The church trial of the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) began this week in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.
The Rt. Rev. Steve Wood has been charged with violation of his ordination vows, abuse of church power and sexual immorality.
The 62-year-old Wood was elected the Third Archbishop of the Province of the Anglican Church in North America on June 22, 2024.
That “sexual immorality” includes an accusation of sexual harassment brought against Wood, first reported by the Washington Post in October 2025. The accusation was made by a female staff member of Wood’s parish in Mt. Pleasant.
Allegedly, in addition to unwanted physical advances, Wood is said to have given her more than $3,500 in church funds. Wood is also accused of plagiarizing sermons and bullying his staff.
In November 2025 a second woman came forward alleging sexual harassment by Wood.
“Our young Province finds itself in a challenging and uncomfortable season,” said the man who assumed Wood’s duties, the Rt. Rev. Julian Dobbs. “Our unity, fervor and faith are surely being tested.”
That the leader of a denomination founded in large measure on issues of sexual morality is charged with such behavior is ironic.
A major factor leading to the 2009 creation of the ACNA was the 2003 consecration of an openly gay man, the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, as Bishop of New Hampshire by the Episcopal Church. While Robinson was clearly the most prominent flash point, there were other major points of contention for the more conservative Episcopalians, including the blessing of same-sex unions, changing definitions of marriage and disagreements over the ordination of women.
And Wood’s case is definitely not the first sex-related scandal resulting in the trial of a bishop during the short history of the ACNA.
In 2024 the Rt. Rev. Todd Atkinson was found guilty of four charges: (1) inappropriate relationships with women, (2) interfering in marriage and family relationships, (3) inappropriate interactions with female minors and (4) abuse of ecclesiastical power through patterns of manipulation and control.
Atkinson was removed from ordained ministry.
The Rt. Rev. Stewart Ruch III, Archbishop of the ACNA Diocese of the Upper Midwest, faced a church trial also held in Mt. Pleasant over his handling of convicted child sexual abuser, Mark Rivera, who served as a lay catechist in Ruch’s diocese. The trial began after Ruch’s failure to notify his congregation of Rivera’s status.
Ruch had “transformed what should be, of all spaces, a sanctuary for the most vulnerable, into a target for predation.”
Ruch was eventually found not guilty. The court finding cited the prosecution’s failure to meet the burden of proof required for a guilty verdict.
As the ACNA has struggled with sex-related scandals, the now-retired Bishop Robinson has lived scandal-free in Washington, DC, where he serves as bishop-in-residence at St. Thomas parish. From 2017 to 2021 he was vice president and senior pastor at the upstate New York Chautauqua Institution. He also occasionally assists at the Washington National Cathedral.
There are currently around 140 active bishops in TEC. Six of those are openly LGBTQ+, including the Rt. Rev. Sarah Fiser, ninth bishop of the Diocese of East Carolina, consecrated on May 23, 2026, in New Bern, North Carolina, and her wife, the Rev. Mandy Brady, who is also an Episcopal priest.
This story is brought to you by Rosedale Health and Wellness and Dudley’s Place.
