Archbishop Steve Wood, who heads the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and serves as rector of St. Andrews Church in Mount Pleasant, is facing allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and plagiarism according to a scathing report published Thursday by The Washington Post.
Wood has denied all allegations in the complaint to the church, which is known as a presentment.
“I do not believe these allegations have any merit,” he said in a statement to Religion News Service (RNS). “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.”
An RNS story said the presentment, which was signed by at least 10 people who attested to the allegations, was another crisis that has rocked the small denomination that includes churches that broke away in a past schism from the Diocese of South Carolina in the Episcopal Church U.S.A..
Allegations reportedly stem from April 2024
Claire Buxton, a former children’s minister at the Mount Pleasant church, told the Post that Wood tried to kiss her in his office in April 2024, just before his election as archbishop. Buxton also reportedly claimed that before the incident, Wood also gave her more than $3,000 from church funds. Church employees also reportedly commented on Wood’s “excessive praise and fondness” for her. Separately, priests have accused Wood of plagiarizing sermons and bullying staff members, according to the story.
“I was in shock,” Buxton told the Post. “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.”
One member of the local Episcopal Church U.S.A. community who is familiar with the schism, however, was not too surprised.
“It’s easy to believe,” said the local source who asked to not be named. “He’s a very charismatic, dynamic guy and sits at the top of his world, really. A lot of guys get there, and nobody challenges what they’re doing, so they don’t think that what they’re doing is wrong.”
Officials with the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina did not respond to requests for comment.
The unnamed source said the allegations could not have come at a worse time for the Anglican Church.
“ACNA is really at a turning point,” the source said. “Its membership is declining, and its relationship with the African archbishops is very strained as ACNA tries to adapt to 21st-century America.
“They have to do something. They have to redefine themselves.”
The source points to how the recent election of Sarah Mullally as the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury — the first woman appointed to archbishop in the worldwide Anglican church — further split ACNA from other congregations in the global Anglican communion of churches.
“Steve Wood not surprisingly went very far with the ACNA crowd, who are largely cranky old guys used to fighting over everything,” the source said. “They like to issue these proclamations and declarations to make it sound like they are leading some big second reformation, but in reality it’s a pretty small universe they are working in.”
ACNA boasts about 130,000 members, according to ecumenical think tank Institute on Religion and Democracy. The worldwide Anglican Communion, which publicly rejected ACNA from its membership, welcomes more than 80 million members, according to the Episcopal Church.
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