Conservative Anglican leaders restructure organization in break from traditions

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Conservative Anglican leaders have restructured their organization, signaling a break from the traditions of the historic Anglican Communion as they seek to reorder the 400-year-old church group.

The Global Anglican Future Conference, or Gafcon, dissolved its Gafcon Primates Council and replaced it with the Global Anglican Council.

The new council will include primates, advisers and guarantors, made up of bishops, clergy and lay members, each with full voting privileges, Gafcon general secretary The Right Reverend Paul Donison said in a statement.

The announcement came during a meeting of the church’s conservative leaders in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, that drew 436 delegates from 48 countries representing over 180 dioceses from across the world.

“While the Chairman of the Council will be a Primate, he will not be primus inter pares (first amongst equals),” Donison said. “Believing that the current Instruments of Communion no longer meet the needs of the majority of Anglicans around the world, the Global Anglican Communion is to be led by a conciliar structure.”

Gafcon leaders have opposed liberal trends such as same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly LGBTQ+ clergy in the Anglican churches of Europe and North America, including the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Divisions have widened so sharply over recent decades that some national churches stopped participating in Anglican Communion gatherings.

Archbishop Laurent Mbanda from Rwanda, who was unanimously elected as chair of the new Global Anglican Council, told the Advent Cable Network Nigeria, the televangelism arm of the Church of Nigeria, on Thursday that leaders within Gafcon’s ranks must “reject those instruments that have not worked for us in the past.”

One of the Anglican Church’s instruments of leadership includes the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Sarah Mullally, the church’s spiritual head and the first woman in that position. Mullally has faced opposition in her role as leader of the church.

Last year, Mbanda called for a break from the historic communion as it’s currently structured, declaring that “the Anglican Communion will be reordered.”

Leaders of numerous Anglican churches attend a religious service on the sidelines of their meeting of the Anglican Communion in Abuja, Nigeria, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga)

Leaders of numerous Anglican churches leave after attending a religious service on the sidelines of their meeting of the Anglican Communion in Abuja, Nigeria, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga)

Leaders of numerous Anglican churches leave after attending a religious service on the sidelines of their meeting of the Anglican Communion in Abuja, Nigeria, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga)

Rwanda Archbishop Revd Dr. Laurent Mbanda, chairman of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, or Gafcon, left, and his wife Chantel Mbanda, leave after attending a religious service on the sidelines of a meeting by the Anglican Communion in Abuja, Nigeria, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga)

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning, Salvador Perez had a solo shot and the Kansas City Royals beat the Athletics 4-1 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight victory.

Witt drove a 1-0 pitch from Justin Sterner (1-3) to right-center with automatic runner Nick Loftin on second base and Kyle Isbel on first after he beat out a popped-up bunt that failed to advance the runner. Witt extended his hitting streak to nine games with his second home run, after Perez homered for the fifth time to tie it 1-all in the sixth.

The A's loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th, but Lucas Erceg retired Darell Hernaiz on a liner to second for his seventh save in nine opportunities.

Kris Bubic allowed a run on four hits and four walks in five innings for Kansas City. Nick Mears (2-1) struck out two in the ninth for the win.

Zack Gelof reached on an infield single leading off the second before scoring on a two-out single by Jacob Wilson for the Athletics.

A's starter Aaron Civale gave up five hits and a walk in five innings. He left with a 1-0 lead.

Perez's home run came off Hogan Harris in the sixth. It was the 308th of his career.

Nick Kurtz went 0 for 4 but drew a walk in the first inning, extending his Athletics record to 17 straight games with a free pass. Barry Bonds was the previous major leaguer to walk in 17 consecutive games, in 2007 with the Giants. The Tigers’ Roy Cullenbine set the record at 22 games in 1947.

Tyler Soderstrom exited with an undisclosed injury for the A's after diving for a ball in the fifth, and the Royals' Vinnie Pasquantino did the same after grounding out to begin the sixth.

The A's called up infielder Brett Harris from Triple-A Las Vegas before the game after placing third baseman Max Muncy on the 10-day injured list.

Royals RHP Michael Wacha (2-1, 2.51 ERA) starts Wednesday opposite Athletics RHP Luis Severino (1-2, 5.17).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Kansas City Royals Nick Mears reacts after striking out Athletics' Nick Kurtz to end the bottom of the ninth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

Athletics pitcher Justin Sterner reacts after a bunt single by Kansas City Royals Kyle Isbel during the 10th inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. (7) and Salvador Perez, middle, celebrate the Royals victory over the Athletics in a baseball game Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. watches his three run home run during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. hits a three run home run during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)