The Anglican Church in North America — a denomination founded in 2009 by breaking away from the Episcopal Church — is now facing its own splintering.
Bishop Derek Jones, the embattled leader of the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy, has launched a new denomination to be called the Anglican Reformed Catholic Church.
Bishop Derek Jones
The announcement, released just before Christmas, marks the latest escalation in a year of spiraling crises for the ACNA, which currently finds itself in the unique position of having its top leader suspended while simultaneously struggling to discipline its bishops.
According to a press release dated Dec. 24, Jones and the JAFC leadership have incorporated the ARCC in Alabama as a new nonprofit church organization. The new denomination describes itself as “Classic Anglican,” boasting a commitment to being “Reformed and Catholic as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer … and other Anglican reformers envisioned.”
The new body is launching with three dioceses:
- The JAFC itself, which will remain intact (and presumably take its lucrative chaplaincy endorsements with it)
- The Anglican Diocese of St. Andrew, covering western churches
- The Anglican Diocese of St. Martin, covering eastern churches.
This move formalizes the threat Jones made in late September when he filed a $1 million lawsuit against the ACNA after being “inhibited” (suspended) by Archbishop Steve Wood. Jones had accused the ACNA of a “hostile corporate takeover” of his chaplaincy jurisdiction. Now, he has simply taken his ball — and his chaplains — and started his own league.
The optics of this departure are particularly glaring given the state of the ACNA’s own leadership.
Stephen D. “Steve” Wood
Jones originally was inhibited by Archbishop Steve Wood for “abuse of ecclesiastical power.” However, in a twist fit for a Greek tragedy, Archbishop Wood is now suspended himself.
As BNG previously reported, Wood was placed on a voluntary leave of absence in November following allegations of sexual misconduct, bullying and plagiarism. On Dec. 12, a Board of Inquiry found “probable cause” to present Wood for a church trial on charges including sexual immorality and conduct giving just cause for scandal.
The archbishop who suspended a bishop for abuse of power is now facing a trial for abuse of power (and more), while the bishop he suspended has left to start a new church, claiming the old church lacks “clear accountability.”
While the ACNA loses one bishop to schism and investigates its archbishop for misconduct, it also just cleared another bishop of all charges.
On Dec. 16, the ACNA’s Court for the Trial of a Bishop unanimously acquitted Bishop Stewart Ruch III of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest. Ruch had faced charges related to his handling of sexual abuse allegations and safeguarding failures.
In a 71-page ruling that stunned abuse advocates, the court did not just find Ruch not guilty; it blamed the entire scandal on social media.
The court argued the prosecution failed to provide “clear and convincing evidence” and instead relied on “narrative capture” — a term the judges used to describe how “unverified narratives increasingly displaced firsthand evidence” due to the influence of online advocacy groups like #ACNAtoo.
Thus, the ACNA enters 2026 in a state of profound institutional confusion:
- Its archbishop (Wood) is suspended and facing trial
- Its chaplaincy bishop (Jones) has formed a rival denomination and is suing the church
- One of its most controversial diocesan bishops (Ruch) has been acquitted by a court that blamed the faithful for asking questions on Twitter
- Finally, its interim leadership is implicated in the very scandals they are trying to manage
For a denomination founded to restore “biblical order” and “discipline” to Anglicanism, the current reality looks less like a restoration and more like a fracturing.
As Jones takes his “Classic Anglican” vision elsewhere, the ACNA is left to wonder how many more splinters the splinter group itself can survive.