This doesn’t look good:
The highest-ranking member of the Anglican Church of North America has been hit with a slew of allegations – including sexual misconduct, abuse of power, and plagiarism.
A recently revealed presentment, which is a formal report that details offenses by leaders in the church, alleges that Archbishop Stephen Wood, 62, attempted to kiss a female employee, plagiarized his sermons, and bullied church staffers before he moved up in rank.
The ACNA was founded in 2009 by former members of the Episcopal Church who opposed the congregation’s openness to LGBTQ+ Christians and progressive causes.
The religion is a form of Christianity, following the preaching in the Bible and celebrating traditional holidays like Christmas and Easter.
Over a decade after its inception, the church found itself riddled with controversy as new allegations surfaced against the ACNA’s senior-most official.
Claire Buxton, 42, has spoken out about her experience working as the children’s ministry director at St. Andrew’s Church in South Carolina while Wood was the rector.
Buxton detailed her experience in one of six affidavits submitted in the presentment, reviewed by the Washington Post, alleging Wood’s behavior.
She also claimed in an interview with the Post that last spring that Wood tried to kiss her in his office.
‘He put his hand on the back of my head and tried to turn it up towards him while he slowly brought his face towards my face to kiss me,’ Buxton told the outlet.
She said she avoided the kiss by dropping her head and gave him a side hug instead before running out of the office.
Although she said that the alleged kiss occurred in 2024, Buxton insisted that Wood’s inappropriate behavior began years before.
She told the Post that in October 2021 he hugged her at a celebration ceremony, and his hand slowly slid down her back.
Buxton said she told her parents about the awkward encounter, admitting that it felt ‘sensual’ and that she speculated he was attracted to her.
Her parents brushed it off, so she continued her work as the children’s ministry director.
However, a year later, Wood allegedly divulged inappropriate information to Buxton in his office.
He allegedly told her that he fired a church staffer because she ‘slept with everyone.’ That same year, Wood began giving Buxton mysterious checks from a church account.
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Numerous other members of the Anglican Church expressed concern with Wood’s behavior, including Reverend Hamilton Smith, the rector of St. Thomas’ Church in South Carolina.
In a letter obtained by the Post, Smith told Wood: ‘I do not feel you have moral authority required to hold the office of Bishop.’
Smith said he believed Wood plagiarized his sermons, shamed colleagues, and accepted a $60,000 truck provided by the diocese.
‘You have told me numerous times that you are a sinner who had “a really bad year/a horrible season” in which you did things you now regret. While I rejoice in this self understanding, grace and forgiveness have limits,’ Smith wrote in the letter.
Reverend Rob Sturdy, another priest who submitted an affidavit, wrote that Wood frequently boasted about a woman from another church whom he could’ve had a relationship with if he pursued it.
Pastoral statement from the Primate and Metropolitans of the Anglican Church of Canada concerning the Anglican Communion