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A Powerful Retreat Weekend for St. Alban’s

The St. Alban’s Retreat, which was held earlier this month, ended, as it usually does, with baptisms in cold mountain water and creekside first communions. Fifteen men and women were baptized this year by the Rev. Dr. Rob Sturdy, St. Alban’s Chaplain. “I’m more than thankful to be able to work with these exceptional young people and to share with them the authenticity, integrity, love, and grace of Jesus,” wrote Rob. “Thanks to everyone who helps make it possible!”  Please pray for our new brothers and sisters in Christ as they venture home for Thanksgiving, that their fire for the Lord brings new faithfulness to the people they meet along the way and that their families would notice the changes in their hearts in profound ways.

Read it all.

The Latest Edition of the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Enewsletter https://t.co/XimswopSVR (Saint Alban's retreat Photos, Anglican Diocese of SC) #parishministry #lowcountrylife #citadelchaplain #religion #faith pic.twitter.com/qNFyXVgsR9

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 25, 2025

Between 1992 and 2024, former Anglican clergy made up more than one third of those beginning priestly ministry in the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, a new report reveals.

The report, Convert Clergy in the Catholic Church in Britain, summarises the findings of a research project commissioned in 2019 by the St Barnabas Society, a charity that continues the work of the Converts Aid Society, established in 1896.

The report was produced in partnership with researchers at the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion, Ethics and Society, whose UK base is at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. Published on Thursday, it recognises the “substantial ongoing contribution to Catholic life made by convert clergy/religious in this country”.

The period studied begins in 1992, when the General Synod voted in favour of the ordination of women to the priesthood.

Read it all.

New report launched today, on Anglican-to-Catholic clergy conversions in Britain. Since 1992:

* c700 Anglican priests (inc 16 bishops) have become RC

* Roughly third of all Catholic priests ordained in Eng & Wales are ex-Ang clergy@StBarnabasSoc https://t.co/WyzOZBjg09 pic.twitter.com/r0nXFkEMe9

— Stephen Bullivant (@SSBullivant) November 20, 2025

Even with changes in personnel, the Wood matter is unlikely to be resolved quickly. Kate Harris, an ACNA spokeswoman, confirmed to TLC that Dobbs has assumed archiepiscopal duties for the duration of the Wood matter, but the complainants have expressed concern about its next procedural steps, which involve a Board of Inquiry that Sutton had appointed before stepping down.

One complainant told TLC that Sutton’s revised statement of not recalling discussions about making the board “bishop-friendly,” combined with continued involvement of provincial staff serving at Archbishop Wood’s pleasure, has eroded the complainant’s confidence in the board’s steps for determining whether the charges merit trial.

“The timeline of the [Board of Inquiry] historically has been about six to eight weeks, but it can sometimes take longer depending on scheduling and coordinating calendars, [and the] members cannot be shared to protect them from emails and lobbying of favor or bias,” Butler said in email to the complainants reviewed by TLC. Denominational canons specify that five priests and five adult ACNA members sit on a Board of Inquiry.

Read it all.

New for @Livng_Church: “Apologies have only come from bishops after significant public pressure has been applied. These are the right actions, but they’ve only come under duress,” a Wood complainant told TLC.https://t.co/Nf1sIVjDtA

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) November 20, 2025

“To state the matter carefully: ACNA is in profound trouble, and I do not think that the people in charge of ACNA see how much trouble we are in,” Anglican Diocese of South Carolina Canon Theologian Kendall Harmon wrote to his diocesan standing committee on October 29 in a letter widely circulated across the ACNA. Harmon, a senior clergyman who served multiple tours as a deputy to Episcopal General Convention when his diocese was within the Episcopal Church, has a reputation as a reserved introvert and judicious thinker not prone to rash pronouncement….

A hearing panel convened by the Dean of the Province (Dobbs) will evaluate the presentment to determine if it meets the criteria to move forward to a trial.

Harmon is among those stressing that the complaints against Wood are not the extent of the crisis.

“I appreciate the college of Bishops starting to do the right thing, even though it’s late but they need to realize that,” Harmon told IRD. “We need a process we can trust. Communication and transparency need to be vastly improved, and quickly. Both the [Diocese of the Upper Midwest Bishop Stuart] Ruch fiasco and this mess are but symptoms. What does that tell you about the disease?”

Read it all.

As Archbishop Steve Wood is suspended by the senior-most bishops of @The_ACNA. Some are stressing that complaints against Wood are not the extent of a crisis of trust. https://t.co/Mffu3ORkE1

— Jeff Walton (@jeffreyhwalton) November 17, 2025

Additionally, Gross alleged in his affidavit that shortly after Wood’s election as archbishop, he grew “obsessive” about a possible presentment against him. Gross wrote that he’d heard a “credible report” of Wood and the denomination’s previous dean, Bishop Ray Sutton, having a conversation in which they were “floating the possibility” of a “bishop-friendly” Board of Inquiry, the church body that determines whether a presentment warrants an ecclesiastical trial.

When The Post first reported that allegation on Nov. 7, Sutton gave a statement “firmly” denying that “any such conversation ever occurred.” But on Saturday, Sutton resigned as dean, and in a statement he walked back his denial: “My intent was to express that I could not recall such a conversation ever taking place, and I apologize for stating that incorrectly.”

Aside from the allegations against Wood, the denomination’s priests and parishioners also are upset about how the accusations entered the public domain. Priests and former staff at Wood’s church in South Carolina who wrote the presentment said they initially sought the endorsements of numerous bishops. The denomination requires that presentments be signed and sworn to by either three bishops or a mix of 10 parishioners and priests.

Their presentment was ultimately offered to four bishops, but they turned the South Carolina group down. Chip Edgar, the bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, wrote a letter Thursday to parishioners disclosing his early involvement and saying he supports the presentment and its authors.

“I acknowledge it didn’t always seem like I did — I’ve apologized to them and sought their forgiveness, which they have generously given — but I do,” Edgar wrote.

Read it all.

The archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, who is facing allegations of sexual misconduct against two women, was suspended from his duties leading the 16-year-old denomination.https://t.co/MbLlKdbouB

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 17, 2025

On Friday with our clergy, and then briefly on Saturday with the whole Synod, I shared that I am one of the bishops identified by The Washington Post who was initially approached but did not read the presentment regarding Archbishop Steve Wood. I have communicated this to several bishops, including two senior bishops in the College, to our diocesan Standing Committee, and, as of yesterday, to the entire College of Bishops.

When I was approached this spring by Bishop Chip Edgar of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina (ADOSC) and later by one of the clergy complainants from the same diocese, I made the decision not to read the complaint. The information given to me at the time was verbal and limited. I understood there to be a group of complainants with experiences dating back many years connected to St. Andrew’s Church in Mt. Pleasant, SC, along with a more recent allegation from a woman staff member involving an unwanted advance but not physical contact. This is what I believed I was responding to.

Read it all.

Remorseful Bp. Warner calls for Archbishop Wood’s Inhibition https://t.co/nnjBhes5CB via @Anglican Ink © 2025

— George Conger (@GeorgeConger8) November 17, 2025

(Received by email this morning; KSH) To:  The  Anglican Diocese of South Carolina
 

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Yesterday, Bishop Edgar sent a letter to the clergy of our Diocese expressing his support for those who brought a Presentment against Archbishop Steve Wood. Bishop Edgar also sent a letter to the College of Bishops. urging the senior bishops tasked with calling for an inhibition of the Archbishop to do so.

We, the Standing Committee of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, stand with our Bishop in full support of the victims [of an ungodly and deeply dysfunctional process and allegedly of misbehaviour delineated in the presentment]. We, too, urge the College of Bishops to inhibit Archbishop Wood. While he has placed himself on a leave of absence, such leave can be ended at his discretion. An inhibition—though not a statement of guilt or innocence—protects the integrity of the inquiry and ensures that the process needed to seek the truth can proceed without interference.

Some have asked what the Standing Committee has done so far and what our next steps will be. Below is a summary of our actions:

What the ADOSC Standing Committee Has Done

1. Tuesday, November 4: In executive session with Bishop Edgar, Canon Jim Lewis, and our Diocesan Chancellor, Ben Hagood, we reviewed the allegations in the Presentment and heard from Bishop Edgar regarding his role in the process. Together, we affirmed our commitment to support the victims in every way possible.
2. During the Clergy Retreat, Bishop Edgar addressed the clergy directly. Because our lay members on the Standing Committee were not present for that conversation, on Thursday, November 13, we met by Zoom to bring all members—clergy and lay—up to date on these matters.

Agreed-upon Next Steps

1. Next week: We will meet with the ADOSC clergy involved in the Presentment, to hear firsthand how we can best support them.
2. To the Diocese: We issued this letter to express our unified support for our Bishop and for the victims [of an ungodly and deeply dysfunctional process and allegedly of misbehaviour delineated in the presentment].
3. To the College of Bishops: We will be sending a letter urging them to correct the false narrative that has circulated regarding the victims, and to not only inhibit Archbishop Wood but to issue a godly admonition.

We ask you to keep all who are involved in your prayers—especially the [alleged] victims, those caring for them, and all who bear responsibility for leadership and discernment in this difficult moment.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all,
The Standing Committee of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina

The Rev. Mary Ellen Doran, President
The Rev. Jeremy Shelton, Vice-President
The Rev. Jamie Sosnowski
The Rev. Corey Prescott
The Rev. Bill Clarkson
Mrs. Lindsay Dew
Mrs. Shirley Wiggins
Mr. Robert Kunes
Mr. Ben Dixon
Mr. Terry Jenkins
Mr. Bobby Kilgo

The Latest Edition of the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Enewsletter https://t.co/rkmkTXtE32 #parishmninistry #communication #faith pic.twitter.com/WNcxbnlLzk

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 21, 2025

Read it all.

Bp Chip Edgar of ACNA's Diocese of South Carolina writes: "The frequent charge, heard from the highest levels in the ACNA, that the complainants had gone to the press [first] is not true. … I’ve asked the College for a unified, public apology for these disparaging statements." https://t.co/YjJKIoYVHx pic.twitter.com/fflutyYSj1

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) November 13, 2025

‘He stood for many years alone, he was long opposed, ridiculed, shunned, his doctrines were misrepresented, his little peculiarities of voice and manner were satirized, disturbances were frequently raised in his church or he was a person not taken into account, nor considered in the light of a regular clergyman in the church.’

-–as quoted in William Carus, Memoirs of the Life of the Rev. Charles Simeon (New York: Robert Carter, 1848), p.39

On the evening of November 7, the ACNA announced that Sutton recused himself from the Wood matter “to ensure the utmost objectivity in these proceedings,” and that Sutton had appointed the Rt. Rev. Julian Dobbs to appoint, in turn, a three-member panel of bishops to “review and approve the composition” of the already-selected Board of Inquiry.

“If the Board of Inquiry has already been impaneled, we have every reason to believe that Bishop Sutton was involved, [and] we have no reason to believe that such a board is trustworthy,” Miller told TLC. “As eager as we are to see this move quickly, a new board, organized without the involvement of the archbishop’s staff, nor of Bishop Sutton, will have to be appointed.”

“There’s no good moving quickly if you’re headed in the wrong direction,” he said, adding that Sutton’s recusal and the three-member panel’s future review of board members would be a “step in the right direction” if the panel members were known.

In addition to these new charges, the complainants’ cover letter criticizes communications by the ACNA’s provincial office and by some individual bishops that suggested the complainants took their allegations to the Post before attempting to use the canonical disciplinary channels of the church.

A timeline in the letter outlines the process the complainants say they followed. Claire Buxton, who alleges that Archbishop Wood made continual sexual advances toward her, alerted one priest of her complaint four days after Wood’s election in June 2024, and another priest a month later, who informed the Rt. Rev. Chip Edgar, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, the document said. Edgar’s diocese overlaps with Wood’s Diocese of the Carolinas.

Read it all.

New for @Livng_Church: Complainants say they tried to canonically advance accusations against ACNA Archbishop Steve Wood for more than a year, and question the possibility of a fair hearing while he retains his powers.https://t.co/pDcdtrUhGE

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) November 8, 2025

(Why WaPo and ACNA continue to emphasize these incidents did not occur during Wood’s archbishopric baffles; the issue here is moral and character, not when who did what.)

I have too much experience with this kind of story not to have guiding lines of thinking.

Believe the victims as whistleblowers rarely lie; the accused will deny the allegations; there’s more to the story than is published; often more victims will come forward; the establishment will act to protect and to believe the priest/pastor; local congregations will fracture and fissure and sometimes fall apart; nearly all congregations will believe the pastor/priest and not the accuser/victim; spin will arise that confuses all over what actually happened; the establishment will gather round the priest/pastor and will rig the system against the victims; whistleblowers will suffer blow after blow that re-traumatize; the system will not show compassion and empathy; strategies will develop that favor one side and bias people against the other side; those in power will rig the system so independent investigators can be avoided. I could go on. Read A Church called Tov.

I was more than (happily) surprised with Andrew Gross: “Unfortunately, the problems at the highest levels of the ACNA are deeper, wider and more entrenched than many of its own parishioners realize,” said Andrew Gross, an Anglican priest who was the Anglican Church’s communications director from 2013 until early this year. “The ACNA has never before had to deal with serious allegations of misconduct by the archbishop. This is a crisis without precedent, and how these concerns are handled will determine the future trajectory of the denomination and its credibility.” I was mocked by the establishment for saying much the same when the Stewart Ruch/Church of the Rez story first broke. Gross is right: Not only has ACNA bungled the Ruch story but they are set up to bungle this one too. What they do will determine ACNA’s future.

Reread it all.

To the Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina

With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says:
‘You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive.
 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing,
    and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart,
    and turn for me to heal them.’
–Matthew 13:14-15

“Nothing in the world is harder than speaking the truth and nothing easier than flattery.”
–Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

Dear friends:

Let me begin by saying that I love the Lord and I love his church and I love the Anglican Church in North America and I wish her the best and pray for her and her leaders every day.

But I have to tell you that as someone watching what has been happening over the last week since the story broke about the accusations against the current Archbishop I have been profoundly troubled, deeply upset and incredibly concerned; those feelings have done nothing but get deeper every single day since.

I find myself thinking again and again of Dr James Houston at Regent College and his course on Christian spirituality I took it when I had only been a Christian for about four years. Dr. Houston began the class by saying that if you want to understand what it means to think about growing as a Christian, you have to understand the beatitudes, and you have to understand that the beatitudes are written in order.

What that means is the beginning of any real growth is wrestling with and living into the first beatitude, which is blessed all the poor in spirit which Eugene Peterson wonderfully translates as “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.”

He went on to tell us many memorable things in that class, one of them, which I shall never forget, is what is one of the most important characteristics of the character of a genuine Christian. His answer comes like a little voice, which is in fact a piece of dynamite in our current cultural moment in the church in the west, he said the answer is self-mistrust.

If you really understand yourself and the broken nature of the world and the insidious nature of sin, and you need to know that human beings have a stubborn incapacity to handle the truth which manifests itself in ways that the systems which sinful people construct so often miss.

So let me begin in a place where I see almost no ACNA leader beginning and that is I don’t trust myself so maybe what I’m saying is incorrect. That’s for you to decide, but I’ve reached the point where I cannot not say What I feel the Lord is calling me to say.

To state the matter carefully: ACNA is in profound trouble, and I do not think that the people in charge of ACNA see how much trouble we are in.

Ask yourself this question–what would an outside observer who had a healthy sense of self-mistrust and who knew that a healthy institution needs to have a heavy dose of self mistrust—what would he or she say about what is just happened in ACNA over the last few years and especially the last week or so.

The first thing such a person might say: the process by which allegations of misbehavior by ACNA leaders are adjudicated is incredibly messed up and needs to be deeply reformed.

How do I know this—well just look at what we know as fact. Bishop Stewart Ruch has had a process going on by which he’s been put in a form of an ecclesiastical trial for alleged misbehavior. The process is taking a long time and the first thing that we know, is that the prosecutor who was asked to participate in the process named Alan Runyan resigned just a few hours before the process was to complete because what happened in the process was so completely out of kilter and deeply disturbing to him that he felt he had no other recourse but to resign.

Now I happen to know Alan Runyan and I’ve worked with him in some very unusual contexts. He’s a greatly capable person and a wonderful Christian; for someone like him to take a step like that is incredibly significant to me.

It speaks to a process in a canonical system that does not work properly by any reasonable standard.

If you read the new, very lengthy Washington Post story about the Bishop Stewart Ruch situation ask yourself a question– if even 1/8 of what’s in the article is true, how in the world has the system reach this point? It is self-evidently not working.

Now consider recent developments with the allegations against the current archbishop of ACNA, Steve Wood.

A presentment has been filed against him, a formal church procedure alleging misbehavior. The people involved in filing this presentment are people who love the Lord and who love his church.

If the people involved love the Lord and love his church then why is no one in ACNA leadership asking about this reality–there is simply no way that anyone who loves ACNA and cares deeply about her and her future whatever not initially try to use the process provided by the church to make these allegations, but have the people done so?

No; no.

Almost everyone that I’ve seen in ACNA who is looking at the situation is looking at it backwards. They are saying things like trust the process, isn’t it terrible that people in the church felt it necessary to go to a secular newspaper like the Washington Post in order to do what they felt had to be done.

To me that entirely upside down, the question everyone in active leadership should be asking themselves is supposing I was part of the group that made these allegations.

It would then necessarily be the case that I would seek to use the processes provided by the church to do so

It is clear that they did not because they felt that they could not.

Think carefully about what that means, it means that a group of people who love ACNA had such a profound mistrust of the existing process that they felt they had a better chance of beginning to get the truth into the light in a secular newspaper as opposed to the process provided by the church.

Let’s be clear here–no one saying they are right. We are just asking questions, but let’s make sure to ask the right questions. Do you have any idea how sick the process has to be for people in positions of leadership to feel such an extreme measure was necessary? It speaks to a process which is so deeply wrong that it is nearly or entirely bankrupt.

Now again, let’s look at the response to what occurred so far. We have a number of responses, from bishops especially, most of which can be reduced to trust the process, we have an adequate process, we have a process that will work. Let’s just be patient and pray and let it work itself out, and on and on.

That can’t be true and we know it’s not true because of what’s been happening in the Ruch trial, but we also know it’s not true because of the extreme measures that were deemed necessary by the group that filed these allegations against Archbishop Wood.

Yet there’s more.

Whenever you have a situation like this, where there are allegations, you have alleged victims and alleged perpetrators; we simply don’t know what happened, so we have to keep a healthy dose of skepticism, but what needs to be said very strongly is that neither of the allegations nor the denial can be assumed to be true.

Anyone who reads the initial responses can see that the concern for the victims, and the possibility that the allegations could be true, are given short shrift, but the protection of the leaders and the institution and the process are almost always paramount.

So it’s clear that the process is deeply flawed already and you can see it and what has transpired publicly not only in the Ruch trial, but in the response to the allegations against Archbishop Wood so far.

We are still not done. Let’s look at what else has happened with the allegation so far. It is a matter of public record that there was an objection to the presentment made by the Canon for safeguarding, and the Chancellor. They alleged that a standard wasn’t met, even though it has been determined now that the presentment can go forward and the objections have been overcome. We need to pause and ask ourselves a question–who made these objections.

They were made by a Canon who works for Steve Wood and a chancellor who works for Steve Wood. But Steve Wood is the accused in this situation, so no one who works for him can and should be involved in the process at all.

However, they were involved in the process. They should never have been; they should have recused themselves immediately.

Not only has that occurred, but Bishop Ray Sutton, who is now the bishop in charge of this process, has written a letter to the ACNA House of bishops in which he discussed the overcoming of these objections by suggesting that the process by which the objections were made was legitimate. It was anything but. Other people could have been appointed to make objections, but not people who work for or were appointed by the current person accused.

This is just a matter of basic justice and due process. It may seem like a simple thing, but it’s not a simple thing because not only has it occurred, but it has implicitly been sanctioned by the current person in charge of the process.

Notice also that none of the other leaders have made an objection to this.

What we are looking at here, brother and sisters, is a colossal mess which has so many things out of kilter one hardly knows where to start.

We have to question the process, not trust the process, but more than that we have to question the people who are in charge of ACNA, what they are doing, how they are doing it, why they are so defensive and why they are missing so many basic points and not asking the right questions.

And all this is the case at this very early stage….

29 October 2025

–The Rev Dr. Kendall S. Harmon is theologian in residence, Church of the Holy Cross, Sullivan’s Island, SC

If Kendall Harmon is irked, the Lord may be returning soon! Please read this heartfelt document. Concerns from my heart about the deep ACNA leadership crisis: Kendall Harmon https://t.co/vAVWbC0OAi via @Anglican Ink © 2025

— Will ⚓ (@monkofjustice) November 7, 2025

Stephen Wood, the archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, is facingsexual harassment accusations from a second woman, deepening a crisisthat has engulfed his tenure atop the conservative denomination.

The new allegation, by a woman identified as “Jane Doe 1,” appears in a revised ecclesiastical complaint — known as a “presentment” — submitted to the denomination on Thursday.The statement does not identify the location or time period of the alleged incidents.

“I have a complaint against Archbishop Steve Wood of sexual misconduct, in the form of sexual harassment, to include pressuring me to be in situations I was uncomfortable with, even after I expressed my discomfort, pressuring me to be in a private space with him, one-on-one, to drink alcohol with him, despite me saying it was inappropriate and that I was uncomfortable,” the woman wrote in the presentment. “I do not wish to go into further detail now for fear of being identified….”

“It seems that crisis after crisis is threatening to destroy the Anglican Church in North America. Many of us are nauseated by it all,” wrote Bishop Jacob Worley, who leads a diocese of Anglican churches in the Pacific Northwest. “We are at the very least concerned, if not frightened at what the future may hold. Some of us are concerned with being affiliated with the ACNA.”

Read it all.

Exclusive, Part II. Just after he became the Anglican Church in North America's archbishop, Steve Wood was "obsessive" about a possible presentment that could lead to a trial & his defrocking, accdg to Andrew Gross, the longtime former comms director. https://t.co/G5NVWhjjTA

— Ian Shapira (@ianshapira) November 7, 2025

The Most Rev. Ray Sutton, Dean of the Province of the Anglican Church in North America, has stepped temporarily into the role of ACNA’s archbishop and primate—but a group of chaplains has objected, calling him unfit to lead the denomination.

The ACNA’s Provincial Office announced Sutton’s elevation to acting archbishop on November 3, two weeks after disciplinary charges alleging financial, sexual, and behavioral misconduct against Archbishop Steve Wood were filed. Wood has taken a voluntary and paid leave of absence pending resolution of the charges.

Less than a day after that announcement, a public letter released by a group of chaplains with histories in the ACNA’s chaplaincy jurisdiction decried the decision, claiming that Sutton’s appointment has “further aggravated” the church’s “crisis of credibility” in handling clergy misconduct.

The chaplains’ public letter alleges that Sutton, among other senior ACNA bishops, repeatedly obstructed their previous complaints of misconduct against the Rt. Rev. Derek Jones, the denomination’s former chaplaincy bishop now under inhibition and investigation, over a period of at least four years.

Read it all.

New for @Livng_Church: A group of chaplains with histories in the ACNA’s chaplaincy jurisdiction claim that Bp. Ray Sutton’s appointment to acting archbishop has "further aggravated" the church’s "crisis of credibility" in handling clergy misconduct.https://t.co/XmtBzMctKU

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) November 6, 2025

The presentment was submitted to Wood and to the denomination’s College of Bishops on Oct. 20. Later that morning, The Post, which received an advancecopy, emailed Wood with dozens of questions about the document’s allegations. The next day, he said he didn’t believe the allegations had “any merit” and declined to comment further.

The presentment accuses him of three charges outlined in the denomination’s canons: sexual immorality, violation of ordination vows, and bringing “scandal,” including abusing his ecclesiastical power. If a church Board of Inquiry determines that the presentment warrants an ecclesiastical trial, a guilty verdict could result in sentences ranging from a “Godly admonition” to deposition or defrocking. Wood is the first archbishop in the church’s 16-year history to face a presentment.

Read it all.

Here's our story today on Archbishop Steve Wood, head of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and his voluntary paid leave of absence in the wake of a formal complaint accusing him of sexual misconduct, plagiarizing sermons and demeaning staffers. https://t.co/zCVfrpURDV

— Ian Shapira (@ianshapira) November 4, 2025

At that hearing, Mr [Edward] Dobson said that the “starting point” was that evidence was to be taken in private, on the grounds that this would better protect children and young adults, and that the question whether the default should be for public hearings had been considered by the Synod (Synod, 12 July 2024).

The Measure, given final approval in February (News, 14 February), will now have to be considered further. The intention is that it will replace the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003.

Redress Scheme reviewed. The Ecclesiastical Committee took evidence this week on the Measure to introduce the Redress Scheme for abuse survivors, which was finally approved by the Synod in York in July (News, 18 July). Despite the raising of concerns at a hearing on Tuesday about a data breach by the law firm administering the scheme, the Committee is expected to give the Measure the green light to become law.

In August, it was announced that the email addresses of people who had signed up for updates on the scheme had been disclosed in a data breach by Kennedys, the firm administering the scheme (News, 29 August).

Read it all.

The Ecclesiastical Committee (MPs and Peers who advise on whether draft Measures approved by General Synod should be approved by Parliament) is expected to send the draft Clergy Conduct Measure (CCM) back to the General Synod. V unusual.https://t.co/nr8Et6xThU

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) October 31, 2025

(Why WaPo and ACNA continue to emphasize these incidents did not occur during Wood’s archbishopric baffles; the issue here is moral and character, not when who did what.)

I have too much experience with this kind of story not to have guiding lines of thinking.

Believe the victims as whistleblowers rarely lie; the accused will deny the allegations; there’s more to the story than is published; often more victims will come forward; the establishment will act to protect and to believe the priest/pastor; local congregations will fracture and fissure and sometimes fall apart; nearly all congregations will believe the pastor/priest and not the accuser/victim; spin will arise that confuses all over what actually happened; the establishment will gather round the priest/pastor and will rig the system against the victims; whistleblowers will suffer blow after blow that re-traumatize; the system will not show compassion and empathy; strategies will develop that favor one side and bias people against the other side; those in power will rig the system so independent investigators can be avoided. I could go on. Read A Church called Tov.

I was more than (happily) surprised with Andrew Gross: “Unfortunately, the problems at the highest levels of the ACNA are deeper, wider and more entrenched than many of its own parishioners realize,” said Andrew Gross, an Anglican priest who was the Anglican Church’s communications director from 2013 until early this year. “The ACNA has never before had to deal with serious allegations of misconduct by the archbishop. This is a crisis without precedent, and how these concerns are handled will determine the future trajectory of the denomination and its credibility.” I was mocked by the establishment for saying much the same when the Stewart Ruch/Church of the Rez story first broke. Gross is right: Not only has ACNA bungled the Ruch story but they are set up to bungle this one too. What they do will determine ACNA’s future.

What can the leaders in ACNA do? Here are some suggestions:

First, begin by believing those who bring forth the allegations. Believe the whistleblowers. I give honor to Claire Buxton for coming forward. I give honor to Rob Sturdy and Hamilton Smith for standing up for justice.

I give honor to Audrey Luhmann, Abbi Nye, and Whitney Harrison. They have relentlessly fought for justice in the Stewart Ruch case and many others. They have faced the system and not been deterred.

Read it all.

Earlier this week, Scot McKnight, the author of 'A Church Called Tov,' delivered the keynote speech! https://t.co/Dop1gNwXC9.

Make a contribution today to support programs that help faith communities in need of financial aid and free services. Visit https://t.co/pgHLOtYggd pic.twitter.com/s4RXuEhwo4

— GRACE (@netgrace_org) December 1, 2023

Dear People of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese, 

As I reflect on the last seven days, I rejoice in all the ways our Lord was glorified in our Synod last weekend. What a wonderful time in worship, fellowship, conversation and learning! The Gospel was preached and God’s people were built up, and for this I give great thanks. Even in the conversations around our disagreements about canonical changes, we were able to listen to one another and Christ’s Body was edified.

Although I wish to elaborate more on Synod, that will need to be saved for the next issue of the Communiqué. On Monday, October 20, the ACNA received a complaint alleging misconduct by Archbishop Steve Wood in his capacity as Bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas and Rector of St. Andrew’s, Mount Pleasant, SC. There have also been several national news stories this week covering these allegations and other heartbreaking allegations of misconduct by leaders in the ACNA. My heart breaks for any child or adult that has been harmed or abused by those in leadership in our Church. Let me reassure you that the Diocesan staff and I remain deeply committed to safeguarding the people of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese. We do not and will not tolerate abuse. 

In light of all this news, I am writing to you directly today to express my love and care for you and, once again, my commitment to protect you as your Bishop, that the Church may continue its work to bring Glory to God as we reach out to a hurting world with the life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ. Since the allegations against our Archbishop came to light, I have been working with the deans, key diocesan staff, and the chair of the Standing Committee to ensure the people of this diocese—each and every one precious in the sight of God—are adequately cared for by us and by our clergy. We will continue assessing the best ways to do that in the Gulf Atlantic Diocese.

Let me assure you, as I did at the Synod, that your diocesan leadership is committed to working to bring the ACNA as a whole to maturity as a Province. I am thankful for those from the Gulf Atlantic Diocese who are leading at the Province level, including the Executive Committee, the Governance Task Force, and provincial Safeguarding efforts. I am confident we are moving in the right direction with changes to our disciplinary canons. It is painful when we must hold accountable leaders we admire or respect, but we must ensure that clergy (especially bishops) “are above reproach” (1 Tim. 2:2). Even though discipline can be uncomfortable and at times painful, we must press on. Too much is at stake. St. Paul’s instructs us in his letter to the Ephesians that “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (4:15–16).

Lament and sadness over these issues is appropriate. We can bring this to the Lord. As Canon Sam Allberry shared last weekend, “God is not overwhelmed by the mess of our lives.” To that end, I am offering a Zoom meeting for clergy next week to express questions, comments, and concerns that you might share with them—and to pray. I would like to then offer a similar forum, perhaps by deanery, for any member of the Diocese to speak with me directly. Please join me in prayer and fasting for our Province as the Lord leads, always remembering, God’s mercy endures forever! (Psalm 136) 

O Almighty God, you pour out on all who desire it the spirit of grace and supplication; Deliver us, when we draw near to you, from coldness of heart and wandering of mind, that with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections we may worship you in spirit and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Collect 5, BCP 2019) 

–The Rt. Rev Alex Farmer is Bishop of the Central Gulf Coast

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

~Psalm 46.1-3

To All the Faithful of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina:
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This past week news has broken about our Anglican Church—about many issues of alleged pastoral neglect by Bishop Ruch of the Upper Midwest Diocese; and, much closer to home, a piece regarding a Presentment (a legal charge) against Archbishop Steve Wood concerning allegations of pastoral abuse of former clergy, unwanted sexual advances towards a lay employee, and other issues, like plagiarism in sermons—in stories published by Ian Shapiro in The Washington Post.

It is important to say two things about the allegations against Archbishop Wood: first, the allegations come from credible sources. They must be taken seriously, and I am confident they will. Second, at
this stage they remain allegations. The Presentment (the charges) must be validated, and, when validated, a Board of Inquiry will be established. If the Board of Inquiry determines there is probable cause to put the accused to trial, two things will happen: the nature of the charges will be made public—with care given to protect anonymity where needed, and then the case will proceed, with discovery, potential motions, and, ultimately, presentation of evidence and argument before the Court for the Trial of a Bishop. The Canons require expeditious handling in accordance with due principles of fairness, due process, and justice. Due to the nature of these proceedings, there will be times that, from our perspective, look like nothing is happening. Please be patient. Finally, like in American civil law, our Canonical Law holds the accused as innocent until proven guilty. And guilt must be established to the standard of clear and convincing evidence.

With these charges, we have entered a season of storms. Storms that seem to threaten the very foundations of our church, and we ask, what in the world is going on? I want to try to give some perspective, to set these events in a context that, as I have prayed, with groaning in my soul too deep for words, through sleepless nights and challenging days, has helped me make some sense of it, and has been helpful to me in my prayers and in my work.

Years ago, I learned that organizations and institutions go through a series of steps as they grow.
Those steps were described as forming, norming, storming, and performing. I thought of that as I
prayed about the storms in which we find ourselves.

I recall being at Plano, Texas in 2009 when the ACNA was formed. I wish I had seen it then, but looking back I see clearly now. There was a troublesome spirit of pride at work as we Constituted the ACNA. Here was our sin: we were so focused on the evil outside of ourselves, that we couldn’t see the sin within us. I’m thinking of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s famous line from The Gulag Archipelago: “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

In our norming, then, we were set to make some serious mistakes. I remember laughing about how the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church ran to the hundreds and hundreds of pages; we didn’t need that, we were righteous, we were mission focused, we were on fire for the Lord! We failed to see that evil lurked within us, each and every one. Our disciplinary Canons were short, not too many details, lots of unanswered questions. Did we think we weren’t going to need expansive Canons to guide us carefully through difficult situations toward just outcomes? While I don’t believe anyone actually thought that consciously, I fear that was the effect of our formative pride: the bad guys were “out there,” not “in here.”

Those flaws in our forming and norming have resulted in the storming that we now face being much more intense than it might have been. I won’t go into details about these storms, I’ll only say that I think their magnitude serves as a judgment on all of us, especially those of us in leadership. In these storms, is God winnowing, sifting, purging? It’s hard for me not to think so; but I also remember that He chastens those He loves. He wants better from us, ultimately, he wants better for us. Those truths aren’t just for the ACNA, they are for all His people.

I hear bandied about that these storms mark the end of the ACNA, that they are a death blow. Are they? I can’t answer that with anymore certainty than anyone else possibly could. But here is what I do know—with certainty: God is calling us to repentance and reform. Not someone out there, us.

Another thing I do know with clear and certain conviction—we are not called to worry about our future. That is not for us, that is in God’s hands. We are not called to make decisions to try to preserve ourselves. We are called to do what is right in this situation, in this moment, in this storm.

I do think, however, that there are real goods in our common life that, focusing on doing what is right, point toward us coming through these storms and into, at long last, a season of performing, or,
in more biblical language, bearing fruit.

All around the ACNA—just like you all around our diocese—are strong, healthy, thriving parishes. Parishes served by good clergy. Our dioceses are led by bishops who love the Lord and are working hard to do what’s right. We’ve made serious missteps in the past, but much has been learned and many changes have been made. Even now, we are making significant changes to our Canons.

In my conversations with my fellow bishops, the need for repentance and change (change being the
mark of true repentance) is a shared commitment. We are working hard to weather these storms as
we remember that God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Brothers and sisters, in this storm season, pray. Pray for the victims. They have endured much up to
this point and will endure more as this process unfolds. Matters like this are fraught with difficulty.
Pray for the Archbishop. Pray for the Church. Pray for repentance and change, wisdom and courage,
and the fortitude to do what is right, no matter the cost.

Blessings,

–The Rt. Rev Chip Edgar is Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina

Chip Edgar Elected Bishop Coadjutor of the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina https://t.co/gsHql69b1g #religion #lowcountrylife #parishministry #bishops pic.twitter.com/p7c6QBsfsM

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) October 16, 2021

The allegations against both men have turned a spotlight on a denomination founded 16 years ago by conservatives who separated from the Episcopal Church over its confirmation of an openly gay bishop. Now, the Anglican Church in North America — which considers itself a “province” of a global network of orthodox Anglican churches — faces its own internal crisis over alleged misconduct by top leaders.

The charges against Ruch are outlined in two presentments, formal accusations that specify which church laws or “canons” he allegedly violated. The presentments accuse him of multiple transgressions, including “scandalous” conduct, habitual neglect of duties, disobedience to church canons, and violating the vows he made when he was ordained. Ultimately, the allegations illuminate a dilemma facing houses of worship: Should religious sanctuaries that cater to families exclude people with histories of violence and sexual misconduct or welcome anyone?

One presentment — submitted by a mix of more than 40 lay members and clergy — accuses Ruch of allowing multiple men with troubling incidents in their past to worship or hold staff or other roles, including leadership positions, in the denomination’s Upper Midwest Diocese. The men have been convicted or accused of violent or sexual misconduct, or forced out of a job for inappropriate behavior, the complaint said. Ruch, the presentment charges, “acted with negligence towards the sheep entrusted to his care, creating opportunities for wolves to devour and scatter Christ’s flock.”

Read it all.

Today, our second piece on the Anglican Church in North America. A secret church trial. A bishop, Stewart Ruch, accused of allowing a child sex offender, a man accused of attempted 2nd degree murder into his diocese. Gift link here: https://t.co/dY74zkFCmx

— Ian Shapira (@ianshapira) October 24, 2025

Though the complainants were numerous enough to meet the canonical threshold for making a formal complaint, their charges are in limbo. One complainant, the Rev. Rob Sturdy, told the Post that after the sworn complaint was submitted, the ACNA’s provincial office returned it, asking all 11 complainants to sign again with an additional statement of attestation to their allegations’ truth “under penalties of perjury.”

Sturdy said the complainant group refuses to comply, calling it a “noncanonical requirement” that “attempt[s] to intimidate our signatories with potential legal action.”

An ACNA spokesperson told TLC that Dr. Tiffany Butler, director of safeguarding and canonical affairs, made the demand, calling it “the typical standard for any ‘sworn statement’ and the standard applied to other presentments received under this administration.”

“However, Chancellor Bill Nelson, in consultation with the College of Bishops, has acknowledged that no rigid formulation of the oath is required and, in particular, that it does not need to include the phrase ‘under penalties of perjury.’ Our hope is to have resolution on this matter as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said.

Read it all.

New for @Livng_Church: ACNA Archbishop Steve Wood is accused of making sexual advances toward a staff member at his South Carolina church, as well as financial impropriety, plagiarism, and bullying.https://t.co/TBBMcDfszU

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) October 24, 2025

“Unfortunately, the problems at the highest levels of the ACNA are deeper, wider and more entrenched than many of its own parishioners realize,” said Andrew Gross, an Anglican priest who was the Anglican Church’s communications director from 2013 until early this year. “The ACNA has never before had to deal with serious allegations of misconduct by the archbishop. This is a crisis without precedent, and how these concerns are handled will determine the future trajectory of the denomination and its credibility.”

A denomination spokeswoman, Kate Harris, said the church could not comment on the accusations against Wood, but she noted that the alleged misconduct predates his tenure as archbishop. She added that once the complaint is “validated as a presentment,” a Board of Inquiry will determine whether it warrants an ecclesiastical trial.

Claire Buxton, 42, the former children’s ministry director at St. Andrew’s who accused Wood of trying to kiss her, said that the alleged advance came after numerous church employees remarked upon Wood’s “excessive praise and fondness” for her.

“I was in shock,” said Buxton, a divorced mother of three sons. Her issues with Wood, she added, are symptomatic of the denomination’s wider problems. “It’s just bizarre to me how far we — the Anglican Church in North America and its leadership — have gotten away from basic morals and principles.”

Read it all.

I’ve been working all year on a series of investigative stories about leaders in the Anglican Church in North America. This morning, the second piece was published —about accusations of alleged sexual misconduct, bullying by archbishop Stephen Wood. https://t.co/4IOYv8Yrvs

— Ian Shapira (@ianshapira) October 23, 2025

The Alliance network has been encouraging incumbents who are unhappy with the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process to make known their church’s willingness to withdraw from Church of England structures.

Behind the scenes, the Alliance — a network of church organisations opposed to the changes brought by the LLF process — has been encouraging incumbents to persuade their PCCs to pass a resolution stating that, if the Church of England moves forward with either stand-alone services or clergy same-sex marriage, the parish will take at least one of a set of actions. Those include: seeking “alternative episcopal oversight”, a decision to “reroute their diocesan financial contributions”, and moves to “encourage ordinands to participate in an orthodox vocations programme”.

On Wednesday afternoon, the House of Bishops announced that full synodical approval would be required for either standalone services or clergy same-sex marriage, effectively stalling LLF (News, 15 October). The Bishops also announced that, as a result, they did not consider it necessary to develop any model of alternative episcopal oversight.

Read it all.

Exclusive from @PhrancisMartin: the Alliance network has been encouraging incumbents who are unhappy with the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process to make known their church’s willingness to withdraw from Church of England structures. https://t.co/EGumMC3ZNk pic.twitter.com/pHAEN3Ovwn

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) October 16, 2025

The announcement of the choice of the Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mallally, to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury has been accompanied by frequent references to the Archbishop of Canterbury as the ‘head of the Church of England’ or the ‘head of the Anglican Communion.’  In this post I shall explain why both of these statements are misleading, what roles the Archbishop of Canterbury actually has in the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, and the implications of the fact that these roles are very limited.

What do we mean by ‘head?’

When thinking about these topics, the first thing we need to be clear about is what we mean when we say that someone is the ‘head’ of something. When we use the word head in this connection we are using analogical language. An analogy is being drawn between the role of the head (and more specifically what is inside the head, the brain) in the human body and the role of an individual in a particular organisation.

The analogy is between the role of the brain in determining how a human body shall act and the role of an individual in determining what happens in an organisation. Calling some the head in this way (as in the terms ‘head of state,’ ‘head teacher’ and ‘head of the armed forces’ ) means that they are the person who has the authority and ability to govern the life of the state, the school, or the armed forces. They have the right to say what will happen.

By extension, when it is said that the Archbishop of Canterbury is head of the Church of England or the Anglican Communion, what is being claimed is that the Archbishop of Canterbury has a similar governing authority over these bodies. The problem with this claim is that it is untrue for three reasons.

Read it all.

Martin Davie–'The…problem with this statement is that the idea that the Church of England does not have a ‘straightforward statement of doctrine’ is simply untrue. The Church of England does have a straightforward statement of its doctrine, and this is found in the Thirty Nine… pic.twitter.com/8jtUCwrQDb

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 21, 2024

A letter of legal claim has been sent to St Andrew the Great, Cambridge (formerly the Round Church), on behalf of seven Zimbabwean victims of John Smyth. It alleges that senior clergy and church officers “orchestrated a cover-up that enabled Smyth to continue abusing boys for decades”.

The letter, sent by Leigh Day Solicitors, argues that the failure to report Smyth’s abuse in the UK between 1982 and 1984 “directly led to his relocation to Zimbabwe, where he continued to prey on vulnerable boys”.

The claimants are six men who say that they were abused as teenagers at Christian holiday camps run by Smyth in Zimbabwe, and the mother of Guide Nyachuru, a 16-year-old boy whose body was found in a swimming pool at one of Smyth’s camps in 1992. The abuse included forced nudity, beatings with table tennis and jokari bats, indecent exposure, groping, and intrusive conversations about masturbation.

Smyth, described in a review by Keith Makin last year as “arguably, the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England” (News, 8 November 2024), moved to Zimbabwe in August 1984 and began to run holiday camps in the country. The move followed the completion in 1982 of a report by the Revd Mark Ruston, then Vicar of the Round Church, commissioned after a British Smyth victim grew so fearful of beatings that he tried to take his own life.

Read it all.

Letter alleges that senior clergy and church officers ‘orchestrated a cover-up that enabled Smyth to continue abusing boys for decades’ https://t.co/yqWhzbyyjl

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 7, 2025

I will take comments on this submitted by email only to KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.

You may listen directly here:

Or you may download it there.

“Prayer is like breathing. It is the air in which we survive spiritually.” – Elisabeth Elliot

Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. Psalm 55:17#elisabethelliot #prayer #christianbooks #faithful #spiritual pic.twitter.com/PYl0bzoDrN

— Elisabeth Elliot (@EElliotFdn) September 24, 2025

Or you may watch it here:

mages from the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and its aftermath are forever seared in the mind of Israel Pochtar. 

Pochtar, a pastor at Congregation Beit Hallel in the city of Ashdod, Israel, recalled the early-morning sirens that jolted him awake and sent him peering through the windows of his apartment on the 30th floor. He watched rocket after rocket fire from Gaza, 23 miles to the south. Smoke billowed from buildings in nearby Ashkelon. 

He turned to social media and saw videos of Hamas terrorists killing Israeli police officers. He thought it was fake news. 

Only after seeing news reports of Hamas brutally murdering more than a dozen elderly Israelis who had gathered for a trip to the Dead Sea did he comprehend the unfolding horror: 1,200 dead and 251 taken hostage, with evidence of rape, torture, and entire families burned alive. 

As he drove one of his sons to a nearby military base to report for duty as part of a massive call-up, he saw fear and confusion in the eyes of soldiers. “No one was smiling, and no one was making jokes,” Pochtar noted. He prayed for his son, said goodbye, and burst into tears. 

Then he began identifying ways his church could serve a fearful and broken population. 

Read it all.

Two years after October 7, churches in Israel and Egypt continue to provide food, aid, and a listening ear to those scarred by the Israel-Hamas war.https://t.co/VfDE4T2Zn1

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) October 7, 2025

After months of speculation, the Church of England has finally appointed a new Archbishop of Canterbury. The first woman in the post, she is the current Bishop of London and as such has already played a senior role in the Church for several years.

Her theological training and ministerial experience are minimal. She was enrolled on a local ordination course rather than at a theological college and served a couple of part-time curacies before being very briefly rector of a parish church. She was soon promoted to the episcopate as suffragan bishop of Crediton, but her main achievement appears to be that she was a competent administrator in the National Health Service. Is a track record like that promising for a future Archbishop of Canterbury?

The short answer must be no.

Read it all

💬"Everybody in the Church of England will be polite to her, but few will listen to whatever she has to say…"

📢Gerald Bray on the announcement that Sarah Mullally is to be the new Archbishop of Canterbury: https://t.co/ZKEEYPdOoT

— Evangelicals Now (@EvangelicalsNow) October 3, 2025