A Pastoral Letter from the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion - October 2025
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I write with a brief word of encouragement in response to the statement issued [on the 16th of October 2025] by the chairman of GAFCON’s Primates’ Council. Since this statement was released, I have received many messages from across the world, both from Anglicans and ecumenical partners, assuring us of prayers and also showing concern for our beloved Anglican Communion family.
Every Anglican, and indeed every Christian, should seriously seek to discern a future of faithfulness according to God’s own calling and enabling of our confession and obedience. In the Gospel of John, Jesus calls his disciples to unity in the truth and identifies himself as the means and the end of both. Divisions among Anglicans, and many other divisions in the Body of Christ, are sadly well known, as we see in the Scriptures (1 Cor 11:17). These divisions require urgent attention and repair, by means of every instrument available to us.
The one Church is ever reforming, which means that no institution, meeting, network or association of Christians is static. Our life of faithfulness is based in prayer, daily self-renunciation, repentance, and conversion, so that we may receive the mind of Christ and his Spirit, in accordance with holy Scripture. By this pattern of dependence on God and mutual submission to one another, God raises up a faithful, humble, obedient people for his praise, a people capable of taking counsel, making decisions, and sharing the Good News with the world.
The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) has invited all member churches of the Communion to consider and respond to The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals (https://www.anglicancommunion.org/ecumenism/iascufo/the-nairobi-cairo-proposals.aspx). I share the hope of the commission that all Anglicans, and the whole Church of God, may still seek and find agreement in the Faith. I also agree that we must summon up patience and love when members of the Body need to walk at a distance from one another in order better to seek and serve the truth and unity of our shared vocation (1 Cor 11:19). Theological uniformity cannot be demanded or expected without the hard work of discernment over time. Doctrinal, geographical or regional groupings of churches (for example GSFA, CCEA, GAFCON, and others) can help us reform and renew our life together.
At every level of the Church (local, regional, and global), we cannot ‘neglect to meet together’, as it says in Hebrews 10:25, whenever possible. All Anglican churches are ordered by canon law, constitutions and synodical structures that provide a collaborative system of governance by bishops, other clergy, and lay persons. In this way, the ‘houses’ of Anglican synods determine matters of doctrine, discipline, and order, and make decisions for the good of the whole. All Anglican churches are likewise invited to shape the Instruments of Communion, which rightly evolve over time, as those gathered seek to discern what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I urge them to send their representatives to the 19th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council next year in Belfast, so everyone can participate in the decision-making. Those who are present are the ones who shape the outcomes and resolutions of meetings.
May the Lord enable us to continue walking together, to the highest degree possible, in the footsteps of our Lord and Saviour.
Yours in Christ,
The Right Reverend Anthony Poggo
Secretary General of the Anglican Communion
The original copy of this letter can be accessed via: https://www.anglicancommunion.org/communications/a-pastoral-letter-from-the-secretary-general-of-the-anglican-communion
