Stephen D. “Steve” Wood, the archbishop and senior-most official of the Anglican Church in North America, faces allegations of sexual misconduct, bullying and plagiarism, according to an investigation and “presentment” (formal church complaint) first reported by the Washington Post.
The allegations against Wood, 62, are the latest in a series of spiraling leadership crises for the conservative denomination, which was founded in 2009 by churches that broke away from the Episcopal Church over its acceptance of LGBTQ and female clergy, same-sex marriage, and a controversial revised prayer book.
The scandal hits the ACNA at a particularly inconvenient moment. The denomination is a key province in the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, a conservative movement that just last week declared a formal schism from the global Anglican Communion and newly elected Archbishop of Canterbury-designate Sarah Mullally.
The scandal hits the ACNA at a particularly inconvenient moment.
As previously reported by BNG, GAFCON leaders, including those from the ACNA, declared themselves the true expression of the Anglican faith, citing “moral compromise” and what they deem as a rejection of biblical authority in the wider church, especially in the liberal West.
Allegations and denial
The most serious charge against Wood comes from Claire Buxton, 42, a former children’s ministry director at St. Andrew’s Mt. Pleasant in Mount Pleasant, S.C. — a large evangelical Anglican church that was instrumental in the Anglican realignment in the United States — where Wood serves as rector.
Buxton alleged that in April 2024, just two months before his election as archbishop, Wood put his hand on the back of her head and attempted to kiss her in his office.
In an interview with the Post, Buxton also claimed this alleged advance was preceded by a pattern of grooming, including Wood giving her thousands of dollars in “surprise payments” from church funds, calling her “Claire Bear” in front of staff and offering to send her on a solo trip to a luxury resort.
In a public statement, Wood has denied the allegations: “I do not believe these allegations have any merit. I place my faith and trust in the process outlined in our canons to bring clarity and truth in these matters and respectfully decline to comment further at this time.”
The formal complaint, known in the Anglican system as a “presentment,” was submitted Monday, Oct. 20, after securing signatures from at least 10 Anglican priests and parishioners. If the complaint is found to have merit and triggers a church trial, Wood could be “defrocked” — stripped of his holy orders — or forced to resign by his brother bishops (the ACNA does not ordain women to the episcopacy).
Moreover, the formal presentment is not limited to the alleged sexual misconduct. It also includes accusations from other priests and former employees that Wood plagiarized sermons, publicly shamed and cursed at colleagues, and fostered a culture of bullying.
One priest, Hamilton Smith, wrote a letter to Wood back in 2019 questioning his “moral authority required to hold the office of bishop.” Smith alleged Wood used $60,000 of diocesan money to buy a brand-new truck, ostensibly for Wood’s episcopal visits to the churches under his care, and for personal hunting trips. Smith and his church left Wood’s diocese shortly after.
Theological education
The controversy also extends to Wood’s role in theological education and preparing future deacons and priests for service in the ACNA.
Wood is founder and “theological advisor” for the Ridley Institute, an online training center run by his church, St. Andrew’s. The institute previously advertised a partnership with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a prominent evangelical institution.
The controversy also extends to Wood’s role in theological education.
In a statement provided to BNG, Gordon-Conwell distanced itself from the archbishop and the institute and noted the partnership is currently on pause.
“We have not had a student enroll in the partnership with the Ridley Institute since 2022,” wrote Debora de Paula Hoyle, senior director of marketing and communications at Gordon-Conwell. “Our partnership has been directly with the institute, not the archbishop, and he is not a Gordon-Conwell faculty member or instructor.”
Randy Forrester, director of Ridley, issued the following statement to BNG: “The Ridley Institute is aware that a complaint has been submitted to the Anglican Church of North America relating to allegations made against Archbishop Steve Wood in his role as bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas. Archbishop Wood also serves as a theological advisor to the Ridley Institute. In accordance with canon law, as soon as the complaint is validated as a presentment, Bishop Ray Sutton, dean of the province, will convene a Board of Inquiry to thoroughly investigate the accusations included in the presentment and determine if there are reasonable grounds to pursue an ecclesiastical trial. Because this is an ongoing process, the staff of the Ridley Institute cannot comment on these allegations.”
An institutional ‘roadblock’
According to the Post, authors of the complaint against Wood already face institutional pushback. A day after the presentment was submitted, a denominational official reportedly asked all 11 signatories to re-sign the document under “penalties of perjury.”
Rob Sturdy, an Anglican chaplain who wrote one of the affidavits supporting the complaint, called the move an intimidation tactic.
“This noncanonical requirement feels like an attempt to intimidate our signatories with potential legal action,” Sturdy told the Post, noting the “perjury” standard is not in the church’s bylaws. “A church that can’t do right by victims of sexual abuse should not exist.”
For Buxton, the failure is one of vetting and accountability.
“I was devastated when he became archbishop,” she said. “It was the responsibility of the bishops to vet him, and they failed at it, horribly.”
The call coming from inside the house
The newly publicized accusations against Wood have been met with a gaggle of online reactions in the Anglosphere. Chief among them comes from Kevin Kallsen, an Anglican commentator and founder of AnglicanTV Ministries, a popular video and audio podcast among those following the latest drama in the Anglican Communion and other “continuing” and “realignment” Anglican groups. The ministry also hosts Anglican Ink, an independent publication providing news, analysis and opinion. Its mission statement is to provide “coverage to all 39 provinces of the Anglican Communion.”
In an analysis piece posted Oct. 23, Kallsen queried: “The ACNA stands at a crossroads. Will it reclaim the prophetic zeal that birthed it, or fracture under the weight of its own failings?”
He then vowed: “Anglican.ink will continue monitoring this unfolding drama, urging transparency and justice in equal measure. For now, prayers for truth — and for the vulnerable — must suffice.”
Reactions from clergy also are pouring in. Emily Hunter McGowin, a popular Anglican priest, author and associate professor at Wheaton College, was measured in a response posted on Facebook with a link to the original Post report: “Sharing this important story without much comment because I’m traveling for a speaking event today and tomorrow. May the light of Christ overcome all darkness and may the truth set us free.”
McGowin has been a vocal advocate of abuse reforms in the ACNA and has written extensively in her capacity as a theologian on the intersection of theology and gender. Her latest volume, Households of Faith, published by InterVarsity Press, seeks to “call Christians to practice family as apprentices to love who discern the times and improvise faithfulness together” and “recover biblical portraits of households of faith that are not limited to just the biological nuclear family.”
A ‘deeper, wider’ problem
The accusations against the denomination’s top leader have sent shockwaves through a church already grappling with alleged systemic failures
Andrew Gross, the ACNA’s former communications director, told the Post: “Unfortunately, the problems at the highest levels of the ACNA are deeper, wider and more entrenched than many of its own parishioners realize. This is a crisis without precedent.”
The ACNA is still reeling from a protracted church trial against Stewart Ruch III, a bishop in the Midwest. Ruch was accused of catastrophically mishandling allegations of abuse and allowing men with violent histories to serve in leadership. That trial, which saw two prosecutors resign in protest, just concluded with a verdict expected later this year.
In recent years, other ACNA bishops have been removed for pornography use and “inappropriate relationships” with women.
This string of scandals has led critics to accuse the denomination of hypocrisy — one that strictly polices LGBTQ issues and women in ministry while allegedly failing to hold its own heterosexual male leadership accountable for abuse and misconduct.
“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,” Buxton told the Post.