex is sinful and replied that "all sexual activity should be within a committed relationship, whether it's straight or gay" — a statement the Church of England Evangelical Council called "devastating," marking "a clear departure from the doctrine of the Church of England, the Anglican Communion, and every other major Christian denomination across the world." Peter Lynas, head of the Evangelical Alliance UK, captured the incoherence well: "In that moment, he redefines the Church of England's sexual ethic. And yet, he does and he doesn't, because he can't." Even after his resignation, Welby continued to wade into the debate. At the Cambridge Union, he claimed his previous views opposing same-sex relationships were due to him being "a bit thick" — prompting critics to note that he appeared to be dismissing the theological position of the vast majority of Christians throughout history as mere intellectual failure. The Overall Legacy Welby came to the role through an unorthodox route — transferring from running a multimillion-pound business to a mid-life vocation — and his Anglican career was meteoric: a parish priest for just over a decade, then Dean of Liverpool and Bishop of Durham for just a year before taking on the most senior role in Anglicanism. Nothing in his previous career could truly prepare him for the politics and internal fighting in the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion. One senior Church of England clergyman who had served alongside him on the Archbishops' Council concluded that Welby had done "immense damage to the Church of England — damage that it is going to take a decade, or in some instances a generation, to undo." It is a verdict that is hard to argue with. On safeguarding, on institutional unity, on doctrinal coherence, and on his own personal judgment, Welby's tenure fell short at almost every significant moment — and ended in disgrace. And now Welby wants to start a PR firm on global reconciliation. This is like giving a blind man the helm of a 747 and hoping he can land it safely at LaGuardia airport in a snowstorm. Whoever hires Welby should obtain a money back guarantee if he fails, as surely, he will. Welby has raised the level of snake oil salesman to a new level. Be warned. END