Paul Pennyfeather was reading for the Church at Scone College Oxford. The hapless Pennyfeather was relieved of his clothes by a group of drunks who didn’t like the look of Pennyfeather’s old school tie. In the words of the Master of Scone:

“‘The case of Pennyfeather,’ the Master was saying, ‘seems to be quite a different matter altogether. He ran the whole length of the quadrangle, you say, without his trousers. That is indecency. It is not the conduct we expect of a scholar.’”

For poor Pennyfeather it was downhill from then on. He ended up a teacher at a Llanabba Castle school in North Wales, a fourth-rate school according to the grading: Leading School, First-rate School, Good School, and School.

To find out what happens next, you will have to read Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall.

The point is, it didn’t matter whether the removal of Pennyfeather’s trousers was voluntary or not; he was seen to be running trouserless; for appearances’ sake, something had to be done.

We will probably never know for sure whether Steve Wood was caught metaphorically sans-trousers, but the disastrous mess that ACNA has brought upon itself by thoroughly botching the plausible complaints against its most senior cleric means that, for the sake of appearances, it was almost inevitable that Wood was brought to trial.

Similarly, because appearances suggest that ACNA has been spending considerable energy in protecting the institution, I suspect that there will be pressure to find Wood guilty – to convince everyone that it’s doing no such thing.

The recent Report from the College of Bishops attempts to quiet the troops with vague promises to do better. I’m not sure that it reaches beyond the stage of advanced lip service.

I attended the first Provincial “Office Hours” with Bishop Dobbs and Provincial Leaders Zoom meeting. I was hoping for an interactive session with open discussion. Instead it was a format where questions were submitted in writing and the panel answered them – or didn’t.

My questions were:

1. Why did it take so long to take the allegations against Steve Wood seriously – a year or more, I gather?

2. It leaves one with the suspicion that it may never have been addressed had not the Washington Post article appeared. Comments?

The answer I received to part one was: that’s how long the process took. There was no comment on part two. This, it seems, is how you rebuild trust.

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.

[…….]

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.