Evangelicals in the Church of England and wider Anglican Communion are praying for a return to biblical faithfulness after the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, was announced on Friday as the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
Mullally will be the first ever woman to hold the post when she is installed on 25 March 2026.
She has been the Bishop of London since 2021 and previously led Living in Love and Faith, a years long consultation in the Church of England on marriage, sexuality and gender identity that led to its approving same-sex blessings.
She is supportive of the plans and has attempted to maintain that the change of direction does not amount to a change in doctrine, although traditionalists have begged to differ.
"Services that use these prayers are not marriage services, and their use by clergy is entirely voluntary," she has stated in the past.
"This means that the church can continue to embrace the different perspectives that are held by clergy and congregations within the Church of England about same-sex marriage and same-sex relationships."
Reacting to her appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury, the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) said it wanted to see her "call the Church of England to recommit to the historic doctrines and formularies entrusted to it".
The council said that her appointment comes at a "difficult time" not only because of divisions within the Church of England but national and international challenges and "a significant loss of confidence in the role of the Archbishop".
The CEEC said that it was praying she would "hold to the apostolic faith".
"The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) joins Anglicans across the world in praying for Bishop Sarah Mullally on the announcement that she is to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury," it said.
"Bishop Sarah will take up her role as the next Archbishop of Canterbury at a difficult time for the Church of England, set against a backdrop of global conflict and instability.
At home, the Church of England faces challenges because of declining attendance, financial pressures and their impact on sustaining parochial ministry. This is in the context of the significant divisions created by the Living in Love and Faith process.
"More broadly, across the Anglican Communion, in recent years there has been a significant loss of confidence in the role of the Archbishop and a cry for leadership consonant with our Anglican doctrinal heritage.
"These challenges exist within a wider context of political fragility—both in the UK and abroad—with contentious debates domestically, including the proposed assisted dying legislation, immigration, and ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East.
"We therefore pray that God will enable Bishop Sarah to hold to the apostolic faith and call the Church of England to recommit to the historic doctrines and formularies entrusted to it.
"We pray that this might be a moment where the current drift away from a biblical and Anglican understanding of marriage and sexual ethics is either halted or a way is found to secure biblical convictions in the Church of England for the future.
"Above all, our hope is that she will lead the Church of England in presenting the unchanging good news of the gospel afresh to our needy world.
"In 2 Timothy 1:14, Paul implores Timothy to ‘guard the good deposit’. We pray that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Sarah will be enabled to do the same."
The Gafcon movement struck a far less conciliatory tone in its immediate response to Mullally's appointment, with its Chairman, Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, calling on her to "repent" over "her failure to uphold her consecration vows" because of her support for same-sex blessings.
In a message to Gafcon members, he said her appointment was likely to intensify divisions in the Anglican Communion and would "cause sadness and dismay among Anglicans worldwide".
It will, he predicted, be "impossible" for Mullally to act as a "focus of unity" when a majority of the Communion does not believe in female ordination or same-sex unions.
"This appointment abandons global Anglicans, as the Church of England has chosen a leader who will further divide an already split Communion," he said.
He went on to say that "due to the failure of successive Archbishops of Canterbury to guard the faith, the office can no longer function as a credible leader of Anglicans, let alone a focus of unity".
Gafcon repudiated the leadership of Mullally's predecessor, Justin Welby, after he became a champion for the Church of England's Prayers of Love and Faith for same-sex couples.
Relations only broke down further when Welby publicly stated his belief "that all sexual activity should be within a committed relationship and whether it's straight or gay".
Archbishop Mbanda said that "more concerning" than female episcopacy was that Mullally "has repeatedly promoted unbiblical and revisionist teachings regarding marriage and sexual morality".
"Since the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury has failed to guard the faith and is complicit in introducing practices and beliefs that violate both the 'plain and canonical sense' of Scripture and 'the Church’s historic and consensual' interpretation of it (Jerusalem Statement), she cannot provide leadership to the Anglican Communion," he said.
"The leadership of the Anglican Communion will pass to those who uphold the truth of the gospel and the authority of Scripture in all areas of life."
He added, "Today’s appointment makes it clearer than ever before that Canterbury has relinquished its authority to lead."
