(To Be Shared as Helpful)
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We are writing to you today in response to the Provincial newsletter that was sent out on September 28. The very last issue addressed in this email under the heading of “Follow-up from Provincial Council” was the chancellor-led inquiry that ended prematurely. The following timeline sets yesterday’s announcement in its proper context and reveals an ongoing issue with transparency in our province.

February 20, 2026 – The ADOSC Standing Committee sent a letter to the Executive Committee of the ACNA expressing certain concerns about the lack of transparency in the proceedings and Final Order  in the ecclesiastical trial of Bishop Stewart Ruch. The letter includes a request for the release of the complete transcript of the trial and pretrial proceedings, with appropriate protections of the identities of abuse victims or victims advocates.
March 20, 2026 – Executive Committee responds to the ADOSC Standing Committee letter that it does not have the power to compel the Court to action. In response to our request for the release of the transcript of the trial and proceedings They make no further recommendation, except to contact the Clerk of Court directly.

“The Executive Committee is unable to order the release of trial transcripts, video recordings, motions, and other court documents, as you requested. The Court for the Trial of a Bishop is an independent body elected directly by the Provincial Council and is not under the jurisdiction or direction of the Executive Committee.”

May 4, 2026 – In an email, the Clerk of Court denies the Standing Committee’s request for access to the transcript, and says the College of Bishops will receive the transcript and has the authority to distribute it further.

May 5, 2026 – the Provincial Dean, Provincial Chancellor, and members of the Executive Committee meet with the Standing Committee of the ADOSC and encourage the submission of two resolutions to the Provincial Council regarding the release of the Ruch Trial transcript and the release of the final report of the ongoing Lathrup Investigation. Subsequently, two resolutions are submitted and also endorsed by the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.

June 18, 2026 – At Provincial Council, an agreement is reached between the Rt. Rev. David Bryan, President of the Court, with the Rt. Rev. Chip Edgar and the Rt. Rev Chris Warner, Bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, to withdraw the two resolutions in exchange for the formation of a Chancellor’s Panel to conduct a third-party mediated inquiry of the Ruch proceedings. During Provincial Council, the motions are withdrawn and the inquiry is announced.

“I want to say that I fully support this proposed action. Please understand that the court in no way wants to hide its work. In fact, I think Bishop Chip’s algebra teacher would be pleased that we showed our work to the entire College of Bishops. And they’ve been able to review the full transcript. What we’re concerned about is protecting the dignity of the people who participated in the proceedings and honoring the commitments of confidentiality which we had with all of the people that participated in those proceedings. I’m very thankful that we have worked out a way to approach these issues relationally to come together and to have the opportunity to ask questions and to answer questions that I pray will build trust in our province.” – Bp. David Bryan, remarks during Provincial Council, Afternoon Session.

August 21, 2026 – The established Chancellor’s Panel writes to the Executive Committee and the Bishops involved in the agreement stating they could not conduct their work because the Court will not execute the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the work of the Chancellor’s Panel, and will not provide access to the transcript.

“At the end of July 2026, we were provided information indicating that the Court for the Trial of a Bishop will not execute the proposed MOU or provide us access to the Record of the Trial Court in the Ruch matter. As of this writing, that remains our understanding. Accordingly, we are unable at this time to complete the task requested of us.” (see below)

August 24-26, 2026 – Bp. Bryan asks Bp. Ruch and both parties’ counsel to consent to the Chancellors’ inquiry. On all accounts, consent is not granted. Bp. Bryan declares the inquiry is over. (see below)

August 29, 2026 – Despite Bp. Dobbs’ involvement in the establishment of the MOU, Bp. Dobbs and the Executive Committee write to all involved stating they have no oversight over the inquiry and that they understand the issue is closed. – Email from Ms. Deborah Tepley (see below)

September 28, 2026 – The Provincial Office reports that the College of Bishops was informed that:

“…despite good-faith efforts on all sides, the parties were unable to agree on protocols for the panel’s work that would both address the questions raised by the two dioceses and satisfy the Court’s interest in protecting its independence. This effort has therefore concluded.” (see below)

 
With great concern for our province and with hope for greater transparency, we believe that the provincial announcement about the end of the Chancellor’s Inquiry is an insufficient explanation. The encouragement, endorsement, and subsequent announcement of an inquiry by agreed upon and experienced diocesan chancellors with access to all records was a sign of hope for transparency. With its retraction, we are left wondering how trust will be built unless there is follow-through. Before the Ruch trial concluded, the court itself volunteered to “issue its findings and all of the evidence that supports those findings in an order, appropriately redacted where necessary to protect vulnerable individuals” (Response to Resignation Letter, July 23, 2025). We ask only that they would keep their word. Yet we do not lose heart, for we are convinced that all things are possible through our Lord Jesus Christ. Please join us in prayer for the Anglican Church in North America, the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, and our shared mission for the spread of the Gospel.

  With unwavering hope,

  The Standing Committee of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina.
 
Executive Committee Response, March 20, 2026

Bp. David Bryan, remarks during Provincial Council, Afternoon Session, Thursday, June 18 2026

Chancellor’s Panel Status Report, August 21, 2026

Email from Bp. Bryan, August 26, 2026

Email from Ms. Deborah Tepley, August 29, 2026

College of Bishops Recap email, Sept 28, 2026

A Clergy Update from the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Standing Committee https://t.co/HXIKcHdUJD #acna #ethics #duprocess #justice #transparency #accountability TK pic.twitter.com/AtymQy8foR

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) October 1, 2026

In short, The Death of Religion? insists that religion is not dying; it’s merely changing. Christianity may be declining in the West but it’s growing elsewhere. “The fastest-growing areas of Christianity are in the Global South,” the authors state, “particularly sub-Saharah Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.” For those who are Christians, this is an important reminder that the work of God continues throughout the world, with Christianity continuing to advance in many places—and this is reason to celebrate.

In fact, Johnson and Kidd project that Pentecostals will continue to experience significant growth and may surpass a billion adherents by 2050, asserting that in this competitive religion economy, these are the groups that have managed to thrive. And while there are good reasons to criticize the consumeristic mindset of some Christian groups, “at some basic level, churches still have to account for congregants’ perceived needs.” Pentecostal congregations, apparently, do just that.

The authors acknowledge, however, that “the most salient story of Christian decline in American history has been the shocking collapse of the mainline denominations since the 1960’s.” They discuss the decline of several different denominations in American and around the world. The Methodist church, for example, has been deteriorating in the U.S. since the 1960s, but globally the denomination is doing very well. The Episcopal Church has a similar story. The denomination has not died yet, but “it is about as close to death as a well-heeled, historically influential denomination can get in contemporary America.” But like Methodism, the worldwide Anglican church, of which the Episcopal Church in America is but one part, appears to be growing in the Global South, and conservative Anglicans have formed new denominational structures such as the Anglican Church in North America that are trying to partner with like-minded groups around the world.

Read it all.

Is religion dying?

It's easy to think so, but the story is more complicated.

A new book by sociologist Byron Johnson and historian @ThomasSKidd argues that the decline of religion has been greatly overstated. @sopresley reviews "The Death of Religion?" and explores why… pic.twitter.com/qXrsphf7TQ

— Acton Institute (@ActonInstitute) September 30, 2026

Three in 10 Americans (31%) think a college education is “very important,” four percentage points below last year’s reading, the previous low among the seven times Gallup has asked this question since 1978. As recently as 2013, more than twice as many U.S. adults (70%) said college was very important.

At the same time, the percentage of U.S. adults who say a college education is “not too important” has risen from 6% in 2013 to 29% today, while the percentage saying it is “fairly important” has increased from 23% to 39%.

In the earliest years of Gallup’s trend on this question, those considering a college education to be very important increased sharply from 36% in 1978 to 64% by 1985. In the past decade, the perceived importance of college has plummeted, with those saying it is very important now slightly below its 1978 starting point.

This year, Gallup’s Aug. 3-24 poll finds that the percentage of U.S. adults viewing college as “not too important” nearly matches those rating it “very important.” The 64-point gap between them in 2013 has shrunk to just two points today.

Read it all.

EDITORIAL | WHY WE’RE LOSING TRUST IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The American public is losing trust in the institution of higher education. This trend has made headlines since 2015 — when Gallup first began tracking the issue — and the discourse seems to be revived with every follow-up… pic.twitter.com/YvalzxZPcY

— FXHedge (@Fxhedgers) October 1, 2026

O Gracious Father, who didst call thy servant Therese to a life of fervent prayer; Give unto us the spirit of prayer and zeal for the ministry of the Gospel, that the love of Christ may be known throughout all the world; through the same, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Doctor of the Church: having entered the Carmelite monastery at Lisieux when still young, she became a teacher of holiness in Christ through her innocence and simplicity of life. She taught the way to Christian perfection through spiritual… pic.twitter.com/cJLXGi8dOK

— U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (@USCCB) October 1, 2026

Lord Jesus Christ, who by precept and example hast taught us that the greatest of all is the servant of all, and that the humble shall be exalted: Make us content to take the lowest place; and if it shall please thee to call us higher, do thou preserve within us a simple and lowly spirit; to thy great glory.

—Daily Prayer, Eric Milner-White and G. W. Briggs, eds. (London: Penguin Books 1959 edition of the 1941 original)

Annual pilgrimage to see the larches in the Canadian Rockies!

Crisp and snowy this year. pic.twitter.com/wegibT8Pa5

— Kyle Brittain (@BadWeatherKyle) October 1, 2026

On a sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath?” And Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of man is lord of the sabbath.” On another sabbath, when he entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And he looked around on them all, and said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

–Luke 6:1-11

High tide on The Gannel and October starting like this! 🌅👌#Cornwall #StormHour #ThursdayVibes #Sunrise pic.twitter.com/YibN01Qbu0

— Kate 🏄‍♀️🌊🤙〓〓🏴‍☠️🤿🪼⛵️⚓️🌅 (@CornwallK8) October 1, 2026

The meaning of death, dust, and of the grave, is transformed, although none of these is taken away. A collect from the Office of compline puts this well: by resting in the sepulchre, Christ “sanctified the grave to be for us a bed of hope”. All that finds its most profound expression in baptism, which is a redemptive entering into the death and burial of Christ, that we might die to sin, and share in his resurrection.

That is rather an upbeat — although entirely serious — approach to salvation: it is a vivification, a sharing in life. Barth also thought about the burial in terms of sin and salvation in a more sombre tone. Christ’s burial, he wrote, showed us God’s attitude to sin: that “there is nothing else to be done with sinful man, except to bury him and forget him.”

Here is not the comforting idea of God as keeping company with us in death. Here, rather, is God’s fierce anger dealing with sin itself. God puts our sinful humanity in the ground with a terrible finality. He does not accommodate himself to sin: he destroys and buries it. Again, baptism makes this clear: there is something about us — our sin, our guilt, the “old man” (or woman: Romans 6.6) — which does not make it out of the baptismal font.

Read it all.

Theology Matters: The Gospel 📖 in All of the Creed: Andrew Davison continues his occasional series #Faith #ChurchTimes @AP_Davison https://t.co/JAu4AGf1v1

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 28, 2026

A global campaign has been launched to raise money to protect the “at-risk” cathedral ruins in Coventry.

The original medieval Cathedral of St Michael was built between the late 14th and 15th centuries, but nearly 500 years later, it was destroyed during the Coventry blitz in 1940.

Cathedral leaders said the ruins were never designed to be exposed to the elements and that both the remains and the spire were beginning to deteriorate.

Read it all.

Race to save cathedral ruins as campaign launches https://t.co/DIjcaLt0Ui

— BBC Midlands (@bbcmtd) September 29, 2026

Thirty years ago in Seattle, I was sad to see a homeless man sleeping in a park at the top level of a double slide. It was a nice playground—I could imagine little brothers enjoying a race down that slide—but as things were, parents and kids stayed away. 

What I witnessed then was nothing compared to what Michael Powell recently reported in The Atlantic about that same park today: 

As I arrived, a drug user squatted next to a child’s slide and relieved himself. Others had set up tents and colonized the park pavilion, where they heated fentanyl on tinfoil and inhaled the fumes with glass pipes. A few went old-school and injected it.

Likewise, I remember Burlington, Vermont, as a beautiful city. But Powell reported the view from City Hall now: “At least 70 users and dealers, many looking hyperkinetic in the way of the strung out.” 

He quoted Shabnam Nolan of the King Street Center, where poor children get tutoring: Why does drug users’ “right to ‘dignity’ violate children’s right to come to our center without seeing blood and needles?”

The Burlington Mayor’s Office website warbles about “harm reduction,” which means opening a $2 million center (with funding from the state legislature) so addicts can use their drugs in private. And yet, Powell talked with one mother of three young children who has a fentanyl dealer for a next-door neighbor. “Everyone talks about needle exchange and harm reduction,” she said. “I mean, okay. But it’s like my children and I are living in the zombie apocalypse.”

Read it all.

What Went Wrong in America’s Addiction Recovery Policy?

From west to east, many cities are enabling the slow suicide of vulnerable people. How did we get here?https://t.co/AwLD8K0Zkn

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) September 30, 2026

The federal government’s budget deficit is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue; in 2026 that is projected to be $2.1 trillion. The government’s budget debt is the total amount owed to creditors; in 2026 that is projected to be $32 trillion. Those are big numbers. If you personally owed someone $32 trillion, you (and your creditor) might be a bit concerned. 

Obviously, the U.S. government has more resources than you do, so we need a different gauge. The most often-used measure compares the size of the debt to GDP, which measures the total amount of production in the country. The CBO estimates that in 2026, the debt-to-GDP ratio will be around 101 percent. (The only time it was higher—106 percent—was at the end of World War II.) If the U.S. government wanted to pay off its entire debt right now, it would need all of the income generated in the entire economy this year. That seems very alarming until you remember that the government doesn’t have to pay off its entire debt this year. If you have a home mortgage, it is likely that the value of your debt exceeds your current income, but you aren’t worried because you do not have to pay off the entire debt today. 

Nevertheless, when the size of government debt is equal to the size of the GDP, many people get worried. Reinhart and Rogoff, for example, showed that when debt-to-GDP ratios are higher than 90 percent, economic problems arise. But a country with the economic size and power of the current United States can presumably weather a higher ratio than the norm. Theoretically, there is a debt-to-GDP ratio that will create problems even in the largest economy in the world, but we have no way of precisely determining that limit from the experience of smaller countries in the past. 

While it is hard to estimate the effect of the existing debt-to-GDP ratio, the trajectory of that ratio is noteworthy.

Read it all.

Bad news – we cannot grow our way out of the debt. pic.twitter.com/5fWs28zRIX

— Marc Goldwein (@MarcGoldwein) September 24, 2026

O Lord, thou God of truth, whose Word is a lantern to our feet and a light upon our path: We give thee thanks for thy servant Jerome, and those who, following in his steps, have labored to render the Holy Scriptures in the language of the people; and we beseech thee that thy Holy Spirit may overshadow us as we read the written Word, and that Christ, the living Word, may transform us according to thy righteous will; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Church celebrates St Jerome, the remarkable 4th/5th-century priest who devoted his life to studying, translating, and commenting on the Bible; patron saint of those who study, translate and teach the Scriptures: https://t.co/0gj2ljxrxy pic.twitter.com/oEcMKXVbwB

— SMCDSB Faith Matters (@SMCDSB_Faith) September 30, 2026

Blessed Lord, who putteth down the mighty from their seat and exaltest those of low degree: Save us, we beseech thee, from pride and vainglory, from self-seeking and false ambition.  Give us a humble and contrite spirit, that we may think less of ourselves, more of others, and most of all of thee, who art our mighty God and Saviour; to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit we ascribe all praise and glory, now and for evermore.

Today me and a friend took a ride up to our beautiful White Mountain National Forest in NH. Kinsman’s Notch, Franconia Notch, Bretton Woods. Colors peaking and absolutely spectacular! Photos don’t do it justice. pic.twitter.com/nidTmL0XOh

— Mary Ann Pumilia (@FreebornMaryAnn) September 29, 2026

Wine and new wine
take away the understanding.
My people inquire of a thing of wood,
and their staff gives them oracles.
For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the harlot.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains,
and make offerings upon the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.

Therefore your daughters play the harlot,
and your brides commit adultery.
I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with harlots,
and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,
and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.

Though you play the harlot, O Israel,
let not Judah become guilty.
Enter not into Gilgal,
nor go up to Beth-a′ven,
and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?

E′phraim is joined to idols,
let him alone.
A band of drunkards, they give themselves to harlotry;
they love shame more than their glory.
A wind has wrapped them in its wings,
and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.

–Hosea 4:11-19

Good morning from the tip of Africa and heading for 32°C. #sunrise 06:23 pic.twitter.com/4lwJwbK4y6

— Judy Stevens (@JudeStevens) September 30, 2026

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) has once again rejected proposals for prayers and liturgy to be developed for same-sex couples, despite pleas from its outgoing Archbishop, Dr Thabo Makgoba.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in South Africa since 2006. A motion from the diocese of False Bay, in Western Cape, asked the Church’s Provincial Synod, which met in Benoni, Ekurhuleni last week, to develop prayers for couples in same-sex unions. The motion was lost by seven votes, 78-71, with ten abstentions.

Dr Makgoba, who has been Primate since 2008, has called repeatedly for the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. He appealed to the Synod: “We pray for trees, we pray for cars, we pray for avocados!”

A second motion, from the diocese of Johannesburg, proposed compiling a separate liturgy to serve what it called the “grave pastoral need” of the LGBTQ+ community, but this was also lost.

Read it all.

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa 🇿🇦 has again rejected two proposals for special prayers and liturgy to be developed for same-sex couples, despite pleas from its outgoing Archbishop, Dr Thabo Makgoba. #ChurchNews #ChurchTimes https://t.co/I7xTdsLljH

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 28, 2026

America’s landscape is undergoing one of the largest transformations in decades. The country houses nearly 100 hyperscale data centers, which consume at least 100 megawatts of power at peak operation — enough to power about 80,000 homes.

There are another 120 under construction, according to Cleanview, a market intelligence company tracking data center development. Four hundred and sixty more are planned. Roughly 40 percent of today’s hyperscale data centers were built on previously developed land. The rest took over farmland, shrubland and forest.

Data centers have existed for years but have never been quite this large. “Traditionally it’s just one building situated in an urban area,” Adams said. Now, hyperscalers start with one building and then expand to “two, three, four, five, six buildings.” Meta is constructing a data center campus called Hyperion on a tract of land in rural Louisiana that will dwarf Manhattan’s Central Park. The project is huge but may soon be overtaken. If all the data centers currently planned are built on schedule, according to Cleanview’s data, by 2030 the Hyperion campus will rank only at No. 5 in the U.S. by square footage.

Read it all.

America’s landscape is undergoing one of the largest transformations in decades.

To meet the insatiable demand for computer processing to power AI, tech companies and their developers nationwide are building ever-larger data centers. https://t.co/dGFucHTl8D

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 28, 2026

Some computations are so hardcore that it takes a facility of extraordinary power to even think about running them.

These are the supercomputers – massive facilities humming with the corpulence of their GPUs and CPUs, crunching applications that would take a desktop computer hundreds to thousands of years.

A commercially accessible quantum computer has just accomplished a feat that suggests this newer technology could one day leave supercomputers in the dust.

In just 19 seconds, IBM’s Nighthawk r2 processor generated a million samples – a task estimated to take a supercomputer around 110 years.

Read it all.

A Quantum Computer Just Did in 19 Seconds What Could Take a Supercomputer 110 Years https://t.co/sdqaoE9yKO

— Randy Kemp (@randylewiskemp) September 29, 2026

‘Believers, look up—take courage. The angels are nearer than you think. For after all (as we have already noted), God has given “his angels charge of you, to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11–12 RSV)’.

–Billy Graham, Angels: God’s Secret Agents (New York: Doubleday, 1975)

For #Michaelmas – the feast of St Michael and All Angels – we wanted to share this censing angel on the wall of the Abbey's south transept. Carved in the 1250s, it was originally richly coloured and gilded and is among the most important examples of English medieval sculpture of… pic.twitter.com/jMzzYZlOKv

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) September 29, 2026

O everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the ministries of angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant that, as thy holy angels always serve and worship thee in heaven, so by thy appointment they may help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

We're celebrating the Feast of St Michael and All Angels at our services today. Everyone is welcome to join us for Sung Eucharist at 5:00pm (BST), whether in the Abbey or via our livestream.

You can find out more and watch the service either live or on demand at:… pic.twitter.com/6xt2XENfQO

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) September 29, 2026

O God, grant that looking upon the face of the Lord, as into a glass, we may be changed into His likeness, from glory to glory. Take out of us all pride and vanity, boasting and forwardness; and give us the true courage which shows itself by gentleness; the true wisdom which shows itself by simplicity; and the true power which shows itself by modesty.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

WOW! Amazing fall foliage seen during the nor’easter this past weekend from Keene, New York. Photo courtesy of @TommyHornWX1 #Foliage #NYwx pic.twitter.com/GPM71tTeXq

— Mark Tarello (@mark_tarello) September 28, 2026

Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel; for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds and murder follows murder. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air; and even the fish of the sea are taken away. Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. You shall stumble by day, the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways, and requite them for their deeds. They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the harlot, but not multiply; because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish harlotry.

–Hosea 4:1-10

Beautiful 😍 Autumn in Engerdal 🍁🍂 Photo Hilde Haugen Nordgård #Norway #nature pic.twitter.com/mlPL2bCS1W

— Elusive Moose (@elusive_moose) September 29, 2026

(Via email from the provincial office; KSH).

The College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America gathered in Plano, Texas, September 21-25, 2026, for its fall meeting. Bishop Julian M. Dobbs, Dean of the Province and Interim Ecclesiastical Authority, presided. The bishops met to worship together, discern God’s leading in their Gospel calling, and seek clarity on key matters facing the Church.

Bishop Paul Donison hosted the College at Christ Church Plano, Texas and provided Bible teaching for the week.

An Overview

Elections

Bishop Ryan Reed, who has been serving as Interim Bishop of the Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast, announced that the Great Plains Missionary District will join the Diocese and that the Diocese will elect a new bishop this fall.

In accordance with the processes for episcopal elections, the College of Bishops has given consent to the Very Rev. Canon Dr. Kris McDaniel as a candidate for election as Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others (C4SO). The diocese is now empowered to move forward with the election of this candidate under its own processes. Should Canon McDaniel be elected by C4SO, his election will be brought before the College of Bishops, which will then consider whether to give its consent.

The College also consented to the election of a Bishop Coadjutor for the Diocese of Mid-America (REC).

Holy Orders and Ordination

The College reviewed the history of the Province’s efforts to address the issue of women’s ordination. This review included a recorded interview with Archbishop Emeritus Bob Duncan discussing the decision agreed at the founding of the Province in 2009. Under that settlement, each diocese is free to determine its own practice concerning the ordination of women to the diaconate and the priesthood, and the College remains united that women will not be consecrated to the episcopate. The College also reviewed the 2017 report of the Theological Task Force on Holy Orders and the Victoria Statement adopted unanimously by the College later that year. In the report, the College was asked to take up certain matters, and in the Victoria Statement, the College committed itself to further work. This historical review was significant, considering that more than half of the members of the College were consecrated after 2017. The College has now agreed to consider the matters requested by the Task Force and to take up the commitments it made in 2017.

Custodia Fidei – Faith and Order

The Dean announced the establishment of Custodia Fidei, the guardianship of the faith, a standing body of the College to receive and respond to questions of doctrine, sacramental practice, ecclesial relationships and ministerial order. Its work rests on the chief work given to the College in Article X.1 of the Constitution, the propagation and defense of the Faith and Order of the Church. Under the Archbishop’s oversight, Custodia Fidei will consider the matters requested by the College for their consideration.

Minimum Ordination Standards

The College received an update from the Working Group charged with recommending minimum standards for ordination and examination that could apply to all dioceses and jurisdictions in the ACNA. Its recommendations will be forwarded to a Bishops Committee on Ordination Standards. Minimum ordination standards will help communicate the Province’s commitments and expectations to seminaries preparing clergy for ordination in the ACNA, and will help unite the Province in its core theological, liturgical, and sacramental commitments.

Safeguarding

Deacon Dr. Kelley Munger gave an update on her ongoing work supporting dioceses as they prepare to implement the revised Title IV disciplinary canons, which take effect January 1, 2027. She also reported on the Province’s partnership with Trinity Anglican Seminary and the American Anglican Council to develop training tracks for the safeguarding, investigation, proctor, and tribunal roles set out in the canons.

Bishops have been asked to complete a periodic episcopal audit, which includes a 360-degree review drawing on input from diocesan executive teams, standing committee members, clergy, staff, ministry partners, and, if married, the bishop’s wife.

Mission

The College explored key missional opportunities for the Province, including the launch of Anglican Campus Fellowship, church planting, and leadership pipeline development. The College is also preparing for Mission Council 2027, a gathering focused on church planting and multiplication and leadership development across the ACNA, to be held June 15-17, 2027, at Wellspring Church in Denver, CO.

Bishop Alan Hawkins gave an update on the clergy financial training and resources the Province is providing to help bishops better care for their clergy.

Bishop Eric Menees gave an update on the work of the Catechesis Task Force, which is developing a Catechist’s Handbook. The Children’s Catechism is in the final stages of review by a Bishops Review Panel and is expected to go to press at Anglican House Publishers in April 2027.

The Global Anglican Communion

Speaking as General Secretary of the Global Anglican Communion (GAC), Bishop Donison briefed the College on current relationships and partnerships around the world, including matters involving the GAC and the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans (GSFA). He plans to meet with the ACNA’s international Ministry Partners and Affiliated Ministries to update them on the Province’s global relationships. The ACNA commends all faithful Anglicans around the world who continue to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

Disciplinary Proceedings

The College announced canonical sentences in two matters.

The College voted unanimously to depose Derek Jones from the Sacred Ministry in response to the decision of the Court for the Trial of a Bishop finding him guilty of four canonical charges related to his conduct toward against chaplains in the Special Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces & Chaplaincy. The College announced that it is “undertaking a process by which chaplains may obtain canonical and pastoral restoration.” Additionally, the College stated, “As part of our collective repentance, we recognize the culture of our College must change and we are seeking to understand how this abuse was allowed to happen.”

The College censured Bishop Chip Edgar of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina for his engagement in a service with a bishop of The Episcopal Church in August 2026. A censure is a formal reprimand. The College expressed it deep gratitude for Bishop Edgar’s ready repentance and his most Godly example of Christlike humility. The College will develop guidance to bishops, priests, and deacons on engaging with those with whom the ACNA is not in communion.

Report of the Chancellor

The College received a report from the Chancellor of the Province, Mr. Bill Nelson, on legal and canonical matters before the Province and before the Court for the Trial of a Bishop, including the recently concluded trial of Archbishop Steve Wood. The Chancellor briefed the bishops on the status of each matter, the canonical processes that govern them and the steps that remain.

Follow-up from Provincial Council

At Provincial Council in June 2026, the Anglican Dioceses of South Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic reached an agreement with the Court for the Trial of a Bishop to a third-party mediated inquiry into the proceedings of the Court, answering questions related to the Ruch trial transcript.

At its meeting in Plano, the College was informed that, despite good-faith efforts on all sides, the parties were unable to agree on protocols for the panel’s work that would both address the questions raised by the two dioceses and satisfy the Court’s interest in protecting its independence. This effort has therefore concluded.

The creation of this review panel was an independent undertaking of the two dioceses and the Court, and did not involve the Provincial Office.

(ACNA) A Recap of the recently concluded College of Bishops Meeting https://t.co/tk2x0OnJrk ‘Follow-up from Provincial Council

At Provincial Council in June 2026, the Anglican Dioceses of South Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic reached an agreement with the Court for the Trial of a… pic.twitter.com/Wqvf8vZ2EH

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) September 28, 2026

The Rector of St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, in London, the Revd William Taylor, has characterised the bishops of the Church of England as “false teachers” and “clear heretics”, in a sermon published on YouTube last week.

Speaking at St Helen’s on 10 September, Mr Taylor said that it was “quite simply impossible to fathom how a person could get consecrated by a group of bishops who are engaged in any way with the LLF process to move it forward” or remain “in any sense in spiritual fellowship” with them.

He took as his text Titus 3, focusing on St Paul’s injunction to “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.”

“How can you possibly be allowing somebody who is in fellowship with unfaithful, clear heretics to select your future leaders, to train your new church workers, ordain your new deacons and presbyters, and install your new incumbents?” Mr Taylor said.

Read it all.

City of London churches sever ties with bishopshttps://t.co/xTTRIs8g9B via @ChurchTimes

— Glenna Demeter (@Glennademeter) September 25, 2026

A.I. has made the gap between policymaking and technology one of the widest ever, according to more than 20 interviews with lawmakers, technologists and policy experts. Many governments are torn between wanting to harness A.I. and fearing its risks. And they are further mired by national politics, limited technological know-how, geopolitical divisions and reluctance to fall behind in a race that could shape economic power and national security for decades to come.

Many countries are waiting for the two leading A.I. nations — the United States and China — to take a cue from their A.I. policies. Yet in the United States, the Trump administration has been divided over A.I. safety, with President Trump saying regulation would hurt innovation and cede ground to China. China itself has imposed some rules on A.I., especially to censor chatbot content, but also raced ahead with development.

“There’s this assumption that there are adults in the room on this issue, but there are no adults in this room,” said Sean Ó Heigeartaigh, director of the AI: Futures and Responsibility Program at the University of Cambridge, who is a member of a European Union advisory board on A.I. “That is what makes all of this so completely terrifying.”

Read it all.

Since the rise of psychology as a scientific discipline in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there has been no lack of Christian discourse about psychological studies and theories. Christians have vigorously opposed, assiduously incorporated, or fought for compromises with the fast-growing cultural juggernaut that therapy represents, but even the most strident anti-therapy messages have been and are still the other half of a Rorschach blot: defined in opposition to the dominant message. Resistance to therapy culture is not futile, but some assimilation is inevitable.

The greatest danger that therapy culture poses to churches today is not that we will trade out our doctrines wholesale, but that we will define those doctrines only in terms that therapy culture finds acceptable. The best way forward, then, is to tell a story truer than the one on offer from our cultural mythmakers.

In this story, sin is not merely our “brokenness” or “messiness,” but it is the inescapable inclination to hurt ourselves and others by violating the laws that a holy God taught us so that we might live in peace. Our deliverance does not come through conspicuous consumption, rejecting moral strictures, or unvarnished asceticism, but through trusting in the power of Jesus’s death and resurrection. We are not helpless victims understanding ourselves through diagnoses, but we are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit to live free of sin and imitate Christ. A therapeutic culture full of people living to be pleased will falter when compared to a body of believers who live as if sin truly is a deadly illness they have been healed from and hell is a real place they’ve been saved from.

Read it all.

What happens when the language of therapy becomes the language through which Christians understand sin, suffering, and human flourishing? In this piece, Matthew Loftus examines how modern psychology has shaped Christian thinking about the self, and argues that the Church’s task… pic.twitter.com/4xD2u3QFF0

— First Things (@firstthingsmag) September 28, 2026

Heavenly Father, who taught Saint Wenceslaus to place your heavenly Kingdom before an earthly one, even at the cost of his own life, grant us by your Spirit the grace and strength to follow his example and hold fast to you with all our heart, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

28 September 935. Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia since 921, was assassinated. His younger brother, Boleslaus the Cruel, was complicit in the murder. Wenceslaus is now the patron saint of the Czech state and the subject of the well-known Christmas Carol Good King Wenceslas. pic.twitter.com/VUGIcIomAJ

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 28, 2026

O merciful Lord, grant to your faithful people pardon and peace, that we may be cleansed from all our sins and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Early Morning. 12°C and a sunny day to come. Cows on the hill. pic.twitter.com/pSLphRajuB

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) September 28, 2026

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they came to him, he said to them:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you all the time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which befell me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, bound in the Spirit, not knowing what shall befall me there; except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.
But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that all you among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ”˜It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

And when he had spoken thus, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they all wept and embraced Paul and kissed him, sorrowing most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they should see his face no more. And they brought him to the ship.

–Acts 20:17-38

7am Sunrise – Skye Bridge, Kyleakin, Isle of Skye #Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 pic.twitter.com/klBxRZIiHQ

— James MacInnes (@Macinnesplant) September 28, 2026

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Fire in the sky. This morning’s view from the bathroom window after a bit of a late start to the day. @StormHour @ThePhotoHour #Sunrise pic.twitter.com/1E62aVZSJS

— Ian Gee (@IanGee19) September 27, 2026

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness. For we all make many mistakes, and if any one makes no mistakes in what he says he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. If we put bits into the mouths of horses that they may obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Look at the ships also; though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!

And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind, but no human being can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening fresh water and brackish? Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good life let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

–James 3:1-13

Almighty God, who gavest thy servant Lancelot Andrewes the gift of thy holy Spirit and made him a man of prayer and a faithful pastor of thy people: Perfect in us what is lacking of thy gifts, of faith, to increase it, of hope, to establish it, of love, to kindle it, that we may live in the life of thy grace and glory; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

This Day marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Lancelot Andrewes (25 Sept, 1626), bishop of Winchester, classical scholar, and theologian.

Read about his life, and reassessments of his legacy over the four centuries on #ODNB: https://t.co/IWeIHiQsd1 pic.twitter.com/Z1VK8PdAal

— Oxford Academic (@OUPAcademic) September 25, 2026