C. Alan Runyan, the Provincial Prosecutor for the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), resigned effective 18 July 2025, in the midst of the high-profile trial of the Rt. Rev. Stewart Ruch III, bishop of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest.
In a letter addressed to the Most Rev. Stephen D. Wood, Mr. Runyan expressed “great regret and deep spiritual sadness,” citing “irredeemable taint” introduced into the trial process by a member of the ecclesiastical court who, according to Runyan, improperly questioned witnesses and drew on materials not entered into evidence.
In his letter to Archbishop Wood, Runyan detailed that the court member’s actions introduced “unwarranted suspicion of provincial investigative bias” and violated the court’s own previous order to keep focus strictly on the charges against Bishop Ruch, rather than the prior investigative process. He stated that attempts were made to cast doubt on the investigation itself, even though no evidence of impropriety had been presented in the trial record.
The prosecutor stressed that “a trial process that bears within it the seed of impropriety, no matter the outcome, must change,” and called for the full, redacted trial transcript to be made available both to any successor prosecutor and to the broader church for transparency. Runyan concluded by expressing his sorrow at the development and a hope for God’s glorification in the ultimate outcome.