Bp Derek Jones submitted an affidavit alongside this reply that contains many separate ecclesiastical claims. Here's my attempt to thread through them. 🧵
Jones claims that the Jurisdiction was never part of ACNA, & that he wasn't subject to ACNA's archbishop, but to Nigeria's.
He claims the Jurisdiction's link to ACNA was an "informal affiliation," but that it was leaning on rights of ACNA dioceses to disaffiliate when it did so.
He claims that the Jurisdiction existed to serve "many distinct Anglican churches" by endorsing chaplains, and that those in ACNA who entered the Jurisdiction for chaplaincy were "transfer[ring] ... from ACNA to our organization".
He claims that his ecclesiastical authority comes from the trustees of the Jurisdiction as an incorporated Alabama corporation with 501c3 status, and that the Jurisdiction became completely independent from any provincial body in 2022.
"ACNA's archbishop has no more authority over me than the head imam of a mosque in Cairo would have over the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome," he says.
He claims that efforts for the Jurisdiction to join the ACNA were thwarted by the Governance Task Force "not forward[ing]" desired canonical changes "to the provincial meeting" (likely the Provincial Council).
Jones accuses Bp. Julian Dobbs, with whom he served in CANA under Nigerian oversight at the time, of financial misconduct, and the ACNA of not initially taking action on it. (Dobbs signed an affidavit explaining the CANA arrangements for the ACNA's previous legal reply.)
(Dobbs' Anglican Diocese of the Living Word has denied these claims about Dobbs.)
anglican.ink/2025/10/04/adl…
Jones makes many further claims about the importance of Canon 11, and sets up a view where, in absence of the Jurisdiction's desired version of Canon 11, the Jurisdiction is not merely not an ACNA diocese, but is not a part of ACNA at all.
He claims that in October 2024, newly installed Archbishop Steve Wood also thwarted efforts at reforming Canon 11 and "threatened [Jones] personally."
He claims ACNA's actions since his inhibition are an attempt to steal the Jurisdiction's identity and "conduct a public smear campaign," getting the DOD to update its endorsing agency list to include his name rather than the Jurisdiction's and getting people to edit Wikipedia.
Letting the bishop close:
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