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By Annonciata Byukusenge
Archbishop Mbanda announces that he is discouraged by the Anglican Church in Wales’ decision to appoint a Leader from the LGBTQ+ community.
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), an organization dedicated to upholding and strengthening the teachings of God’s Word, has strongly condemned the Anglican Church in Wales for its decision to appoint Cherry Vann, who is in a same-sex relationship, as its leader.
On July 30, 2025, Cherry Vann was elected Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in Wales. She is the first woman to lead the Church in Wales, and also the first member of the LGBTQ+ community to head this church.
Before her election, Vann had served for five years as Bishop of Monmouth, in the Monmouthshire region of Wales, part of the United Kingdom. She becomes the 15th Archbishop of Wales, succeeding Archbishop Andrew John, who retired after three years in the role.
Her appointment has sparked widespread debate, with critics arguing that she is unfit for the position because of her sexual orientation. However, the Anglican Church in Wales announced that it would ignore criticism based on her sexual relationships.
GAFCON described her election as shameful and a further blow to the established, biblical beliefs of the Anglican faith.
In a letter to GAFCON members, Archbishop Laurent Mbanda—Primate of the Anglican Church of Rwanda and Chair of GAFCON—expressed deep sadness over the Church in Wales’ decision to appoint Vann. He said this choice adds to the growing problems affecting the wider Anglican Communion.
“The decision of the Church in Wales to elect Bishop Cherry Vann as Archbishop and Primate is yet another painful nail in the coffin of sound Anglican doctrine,” Mbanda wrote.
He continued: “By promoting her to this position while knowing she is in a same-sex relationship, the Diocese of Canterbury has once again bowed to worldly pressure that directly contradicts God’s Word.”
Quoting the Bible, Archbishop Mbanda referred to Romans 1: “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator who is forever praised. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way, men abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
He also cited Revelation 2:20: “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching, she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.”
Archbishop Mbanda stressed that any sexual behavior contrary to God’s will should be firmly resisted.
“We must stand on the truth of God’s Word, joining with the global Anglican family who are grieved by these actions that disregard Scripture. We must resist the pressure from certain Anglican leaders who seek to bring their immoral practices into the Church of Christ.”
He said GAFCON stands in solidarity with members of the Church in Wales who are troubled by their church’s direction and want to remain faithful to biblical teaching.
He pointed to the creation of the Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE), which serves believers who wish to remain authentically Anglican but separate from the Diocese of Canterbury.
“GAFCON continues to extend its hand to those in the Church in Wales who want to leave because they no longer accept its teachings. You are not alone. GAFCON stands with you.”
He emphasized the need to keep God’s Word at the center of the global Anglican Communion and urged believers to embrace reform:
“We cannot remain silent and allow bad leadership to go unchallenged.”
This is not the first time GAFCON has distanced itself from the Church of England. In previous years, it also broke fellowship when the English church allowed same-sex couples who had entered civil marriage to receive blessings.
Founded in 2008, GAFCON exists to promote the Word of God worldwide and to reject practices that contradict it, including same-sex relationships and similar behaviors.
GAFCON’s stance aligns with that of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), which includes 14 of the Anglican Communion’s 25 provinces, mostly in Africa, Asia, and South America.
Together, Christians in GAFCON and GSFA represent about 85% of all Anglicans worldwide.
