Originally published at The Crux
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Anglicans worldwide are grappling with foundational questions: Can they stay together? Should they? Or have their theological differences frayed centuries of unity beyond repair?
The outlook for the Anglican Communion, one of the world’s largest families of Christian churches, remains uncertain, but some answers may emerge by the end of this week.
Conservative leaders of numerous Anglican churches are gathering in Nigeria on Tuesday for a four-day meeting. They’ll discuss a plan that could result in a historic split in one of the world’s largest Christian communions.
At the same time, representatives of the historic Anglican Communion on Monday announced a revised restructuring plan of their own. It would decentralize its leadership away from its longtime base in England and potentially enable cooperation despite strong theological disagreements.
It’s uncertain whether such a plan will sway members of Gafcon, or the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. Their gathering in Abuja, Nigeria, is bringing together numerous primates — national Anglican leaders — and other bishops, clergy and lay people.
This group — mostly from nations of the Global South, representing some of Anglicanism’s largest church provinces — is a conservative coalition that operates outside of the official, London-based Anglican Communion, though
