The crisis enveloping the Anglican Church in North America has intensified yet again, with a second woman accusing Archbishop Steve Wood of sexual harassment.
The new allegation is part of a revised presentment (formal church complaint) that also includes an affidavit from the denomination’s former communications director, who alleges Wood and Bishop Ray Sutton, the man who canonically assumed Wood’s duties, discussed plans for a “bishop-friendly” investigative board.
The new allegations, first reported by the Washington Post and supplemented by reporting from The Living Church, suggest the denomination’s accountability failures are more systemic than previously known. They also directly implicate the entire interim leadership team, including Bishop Sutton, who assumed leadership after Wood took a leave of absence. As the serving Dean of the Province, Sutton’s interim role was a canonical function, not a new appointment by Wood.
New allegations
Stephen D. “Steve” Wood
The revised presentment includes testimony from a “Jane Doe 1,” who accuses Wood of “sexual misconduct, in the form of sexual harassment.” According to the Post, she alleges Wood pressured her “to be in a private space with him, one-on-one, to drink alcohol with him, despite me saying it was inappropriate and that I was uncomfortable.”
This new claim adds to the original complaint from Claire Buxton, a former children’s ministry director at Wood’s church, St. Andrew’s of Mt. Pleasant, S.C. She alleges Wood attempted to kiss her in his office in April 2024, just before his election as archbishop. Wood also is accused of paying Buxton thousands of dollars in an ostensible attempt to buy her silence. Reports from the Post corroborate these claims in part, as Buxton provided checks made out to her personally signed by Wood.
Wood, who is on voluntary paid leave, has denied the allegations. In a statement to the Post, he declined to comment on the new charges, citing the “strict confidentiality requirements” of the canonical process, but reiterated his commitment to it.
Affidavit alleges collusion
Andrew Gross
The most explosive part of the revised complaint is a new eight-page affidavit from Andrew Gross, the ACNA’s communications director from 2013 until earlier this year.
Gross alleges Wood was “obsessive” about a potential presentment against him, “speculating about what accusations he thought would come against him” to the point that denominational office staff had to “encourage him to refocus.”
This alleged obsession led to what Gross detailed as an attempt to sideline a critic. Gross’ affidavit claims Wood learned that Rob Sturdy, an Anglican chaplain, had concerns about his leadership. According to Gross, Wood told a bishop he would contribute $10,000 to a sabbatical for Sturdy, assuming the bishop could persuade Sturdy to take one. The pretext for this sabbatical was allegedly so that Wood “might allow Sturdy to see that his concerns weren’t significant.” Sturdy told the Post the hypothetical offer never was extended.
Moreover, Gross claims to have received a “credible report” of a conversation between Wood and Ray Sutton — the man now acting as archbishop — floating the possibility of a “bishop-friendly” Board of Inquiry to investigate the charges against Wood.
Reporting from The Living Church adds details that the presentment alleges multiple conflicts of interest among provincial staff. Complainants name ACNA Chancellor William Nelson, who also is chancellor for Wood’s own Diocese of the Carolinas, and Tiffany Butler, who reports directly to Wood. Gross’ affidavit dismisses the idea that such staff could act independently, stating, “The archbishop’s chancellor and staff and the provincial chancellor and staff … aren’t slightly overlapping circles in a Venn diagram, they are one circle.”
Interim leadership implicated
Bishop Sutton, who “firmly denied” the “bishop-friendly” board conversation ever occurred, is now leading the denomination despite being implicated in its two largest scandals.
He is not only accused by Gross of colluding with Wood, but he also was accused by “The Chaplains” — alleged victims of Bishop Derek Jones — of dismissing a whistleblower complaint against Jones in 2021 and chastising the priest for violating his vow of “submission.”
Julian Dobbs
The leadership tangle deepens with Wood’s other appointment, Bishop Julian Dobbs, who was named “dean of provincial affairs” to assist Sutton. Dobbs and Jones have a long-standing rivalry. “The Chaplains” praised Dobbs for “his heroic response in leading the charge against Derek Jones.”
Court documents confirm this. The PACER docket for the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy v. Anglican Church in North America lawsuit shows that on Oct. 13, the ACNA filed a “Declaration of Julian Dobbs” as an exhibit in its defense against Jones’ organization.
However, Dobbs himself is not without controversy. As reported by Anglican Ink Oct. 4, Dobbs’ own diocese, the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, recently investigated and dismissed allegations of financial malfeasance against him.
‘No safe process’
The Post investigation reveals the authors of the presentment against Wood were rebuffed by the church’s leadership structure, validating long-standing claims from advocates that the “proper channels” are broken.
Two bishops reportedly refused even to read the document, and all five ultimately declined to sign it.
According to the report, the group approached five bishops to sign the complaint. Two bishops reportedly refused even to read the document, and all five ultimately declined to sign it. This forced the group to pursue the more difficult route of gathering signatures from 11 priests and parishioners. The canonical process mandates a complaint against a bishop must come from either three bishops or a total number of 10 priests and laypeople.
However, The Living Church reports that while Bishop Chip Edgar of the Diocese of South Carolina (Wood’s home diocese) provided a supportive comment, he is also being heavily criticized for his initial failure to support the presentment authors. “I am relieved that they are now in process and will be adjudicated, and I have made my support for this presentment clear to the Province,” Edgar told TLC. The same report details how the authors felt rebuffed by Edgar when they first approached him.
In an Oct. 29 pastoral letter, Edgar lamented a “troublesome spirit of pride” at the ACNA’s founding. “I remember laughing about how the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church ran to the hundreds and hundreds of pages; we didn’t need that, we were righteous. … We failed to see that evil lurked within us, each and every one.”
Reactions from critics and advocates
The revelations have prompted sharp reactions. Audrey Roberts Luhmann, a key advocate in the #ACNAtoo movement who recently announced her departure from the denomination, responded to the Post story on Facebook. “I will say it again: there is no safe process to report abuse in the ACNA, and its leadership is corrupt.”
“I will say it again: there is no safe process to report abuse in the ACNA, and its leadership is corrupt.”
Emily Hunter McGowin, a popular Anglican priest and theologian, posted: “The revelations about the ACNA continue. … My prayer remains: May the light drive out all darkness and the truth set us all free.”
The new report also lends weight to a scathing op-ed in Anglican Ink by Kendall Harmon, a canon theologian in the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, which is separate from Wood’s home diocese. Harmon attacked the denomination’s “trust the process” narrative, which was published just one day before the Post revealed the new allegations.
“The process by which allegations of misbehavior by ACNA leaders are adjudicated is incredibly messed up and needs to be deeply reformed,” Harmon wrote. Calling the system “nearly or entirely bankrupt,” he noted victims went to the press because they “had such a profound mistrust of the existing process.”
Complainants and critics also have pointed out that Wood has only taken a leave of absence and has not been “inhibited” — a formal suspension of ministry that would bar him from ecclesiastical acts.
“The ACNA leadership has to stop expecting people to blindly trust them. That ship has sailed,” The Rev. Drew Miller, one of the presentment’s authors, told The Living Church. “They have to start demonstrating that they are absolutely trustworthy… if they expect our denomination to survive.”
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