What we have realised, over the last five years, as Save the Parish has got off the ground and started to ask the questions that should have been asked decades ago, is that what we are in danger of losing is not just some old buildings, or the clerical stipend, or one mode of training over another, but the essence of the Church of England itself.

Who are we? What is the unique ecology of the Church of England, which we love so dearly that we have got up and come here on a Saturday morning?

“If the Church of England were to fail,” said John Keble, “it should be found in my parish.”

Or, listen to Justin Welby, who, I concede isn’t often quoted by Save the Parish: “you could lose the House of Bishops tonight…[and] it’d be a couple of years before there was any noticeable impact on the Church of England. Whereas if you got rid of all the parishes and the churchwardens and the laypeople it would be noticeable in about one second.”

Well, we are here for the parishes and the churchwardens and the laypeople today. And for the priests. (I do declare an interest…)

Read it all.

Last night people from across the country – lay and clergy; Evangelical, High Church, Solidly Middle, Anglo Catholic; Tory, LibDem, Labour – gathered to pledge to Save the Parish.

Alison Milbank, @revstrott, and I all shared our thoughts – have a watch!https://t.co/nV43HmzWee pic.twitter.com/DuCnbEYNkt

— Marcus Walker (@WalkerMarcus) August 4, 2021

(From email;KSH).

Bishop Julian M. Dobbs is pleased to announce the appointment of the Right Reverend Ryan Reed, Bishop Ordinary of the Anglican Diocese of Fort Worth, as Assistant Dean of the Province, effective immediately.

“Bishop Ryan Reed is a man of steady judgment, with a deep commitment to Christ and a sincere love for the Church. Over many years, I have seen Bishop Reed serve faithfully and I have worked alongside him as a senior bishop of our College,” said Bishop Dobbs. “This appointment follows prayerful consideration and consultation with the College of Bishops, and I believe Bishop Reed will serve with wisdom, humility, and the heart of a shepherd.”

This appointment is effective immediately and follows the provisions of the Province’s Canons, which were recently amended and ratified by the Provincial Assembly to establish the office of Assistant Dean. After a season of prayer, the appointment has been made in accordance with those canonical provisions and with the counsel of the College of Bishops.

A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Bishop Reed was raised near Houston. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Texas A&M University, where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets, and a Master of Divinity from Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1997, Bishop Reed has served congregations in Fort Worth, Bridgeport, and Bedford, Texas, and has held a variety of ministerial and administrative leadership positions.

He has served each role with faithfulness, humility, and pastoral wisdom. His willingness to assume this new responsibility reflects his longstanding commitment to the Church, and the Province looks forward to the gifts of leadership, experience, and pastoral care he will bring.

Please join us in prayer, lifting up Bishop Reed, his wife Kathy, their family, and the Diocese of Fort Worth as he undertakes these additional responsibilities. May the Lord grant him wisdom, strength, and grace as he continues to serve Christ and His Church.

Ryan Reed appointed Assistant Dean of the ACNAhttps://t.co/Qp6CusP3fT pic.twitter.com/WIvrfPqMF6

— George Conger (@GeorgeConger8) July 24, 2026

Ms [Lyndall] Bywater encourages clergy to engage regularly in different types of prayer rather than “making prayer in our own image”, she says.

“Church leaders will also often have people coming to them who are struggling with prayer, and it is important to be able to help them understand how their personality interfaces with their spirituality.

“Are they essentially cataphatic: preferring knowledge and understanding? Or are they apophatic: preferring mystery and deep questioning? Do they love the task of prayer most, or the relationship of prayer? Where and how have they previously connected with God in helpful ways?

“If leaders can ask these questions and understand how to help people based on the answers, then many more people would develop a deep love for prayer.”

MOST people feel guilty about prayer, believing that they are bad at it, Ms Bywater says. Part of that comes from a “work hard, be passionate” personality, and part from comparing themselves with others, she says.

While recognising that prayer is a discipline and involves choices about making space in our lives to pray, Ms Bywater says: “What prayer is — the conversation with God — I refuse to believe it’s possible to be bad at that.

Read it all.

"One difficulty that faces ordinands as they leave the formation of their training institutions, is teaching prayer to an unchurched generation." Loved this piece. https://t.co/RfaRNaP3gB

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) July 17, 2026

As many are aware, the Final Order from the trial of Bp. Ruch in 2025 (the 71-page document, not the decision itself) left many concerns about how the trial was conducted. After consulting with the Provincial Executive Committee, our Diocese proposed two resolutions to be considered at Provincial Council. One called for the public release of the full trial transcript. The other called for the public release of the final investigation report already commissioned by the Province. 

The two resolutions to the Council, that were the result of the work of our Bishop and Standing Committee with the Executive Committee of the ACNA, were consequently withdrawn without prejudice on the day they were to be debated and voted upon. This withdrawal was not the result of any attempt to thwart the purpose of these resolutions, nor did it represent a lack of resolve on our part. Rather, God opened a door for us to gain fuller access to the proceedings of the Ruch trial through the above-mentioned agreement with the Court for the Trial of a Bishop. We are now in a very favorable position with our chancellor Ben Hagood taking the lead in the inquiry.

Because all of this happened on the ground in Tulsa and Bishop Edgar was the only one of us present, he took the lead in the negotiations. The Standing Comittee President was informed of the opportunity on Wednesday night and was an early part of the decision to withdraw the resolutions. The Standing Committee and Bishop regret the lack of process these deadlines prevented as well as the void of information that existed in the aftermath. We wholeheartedly believe that the work of this inquiry and its release to the Standing Committees of the Province represents a large step forward in our quest for transparency.

With the trial of the Archbishop currently set to begin on September 7, we will again redouble our prayers for the health and welfare of the Anglican Church in North America and our Diocese. 

Read it all.

The ACNA has posted a "Potential Timeline" for what may happen procedurally after the trial of Abp Wood, assuming it goes ahead with its currently scheduled starting date of September 7. pic.twitter.com/tJraKclI2i

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) July 15, 2026

An investigation into why the public have lost confidence in the Church of England is required, the General Synod heard on Monday afternoon.

The Rector of St Bartholomew’s, Smithfield, Fr Marcus Walker (London), speaking during a debate on the report Trust and Trustworthiness in the Church of England, observed that all 16 members of the laity interviewed for the report were involved in the Church’s structures (News, 3 July). They comprised six diocesan secretaries, and ten lay chairs or members of General Synod.

“The elephant in the room — the elephant herd harrumphing around the report — is all of those who are outside, alongside, walking with the household of faith,” he said.

“The people who have not lost faith from within the institution of the Church, but who have lost trust in the institution of the Church. Who have lost trust in the Church and its mission. . .

Read it all.

An investigation into why the public have lost confidence in the Church of England is required, the General #Synod heard on Monday afternoon#trust #churchnews #churchtimeshttps://t.co/mJy7udBTA3

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 14, 2026

You may listen directly here:

Or you may download it there.

Or you may watch it there:

Finally, I wanted to update you on Provincial Council and Assembly with a particular eye towards the Resolutions our Diocese presented to the Provincial Council.

You likely heard that our two resolutions to Provincial Council that came from a meeting of our Standing Committee and the Executive Committee of the ACNA, were withdrawn without prejudice on the day they were to be debated and voted upon. This withdrawal was not the result of any attempt to thwart the purpose of these resolutions, nor did it represent a lack of resolve on our part. God opened a door for us to gain an even fuller access to the proceedings of the Ruch trial through an agreement with the Court for the Trial of a Bishop. We are now in a very favorable position with our chancellor Ben Hagood taking the lead in an inquiry into those proceedings.

This all happened on the ground in Tulsa. It began with an offer that answered what we had originally requested—a review of the courts process. It became a conversation about the nature of the review and how this inquiry would proceed. I kept Shay Gaillard, President of the Standing Committee, informed of these matters, and he offered his counsel and advice. After Provincial Council, I went on a retreat and haven’t had the opportunity to update you until now. I believe, and the Standing Committee has affirmed this, that the work of this inquiry and its future release to the Standing Committees of the Province represents a large step forward in our quest for transparency.

I wanted to send this letter before I leave town so that you would be up to date on these matters. I also want you to pray for the trial of the Archbishop currently set to begin on September 7, for the health and welfare of the ACNA, and for our Diocese.

Read it all.

ACNA legislative news: Bp Chip Edgar (South Carolina), joined by Bp Chris Warner (Mid-Atlantic), withdrew the diocese's 2 resolutions seeking the release of the Ruch trial transcripts & the eventual third-party report on the Ruch investigation. 🧵 https://t.co/lYhxW83zqL pic.twitter.com/NH7xhk0rsG

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) June 18, 2026

THIS MATTER is set for trial beginning September 7, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. EDT.
Counsel for all parties shall also appear at a calendar call via Zoom at 1:30 p.m. EDT on
September 4, 2026. The trial will be held in Charleston, South Carolina from September 7-12,

2026. The specific courtroom location will be provided in advance of the calendar call.

Read it all.

The ACNA's Court for the Trial of a Bishop has issued a new scheduling order regulating more discovery ahead of Abp Steve Wood's trial, which is set for September 7. pic.twitter.com/VXY8dGP1Vz

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) July 9, 2026

Despite the well-intended efforts of the Church, the prayer was widely mocked on social media. As a result, vicars and lay members of the General Synod raised their concerns in writing, asking: “Is there a requirement for staff writing such prayers to be practising Christians?”

Despite the well-intended efforts of the Church, the prayer was widely mocked on social media. As a result, vicars and lay members of the General Synod raised their concerns in writing, asking: “Is there a requirement for staff writing such prayers to be practising Christians?”

Among those who criticised the prayer, published last month, were commentators such as the Rev Jamie Franklin. On his Irreverend podcast, he described it as poorly written, theologically shallow, embarrassingly unserious and a perfect symbol of the institution’s current woes.

A post on the Anglican Ordinariate Forum on Facebook read: “The Church of England insists on making a mockery of itself and of prayer.”

Read it all.

A prayer for the World Cup 2026. ⚽ pic.twitter.com/32I2TgC2it

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) June 11, 2026

Clerical accountability must be “vigorously tackled” and is “the key issue for the Church to tackle and should not be a protracted debate”, a report on trust in the Church of England concludes.

The report, Trust and Trustworthiness in the Church of England: Listening and responding to usual and unusual challenges, was produced by Professor Veronica Hope Hailey, a former Dean of the Business School at the University of Bristol, drawing on 74 interviews with bishops, clergy, lay people, and members of the national church institutions.

“Whilst no one wants to return to the feudal patriarchal structures of the past, if the institution is to restore trust with the society it is meant to serve, clerical accountability must be vigorously tackled,” Professor Hope Hailey writes.

“It’s not simply about formal control but also the need to change the culture of individualism some clergy seem to think they deserve. That love of autonomy means that they can be inconsistent and unpredictable in their promises to implement policy.”

Read it all.

Clerical accountability must be “vigorously tackled”, a report on trust in the Church of England has concluded. It is “the key issue for the Church to tackle and should not be a protracted debate”, it says ⚖️#Clergy #churchnews #report https://t.co/oyP7wJBq8p

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 1, 2026

 “Strong frustration” that a report on the seal of confession remains with the House of Bishops and has “effectively been paused for over a year” has been expressed by members of the Task and Finish Group for the Makin report.

The group has requested that the issue be escalated to the National Safeguarding Steering Group.

The group was established to “scrutinise, challenge and advise” on the Church of England’s response to the 27 recommendations arising from Keith Makin’s review of the Church’s handling of allegations of abuse perpetrated by John Smyth.

Last year, it reported that all 27 would be accepted — 24 in full, and the other three “partially” (News, 7 November 2025).

Read it all.

“Strong frustration” that a report on the seal of confession remains with the House of Bishops and has “effectively been paused for over a year” has been expressed by members of the Task and Finish Group for the Makin report.https://t.co/y7QCdyTY0t

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) June 24, 2026

Bishop FitzSimons Allison is now in his 99th year. His mind, though not as quick as when I interviewed him in 2022, – “The Lion in Winter” (Allison was 95) – remains profoundly alert to the times in which we live. He is a living witness to nearly the entire arc of the modern Anglican crisis — from the pre-revisionist Episcopal Church through the Singapore consecrations to the founding of the ACNA. Very few people alive can speak to that history from personal experience.

Christopher FitzSimons Allison was born on March 5, 1927, in Columbia, South Carolina, the son of James Richard Allison and Susan Milliken FitzSimons. He attended the University of the South at Sewanee, though his studies were interrupted by service in the United States Army during World War II. He was discharged and returned to complete his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949. He then earned a B.Div. from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1952 and a D.Phil. from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1956. He married Martha Allston Parker on June 10, 1950.

Early Life and Formation

Academic Career

Ordained deacon in June 1952 and priested in May 1953, Allison went on to become one of the Episcopal Church’s most respected patristic scholars and Anglican historians. Following his Oxford doctorate, he served as associate professor of church history at the University of the South, Sewanee, from 1956 to 1967, and then as professor of church history at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria from 1967 to 1975.

Parish Ministry and the Diocese of South Carolina

He then served for five years as rector of Grace Episcopal Church in New York City — one of the most prominent evangelical Anglican parishes in the country — before being called to lead the Diocese of South Carolina. He was elected at a special meeting of the Diocesan Convention on May 17, 1980, and consecrated Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina in a service attended by approximately 2,500 people at the Gaillard Auditorium in Charleston. The Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, served as chief consecrator. He became diocesan bishop in 1982 and served until his retirement in 1990.

Read it all.

Giving thanks for the life and ministry of retired bishop of #southcarolina C. FitzSimons Allison who is (I can’t fully believe it) 99 years old pic.twitter.com/A6CYBFIEV3

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) June 22, 2026

You may listen directly here:

Or you may download it there.

• The Provincial Council was prepared to consider two Resolutions submitted by the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina and the Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic calling for the release of the transcript of the proceedings of the Court for the Trial of a Bishop in the trial of Bp. Stuart Ruch as well as the report commissioned by the Executive Committee into the Province’s handling of the Ruch matter. However, the two dioceses withdrew these resolutions and instead agreed to participate in a dialogue with the Court, mediated by four diocesan chancellors, including the chancellors of the Anglican Dioceses of South Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic, intended to address questions raised by both the two dioceses and the court regarding the appropriateness of the actions of all parties involved. 

Canon Andrew Rowell, Chair of the Governance Task Force, will also participate in this dialogue. The participants agreed that a report on the proceedings will be made available to the Standing Committees of all the dioceses. The Province also acknowledged that the findings and recommendations of the Lathrop Review will be made available to any diocesan Standing Committee upon request. The dioceses and the Province also acknowledged that these resolutions may be reintroduced at a subsequent Provincial Council.  The original resolutions are included below for reference.

• Resolution #1 “calling upon the Court for the Trial of a Bishop to release a full transcript of all of its actions in the Ruch matter” and
• Resolution #2 calling upon the Executive Committee to release the final written report of the investigation of the Ruch matter.”

Read it all.

Monday, 15 June 2026
The Commemoration of Evelyn Underhill

To the Faithful of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina,

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Beth and I are in Tulsa as we begin meetings of the College of Bishops today and tomorrow and then Provincial Council meets Wednesday evening through Friday at noon. We have a strong delegation from the diocese—Canon Bob Lawrence, John Benson, and Justin Johnson—making the trip to Tulsa as well, and I write to ask your prayers for us as we head into these meetings. There is also an upcoming specially called Provincial Assembly which will be held as a Zoom gathering on Thursday, June 25. Again, we have a strong delegation for that meeting, including a strong Youth Delegation. The people representing our diocese at that gathering will be clergy delegates, Canon Laura Bowman, John Burwell, Claudia Carucci, Dean Shay Gaillard, Ryan Landes, Cindy Larsen, Canon Jim Lewis, Zach Miller, and Hamilton Smith; lay delegates, John Benson, Janis Breazeale, Anna Bruner, Katherine Cannon, Dr Ashley Bryant Harbin, Joy Hunter, Cathy Jacobs, Justin Johnson, Jessica Smith; and youth delegates, Elliott Arscott, Gabriel Collier, Edward Hart, Ben Shelton, Amelia Cannon, Cole O’Keefe, and Julia Dubay.

Title IV Revisions

There are three significant issues to be dealt with by the Provincial Council, which, if passed there, would go to the specially called Assembly for ratification in order to take effect. The first is the well-publicized and widely discussed Title IV revision, really a complete overhaul, of our disciplinary canons. The result of this process is a set of disciplinary canons addressing everything from making it easier to bring a charge against a bishop or a priest (the current ACNA canons make it unbearably complicated) all the way to clearly defined and canonically required procedures for how the courts must conduct their business. Such canonical requirements, absent until now, contributed to the level of distrust and frustration marking our Province today. I completely support these revisions, and have been impressed with the rigorous and transparent process undertaken by the Province to get us to this point—a year-long process with several cycles of revision and feedback that was open to the entire Province and resulted in thousands of suggestions that were considered and resulted in significant improvements from revision to revision.

Winston Churchill once said, about architecture: “First we shape our buildings. Afterwards our buildings shape us.” Similarly, I am hopeful to see how these new canons will shape us in the days to come into a stronger and more transparent Province.

Title I Changes

A second change, again necessitated by the weakness of our current canonical structure, concerns the succession of authority when an Archbishop is unable to carry out his duties for any reason, health, or, as we have been enduring, inhibition from ministry due to disciplinary proceedings. This change will clarify not only who is next in line to take on the responsibilities of that office, but who is next after that; this is precisely the situation we have recently had to deal with, and our Canons were not helpful. This change will clarify that process, as well as the scope of authority that accompanies the succession, and, again, I am fully supportive of it.

Ratification of the Provincial Constitution and Canons Committee

It’s the third proposal about which I have some concern, and I ask your prayers for God to be at work, guiding all of us who will be voting. This proposal involves changing—more precisely ratifying a first vote of a change approved by last year’s Provincial Council—to our current Governance Task Force (GTF), making it a Provincial Constitution and Canons Committee, ensconced in the Canons, and not simply a policy of the Province. My concern is that this is being done by this Provincial Council—well and good—to be ratified by the specially called Zoom Assembly (mentioned above).

When the College of Bishops voted to hold this specially called Assembly, the understanding was that the purpose of it was simply to ratify the Title IV revisions (again, see above) so they could take effect immediately and correct the many problematic aspects of the current canons. In the past few weeks, this Assembly has been laden with more than that. I worry that we, as a Province, have not had enough  time to reflect on, and perhaps, offer constructive feedback, to these proposed changes. What was the great strength of the process of Title IV revision, has not been as robust for this revision.

Resolutions Proposed By the ADOSC

In addition to these Canonical changes, our diocese has proposed two resolutions for Provincial Council’s consideration and vote. One is a call to have the transcript of the court proceedings in the recent trial of Bishop Ruch released publicly (with necessary redactions to protect witnesses as needed) and the other is to have the final report of the Lathrop investigation—looking into the whole investigative process leading up to that trial—released publicly as well, when it is complete. Our goal in proposing these resolutions is simple: we hope to see trust that has been deeply eroded over the past few years restored in the Province as it continues to navigate challenging waters. 

As we head into these meetings, I am aware that we, as a diocese, have not been afforded the luxury, as most other dioceses have, of thinking of these things in the abstract. People in our diocese have been directly affected by the insufficiencies in our current canons and have been negatively affected by them. 

So, I’m writing to ask you to pray, to give you some important insight into what you can be praying about, and to let you know how I, as your bishop, am processing all that we are facing in these upcoming two weeks. Pray that God’s will be done, and that, however the matters are resolved, the witness of the Province to the gospel of Jesus will increase and grow, and that the Church would be strengthened.

Blessings,

(The Rt. Rev) Chip Edgar

On May 7, 2026 and June 2, 2026, the Court held hearings to consider a number of pending
motions from both parties. On June 10, 2026, the Court issued the following rulings:
o Respondent’s Motion for In Camera Trial was GRANTED;
o The Province’s Motion for the College of Bishops to Observe the Trial was DENIED;
o Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss was DENIED;
o Respondent’s Supplementary Motion to Dismiss was DENIED; and
o The Province’s Motion for the Court to Re-establish Fairness, etc. was GRANTED IN
PART.

Read it all.

More ACNA news, on the coming trial of Abp Steve Wood: the Court for the Trial of a Bishop has granted Wood's motion for a non-public trial, denied his motion to dismiss, and denied a motion to allow the College of Bishops to observe the trial. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/QkpdxSnqpm

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) June 15, 2026

A new parliamentary network of cathedral cities with a remit to make a “sustained appeal” to the Government for funding support was established this week.

Cathedral deans and their constituency MPs met in Westminster on Tuesday. MPs were urged to propose a motion for debate in Parliament on the value of cathedrals to the nation. The deans also urged the Government to call on the Church’s own National Investing Bodies to meet their obligations to cathedrals.

Parliamentary debates on cathedrals have been held every year for the past few years, covering their economic contribution, choral music, maintenance, and sustainability.

Read it all.

A new parliamentary network of cathedral cities with a remit to make a “sustained appeal” to the Government for funding support was established this week.#Cathedral https://t.co/1VMa9dOhhB

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 12, 2026

Safeguarding in the Church of England could be broadened to include anyone harmed or at risk of harm in a church context, after the C of E’s National Safeguarding Team (NST) launched a consultation.

The fresh approach is a result of recommendations from the Charity Commission, which has pointed out that the “Church does not treat allegations of abuse from an adult not assessed to be ‘vulnerable’ as a safeguarding allegation”. Its own guidance says that trustees “must take reasonable steps to protect from harm all people who come into contact with their charity”.

The consultation, What is Safeguarding?, focuses on the code of practice Safeguarding in the Church, the subject of a consultation in April and May. Until now, it has been referred to as Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults. The change of title follows recommendations from the Commission that the NST review definitions of safeguarding and vulnerable adults.

“It is very important to note that this document is in the very early stages of thinking,” the NST says in a preface.

Read it all.

Church of England’s definition of safeguarding could be broadened https://t.co/rheEMJAw4y

— Simon Sarmiento (@simonsarmiento) June 11, 2026

[Mr Funmi Ojetayo’s] professional experience includes senior legal positions with Florida A&M University, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Florida Department of Management Services. As Deputy General Counsel for the Department of Management Services, he led the agency’s litigation function and provided counsel on significant legal matters. He currently serves as a Partner at Allen, Norton & Blue, P.A., in Tallahassee, Florida, where his practice focuses on labor and employment litigation and appellate advocacy.

In addition to his legal training, Mr. Ojetayo holds a Master of Divinity degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He completed his pastoral residency at Incarnation Anglican Church in Tallahassee in 2022 and currently serves as Discipleship Pastor at Four Oaks Church East.

While under consideration for the appointment, Mr. Ojetayo disclosed that he has a brother who serves as a rector within Bishop Julian Dobbs’ diocese. As Mr. Ojetayo has no personal involvement in the matters under review, and his appointment is based on his professional qualifications and experience, the province deemed this not to be a conflict of interest.  

Read it all.

https://t.co/NzE22DL2Qe

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) June 3, 2026

The dignity of retired clergy demands a “transformed mindset” among the Church’s leaders, the Retired Clergy Association has told the Clergy Retirement Dignity and Fairness Review (News, 1 May).

“An increase in pensions or the lump sum will not compensate for disparaging our members, nor is it likely to be achieved without a transformed mindset that accords them a dignified value,” the eight-page submission stated.

While drawing attention to the financial precariousness of some retired clergy — some of whom spend more than two-thirds or more of their income on church retirement housing — it raised concerns about wider attitudes to its members.

Read it all.

Retired Clergy Association tells fairness & dignity review that many dioceses depended on retired clergy to cover weekly services and calls for a "transformed mindset" in the Church in terms of how they are treated https://t.co/PvJgnEnmRO

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) May 31, 2026

You may listen directly here:

Or you may download it there.

3/3 The Holy Trinity censed by angels, a c1400 vaulting boss in the cloisters of Norwich Cathedral. Today's the feast of the Holy Trinity. pic.twitter.com/xURXZIYdZ4

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) May 31, 2026

Bishop Edgar described the complainants as “credible and trustworthy” and joined those urging the senior bishops to impose an inhibition, noting that “an inhibition makes no judgment as to guilt or innocence … Rather, it is an acknowledgement that continued ministry in the face of serious charges further damages the reputation of the Church.” The diocesan Standing Committee followed on 14 November with a letter of its own standing with the bishop and the complainants and urging the College to inhibit Wood.

The South Carolina position hardened with experience. On 24 March 2026, Bishop Edgar and the ADOSC Standing Committee wrote formally to the ACNA Executive Committee demanding transparency. The letter, occasioned by concerns arising from the December 2025 acquittal of Bishop Stewart Ruch (a separate ACNA trial in which the court found that the prosecution had not met its evidentiary burden, set out specific demands:

• That “the standard of avoiding any appearance of impropriety” be upheld among all provincial staff in pending and future proceedings;
• That those involved in allowing a court member in the Ruch trial to access prosecution files without the prosecutors’ knowledge or consent be recused from all future disciplinary proceedings, “particularly those involving Archbishop Wood”;
• That a complete transcript of trial and pretrial proceedings, including unedited video or audio, be released;
• That all motions, court rulings, and the three pretrial investigations be made public;
• That the identity and engagement letter of any investigator be disclosed, with appropriate confidentiality protections for victims.

“Those who would deny a public response to valid questions,” the diocese warned, “insisting the province is best served by withholding answers — do so at the risk of destabilizing the very foundation on which their authority rests.” Edgar added: “Lack of trust and mutual suspicion erode our communion and weaken our witness to a watching world. But our communion and witness are strengthened by a commitment to transparency and truth that is above reproach.”

That earlier framing places the present moment in unusually sharp relief. South Carolina has consistently asked for procedural rigour, transparency, and a posture of belief toward the complainants. Bishop Ashey’s lectures — delivered to a general audience the week before a dispositive motion was heard in the trial of his client-of-conscience — were perceived by some bishops as cutting in the opposite direction: prejudging the verdict, attributing improper motives to colleagues, and casting complainants as merely terminated employees.

Read as a whole, the 8 May letter is more than a routine clarification. It is a public acknowledgement, on the record, that:

• No bishops have signed the presentment, contrary to impressions Bishop Ashey himself helped create;
• The five senior diocesan bishops who joined Dean Dobbs’s inhibition did so on the merits, not under social-media pressure;
• The Title IV revisions now before the College are being deliberated on their substance, not from institutional self-protection;
• Predictions of “exoneration” have no proper place in public commentary about a pending bishop’s trial;
• The complainants were not, as Ashey had suggested, simply “terminated employees”;
• His role with Archbishop Wood is volunteer and personal, not provincial, and any judgment on the Archbishop’s compliance with the inhibition belongs to the Dean and the College.

Ashey’s renewed offer to recuse himself from the College of Bishops “until after all procedures with regards to Archbishop Wood are concluded” is significant. He had made the same offer earlier and was declined; the public revival of the offer effectively returns the question to Dean Dobbs and to a College that, in the weeks since the lectures, has had to navigate its own discomfort with the optics of one of its members serving as personal counsel to an accused archbishop while continuing to sit and vote among those who will, in due course, receive the Court’s verdict.

What the letter does not address is the substantive accusation, attributed to Bishop Ashey in The Living Church‘s reporting, that “the province did not forward all of the evidence, including exculpatory evidence, to the court.” If that claim is maintained, it sits uneasily alongside the seven items Bishop Ashey did withdraw. If it is not, it deserves its own clarification.

Read it all.

Bishop Ashey withdraws lecture claims about Wood Trial in letter to ACNA Collegehttps://t.co/3l3JWv1o0q pic.twitter.com/NPamXRmZSZ

— George Conger (@GeorgeConger8) May 27, 2026

The Rev. Dr. JT Hewitt Called as Assistant Rector & Scholar in Residence at St. John’s Church in Florence

The Rev. Dr. JT Hewitt has accepted a call to serve as the Assistant Rector & Scholar in Residence at St. John’s Church in Florence. JT is a Florence native and Furman graduate who holds multiple postgraduate degrees, including a PhD in New Testament Language, Literature, and Theology from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Since receiving his doctorate in 2018, he has served in higher education—first at the University of Aberdeen and most recently as Lecturer in New Testament and Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh. Before moving to Scotland, JT was ordained in the Presbyterian Church and served as Assistant Pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to that, he served at Grace Church Anglican in Seattle, Washington. He is married to Andrea, and together they have four children: Henrik, Avonlea, Madeleine, and Nikolai. Read the announcement.

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The latest edition of the #Anglican diocese of #Southcarolina Enewsletter https://t.co/dKIY12ZmpK #parishministry #media #religion #churchlife [on the bottom right the Rev. Dr. JT Hewitt new Assistant Rector & Scholar in Residence at St. John’s Church in Florence, SC] pic.twitter.com/EMztfKN3e4

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) May 27, 2026

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Louis Galloche, The Pentecost, 18th Century pic.twitter.com/QMy0ifvNiK

— Solas (@solas_na_greine) June 8, 2025

O Lord our God, who by thy Son Jesus Christ didst call thine apostles and send them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations: We bless thy holy name for thy servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, whose labors in propagating thy Church among the English people we commemorate today; and we pray that all whom thou dost call and send may do thy will, and bide thy time, and see thy glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today is the feast day of St Augustine of Canterbury.

Augustine was sent from Rome to England by Pope Gregory the Great, to re-establish Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons. He later became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.

📍 St John the Evangelist, Cowley/Lawrence OP pic.twitter.com/UqxdVyulP7

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) May 26, 2026

The South Carolina standing committee also criticized Bishop Ashey for other comments he made during the lecture that “prognosticat[ed] about the outcome” of the pending case against Archbishop Steve Wood and “promoted falsehood” about its complainants. Ashey is advising Wood as he awaits trial on canonical charges of personal and sexual misconduct.

In a lengthy retraction sent to the church’s bishops a week later, Ashey apologized for his speculation that Wood would be exonerated and for his “inaccurate” portrayal of the complainants, some of whom now belong to the Diocese of South Carolina, as “aggrieved” terminated employees. Of the complainants formerly employed under Wood at St. Andrew’s Church, Mount Pleasant, none were terminated, and all resigned, though Wood asked most of them to stay, one complainant told TLC.

While the province contends that the Council is without authority to govern the court’s protocols with regard to the Ruch documents, the Council’s main item of business at its June meeting will be a vote on a comprehensive Title IV revision that fully restructures the church’s disciplinary bodies and their procedures.

If passed, the new canons will phase out the current seven-member Court for the Trial of a Bishop and replace it with a tribunal from which smaller panels are drawn, and will introduce norms of public trial procedure=—two features also found in Episcopal Church canons.

Read it all.

New for @Livng_Church: The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina calls for the release of documents related to the trial of ACNA Bishop Stewart Ruch as the church's fraught process for revising Title IV comes to a vote.https://t.co/zzTJB5SM4h

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) May 20, 2026

The Anglican Church in North America’s Court for the Trial of a Bishop will hold hearings this week on the first pretrial motions filed in the disciplinary matter of the Most Rev. Steve Wood, according to a court announcement.

Archbishop Wood, the denomination’s primate, was indicted on ecclesiastical charges of personal and sexual misconduct last December. His trial is scheduled to begin July 20.

Four priests and seven laypeople filed a complaint against Wood last October, alleging that as bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas and rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Wood plagiarized sermons, bullied staff, and made continual sexual advances toward a children’s ministry director. Wood has denied the allegations.

The ACNA’s disciplinary system sets a denominational prosecutor against an accused bishop, who is tried by a neutral court of three bishops, two priests, and two adult confirmed church members. Before trial, both sides may make requests of the court by motion.

Read it all.

There are four motions they must decide in total:
1) Abp Wood's motion to dismiss the case
2) His motion to hold the trial in private
3) The province's motion to "re-establish fairness"
4) Its motion to disqualify Cn Jeff Weber from defending Wood.https://t.co/HIjraTzJjo

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) May 8, 2026

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“This Easter, can we let Jesus teach us to be good stewards of our grief? This Easter, can we let Jesus teach us to be good stewards of our grief? That ought to strike you as odd.
That’s a very strange combination of words, stewardship and grief. I’ll let you in a little secret about ministers. We are not very easy to deal with.
Langley has my deep sympathy. But one of the things about our life is that we have to preach on a regular basis, and whenever we have to preach, we have to get something from the text. And the thing is, if I don’t hear from God, you can’t hear from me.
And part of the problem is, if it’s Thursday and I’m still wrestling, that’s a problem. Friday, I’m at the near panic stage. But you do not want to be at my house when I get to Saturday, and I still have nothing to say.”

“And this past week, that’s exactly where I was. And past the near panic stage. And I was thinking as I was sitting there in my office yesterday, I was talking to the woman who cuts my hair in Summerville, who’s a Christian, and I was thinking, there have been millions of sermons.
Think of that, millions of sermons in the history of the church preached on this passage. Next year will be my 40th year. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve preached on the passage, probably 15 or something.
So I’ve got to get something fresh out of it. So I said, Lord, come on, this is not working. And I’m sitting there and I’m praying and I’m looking.
And I mean, I’ve read this thing, I don’t know how many times, and all of a sudden, click. And what the New Testament says about preaching, by the way, is rightly dividing the word of truth. And the thing is, it’s like cutting a diamond.”

“You can sit there and look at the text on Monday and Tuesday and not see it, and Friday you still don’t see it. And all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit shows up and boom. And then it just opens like magic.
Well, there I was sitting, and it all of a sudden came open. Now, let me tell you how important this passage is before I get into this. I was reading JC.
Ryle, the late great bishop of Liverpool in the 19th century, and he said something really fascinating about this passage that I want to start with. This is one of the great bishops in the whole history of the church. Listen to what he says about this story.

He says this, the history contained in these verses is not found in any other gospel, but only that of Luke. Of all the 11 appearances of Christ after his resurrection, none is perhaps so interesting as the one described in this passage. And I completely agree with him.

And one of the things that’s got to bother all of us is, it sticks out like a sore thumb, it’s unlike any of the others. What is it“doing in there? And there’s all sorts of reasons.

I mean, they are great resurrection stories, post resurrection narratives, all through all the gospels. But this one is unique. And so if you think about it and ask the question why it’s in there, there’s all sorts of answers.

But what came to me yesterday, which I never noticed before, is there’s one really, really, really important reason why it’s in there. And that is, it’s the only one that really shows how Jesus deals with the depth of people in incredible grief. This is a story about grief, not general grief, not superficial grief.
This is the story about people whose lives have been dashed on the rocks of reality. This is a story about people who are disappointed, dejected and nearly in despair and desperate. They’ve not just lost motivation, they’ve lost all hope.

And the question that we have to ask ourselves is, why are they there and how does Jesus bring them out of it? So those are my two questions. Why are they there and how does Jesus bring them (and by extension, us) out of it?”

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Rembrandt van Rijn
Supper at Emmaus pic.twitter.com/B11NtKd3rg

— Marysia (@marysia_cc) April 19, 2026

“The resurrection was not preached in the early church as a symbolic representation of wonderful higher spiritual truths like, “We must always keep hope.” The resurrection was preached as a hard, bare, terribly irritating paradigm-shattering, horribly inconvenient but impossible to dismiss fact.”

–From his sermon entitled Jesus vindicated which may be found among other places there.

Blue Skies and a sharp Easterly breeze. 12°C. Butterflies. pic.twitter.com/r5WPd8XBHV

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) April 22, 2026