The Anglican Communion’s five regional primates could play a more prominent role in its life if a series of proposals, designed to preserve unity amid deep theological disagreement, are adopted by the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) next summer.
The Rt. Rev. Graham Tomlin, chair of the Communion’s faith and order body, said the decision to decenter the Archbishop of Canterbury’s role in favor of a more diverse group could help “the face of the Communion to look more like the Communion” at a press conference announcing a series of updates to the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals. The updates also suggest that the ACC eliminate the largely symbolic role of President, which is held by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
An official supplement to the proposals, based on meetings held in Rome last December to consider responses to them from around the Communion, was released by the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith, and Order (IASCUFO) on March 2, along with a video and other interpretive materials about the proposals.
“The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals seek to uphold our unity in diversity and to help us navigate our differences. I hope and pray that every member church of the Communion will send its representatives to the Anglican Consultative Council in Belfast, so that every voice is heard when we discuss the proposals,” said Bishop Anthony Poggo, the Anglican Communion’s Secretary General.
Historically, the Anglican Communion has been defined by unity with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England, whose missionaries established Anglican churches throughout the world. An influential description of the Communion adopted by the 1930 Lambeth Conference defined Anglican churches by “communion with the See of Canterbury” and the archbishop, who is one of the Communion’s four Instruments of Communion, has held a leading role in the other three.
But the Church of England’s 2023 decision to allow same-sex blessings pushed Communion-wide tensions over human sexuality to a breaking point, with 10 primates from the Global South announcing that they were “no longer able to recognize” Archbishop Justin Welby “as the first among equals leader of the Anglican Communion.” For others, vesting such authority permanently in a white European seems inappropriate for a post-colonial church.
First released in December 2024 by the IASCUFO, the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals suggest updates to the classic description of the Communion and a series of changes to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s role in its governance, something Tomlin said had been urged by the last three holders of the office.
The original proposals called for a “rotating presidency” for the Anglican Consultative Council, with one of the five regional primates elected for a six-year term, which would rotate among the Communion’s five regions (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania). This primate was then to have served, alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Secretary General, as a “face” of the Communion, representing Anglicans at ecumenical and ceremonial occasions.
The rotating presidency came in for significant criticism in responses released in December by the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil. The Brazilian church said the presidency would create “confusion concerning who speaks for the Anglican Communion,” and that the election “may open space for political and theological disputes between blocs of provinces.”
The Scottish church expressed concerns about providing resources for such a position, and said the ACC’s constitution would need to be amended to specify the election steps and define the extent of the president’s powers.
In place of the rotating presidency, the supplement suggests that the Archbishop of Canterbury “invite the regional primates (who comprise the Primates’ Standing Committee) to share his or her ministry in the Communion in a collegial way and to begin to think about formalising such an arrangement in a kind of council. This might take place over a period of 3-6 years.”
This extends the proposals’ original suggestion that the Primates’ Standing Committee play an enhanced role in calling and leading the Primates’ Meeting and Lambeth Conference, and builds on the enhanced role given to this theologically diverse body by Archbishop Welby. Under his leadership, the regional primates took turns leading sessions of the Primates’ Meeting, and on his last day in office in January 2025, he asked that they assume the Archbishop of Canterbury’s ministry in the Communion until his successor was chosen.
Janet Miles, the Anglican Communion’s director of public engagement, told The Living Church that during the year between Welby’s resignation and the beginning of Archbishop Sarah Mullally’s ministry, the regional primates represented the Communion at the funeral of Pope Francis and the installation of Pope Leo, and had helped in planning for the next ACC meeting.
The supplement suggests that the Archbishop of Canterbury continue to represent the Communion in ecumenical settings, but that regional primates might preside at events like the inauguration of a new province or the installation of a new primate. It proposes that the Primates’ Standing Committee should eventually determine the structure, name, and remit of the body that would share leadership with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Communion’s current regional primates are Archbishops Marinez Bassotto of Brazil, Jackson Ole Sapit of Kenya, Azad Marshall of Pakistan, Leonard Dawea of Melanesia, and John McDowell of Ireland.
The supplement also addresses the anxiety expressed by some progressive provinces about the rotating president exercising undue authority over the more egalitarian Anglican Consultative Council by suggesting that the presidential role be eliminated entirely.
“IASCUFO believes that the role of President introduces an unnecessary level of complication in view of the positions of Chair and Vice-Chair. Within the life of the ACC today, it would be unthinkable to say, ‘we can’t do that because the President says so,’” the supplement says.
It also points out that the role of President of the ACC is largely symbolic and ex officio, and that the ACC’s constitution already permits the body to conduct business in the president’s absence.
At past ACC meetings, the Archbishop of Canterbury has delivered a presidential address on the state of the Communion and has presided at some sessions and liturgies. IASCUFO says the archbishop would continue to work collegially with the ACC as a member of its Standing Committee.
Tomlin said that more responses to the proposals may be received in coming months, and Canon Sammy Wainaina, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s adviser for Anglican Communion affairs, said the Church of England’s House of Bishops still expects to issue a statement on the proposals. All Anglicans are encouraged to respond to the proposals at NairobiCairoProposals@anglicancommunion.org.
The ACC is scheduled to meet in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from June 27 to July 5. The gathering’s theme will be “Called to One Hope.”
Covenant, TLC’s Online Journal, published a series of essays on the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals in February.
The Rev. Mark Michael is editor-in-chief of The Living Church. An Episcopal priest, he has reported widely on global Anglicanism, and writes about church history, liturgy, and pastoral ministry.
