The Anglican Church of Wales elects first practicing lesbian as its Archbishop, attracting reactions and dire implications
The Christian community all over the world is worried by the gradual takeover of the Anglican Church by elements regarded as anti-Christ. This concern comes as Bishop with a lesbian partner is now the new Archbishop of Wales after her predecessor stepped down over safeguarding “errors of judgement” on sex, alcohol, and gossip at the Cathedral.
The Most Rev. Cherry Vann, bishop of Monmouth, has become the 15th Archbishop of Anglican Church of Wales.
A practising lesbian bishop has been appointed as the new Archbishop of Wales, the first time a woman has held the role—after her predecessor stepped down following a safeguarding review about “errors of judgement” about the working culture at Bangor Cathedral, which included alcohol abuse, inappropriate sexual behavior and gossip.
The Monmouth Diocese confirmed the appointment of Most Reverend Vann, currently Bishop of Monmouth, to head the Anglican church for Wales in a news update on July 30, 2025.
Vann, who reportedly lives with her female civil partner Wendy Diamond, takes over from the Most Rev. Andrew John, who served as Archbishop of Wales, also Bishop of Bangor, for three-and-a-half years.
John retired from his role after admitting an error of judgement in failing to address findings of a safeguarding review, which revealed a sexualised culture and other concerns at Bangor Cathedral.
“The first thing I shall need to do is to ensure that the issues which have been raised in the last six months are properly addressed and that I work to bring healing and reconciliation, and to build a really good level of trust across the Church and the communities the Church serves,” Vann said.
Vann, chosen to be the 15th Archbishop of Wales, has been bishop of Monmouth for five years. She was elected with a two-thirds majority vote from the Electoral College meeting in the town of Chepstow. She will be “enthroned” at Newport Cathedral, date to be confirmed, according to the news update from the Church in Wales.
Vann, from the country of Leicestershire in England, began her work in the Anglican church when elected a deacon in 1989. She became among the first women ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 1994. She was Archdeacon of Rochdale, in the Diocese of Manchester, for 11 years.
The Very Rev. Ian Black, Dean of Newport, said that Vann has a “deep faith, which is also open to those who take a different view to her” and called her “the right person for this moment in the Church in Wales’ life.”
Reacting to what many believers in Nigeria referred to as Satanic takeover of the Anglican Church with subtility and sheer deception, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has officially cut all ties with the Church in Wales following the appointment of Bishop Cherry Vann, an openly lesbian cleric, as the 15th Archbishop of Wales.
The decision was announced by the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, the Most Reverend Henry Ndukuba, who described the development as ‘an abomination’ and a serious departure from biblical truth.
The announcement came during the opening session of the 14th Church of Nigeria Conference of Chancellors, Registrars and Legal Officers, held on Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at the Church’s National Secretariat in Abuja.
With the theme, ‘Called as a Watchman’, the event brought together legal minds from across the Church to discuss matters of doctrinal integrity, justice, and governance.
Primate Ndukuba delivered the keynote address titled ‘The Decade of the Reign of God: Progress, Challenges, and Prospects.’
Reacting to the Church in Wales’ elevation of a lesbian bishop, the Primate said, “We reject the election of the Right Reverend Cherry Vann as the Archbishop of Wales.”
He compared it to the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson in the Episcopal Church (USA), which had also led to Nigeria severing ties with that province.
“Just as the Church of Nigeria took steps after the election of Gene Robinson in the United States, we are severing every tie and relationship with the Church of Wales,” he said.
Primate Ndukuba also criticised what he described as the growing influence of revisionist teachings within sections of the Western Church.
“These individuals have not relented from their evil agenda; rather, they have intensified it. What they call their wisdom and culture is an abomination to God,” he declared.
Despite cutting formal ties with the Church in Wales, the Church of Nigeria reaffirmed its support for orthodox Anglicans in the region through platforms such as the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).
“We pray that the Church of God in Wales will rise up, and that the faithful among them will stand strong. We, the Church of Nigeria, alongside GAFCON, will stand with them,” Ndukuba assured.
Looking ahead, the Primate said the Church of Nigeria plans to expand its global mission, with new registrations underway in countries like Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland.
“We feel that the Lord is calling us back to Europe for mission,” he said.
The Primate also used the opportunity to highlight the Church’s ongoing contributions to the GAFCON movement.
He revealed that the Church of Nigeria had recently contributed $2.5 million to the GAFCON Endowment Fund and was planning a local Nigerian GAFCON Endowment worth $2.3 million to support orthodox Anglican work and mission.
Earlier, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) had condemned the election of the Rt. Rev. Vann, as the Archbishop of Wales, and described it as a further indication of abandonment of the faith once delivered to the saints.
The Church argued that, aside from being a further authentication of the choice of the Church of Wales walking away from the truth, Vann’s election is a signal that some sections of the global Anglican world have resolved to abandon the truth of God’s word by sacrificing the authority of the Scripture for a postmodern agenda that has no divine backing.
In a statement signed by the Anglican Primate, Most Rev’d Henry C. Ndukuba, the Church noted that it will not recognise the election of Rt. Rev. Cherry Vann as Archbishop of Wales.
It read, “We recall with sadness her passive and complicit role in the same-sex crisis that tore the Anglican Communion apart. The story of Rt. Rev. Vann reminds us of the sad tenure of Most Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori, the 26th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church in the United States (2006–2015), under whose tenure faithful Anglicans in the United States of America suffered severe persecution and opposition.
“This recent election of Bishop Vann is a clear revelation that many who claim to be members of the body of Christ cannot endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
