Arlie Coles Profile picture
Oct 28, 2025 17 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Bp. Julian Dobbs of ACNA's Anglican Diocese of the Living Word spoke at a Q&A at an episcopal visit, calling the Wood matter "a very difficult situation for everyone involved. It’s unfortunate and regrettable that it’s played itself out in the media." 🧵 for the full transcript: Image
"I think it’s demonstrably unnecessary and inappropriate that those making the allegations against the archbishop first went to the Washington Post before they went to the archbishop."
"I don’t see anything in scripture that would suggest that’s the way we should go about things; in fact, quite the opposite. It’s very unfortunate," he said. Image
"So a presentment has been brought forward; the Board of Inquiry will be impaneled. No bishops sit on that board, obviously. And the matter is weighed and considered, and if there’s found substance, appropriate substance, then that presentment is sent to the court." Image
"I don’t think it would be appropriate to have bishops on the Board of Inquiry when the matter they’re considering is against a bishop." Image
Dobbs emphasized that the archbishop is accountable to God & the canons. "That’s one of the great gifts of a structure like ours: we have disciplinary structures & disciplinary canons... Some churches don’t have those; & therefore it’s very difficult... to know how to proceed." Image
Dobbs also spoke on his use of Godly Admonitions: "I’m in the fifteenth year of my episcopacy; I might have issued five Godly Admonitions in my time. I find them a helpful pastoral tool, particularly if someone is struggling under the pressure of ministry." Image
On who makes the ACNA's canons: "And their elected body, called the ... Provincial Council – is primarily, not solely, but primarily responsible for any adjustments to those canons." Image
Dobbs first declined to say the accusations against Abp. Wood, if true, would be disqualifying, saying it would be "inappropriate... as a bishop, who would be involved in the sentencing process... to make a judgment before there's any Board of Inquiry or church legal process". Image
On Wood's denial: "I think it’s really important to notice that,, because we live in a generation, and in an age, and in a time where anybody can say anything about anyone. Right? There have been people that have said very untrue and slanderous things about me in leadership." Image
"Sometimes that happens when you offend people and they don’t like you, and they separate themselves off from you, and they say all sorts of horrible things."
"It’s made all the more worse when those things are said in the public arena, on social media, or in this case in the Washington Post, because everybody thinks they’re true. They might be true. The archbishop has said 'no, they’re not true.'"
"Those making the allegations obviously believe there’s truth to them, otherwise they wouldn’t be making them. I do wish, though, they would have made them through the church processes rather than through the Washington Post."
Dobbs stated that if Wood were to decide to take a leave of absence from his duties, Bp. Ray Sutton, dean of the province, would step in. Image
The Board of Inquiry "needs to take as long as it takes in order for them to do their work properly": Image
Dobbs commented on Article 26 ("On the Unworthiness of the Ministers"): "'Archbishop, you and I are both miserable sinners, unworthy of the grace of God. Yet Christ has called us to minister in his house.'" Image
A parishioner pushed Dobbs about whether the allegations if Wood, if true, would be disqualifying. The second time, Dobbs affirmed. Image

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More from @ArlieColes

Dec 6, 2025
The ACNA's College of Bishops write after this week's meeting: "As we reflected on our shared episcopal ministry, including the many ways God has borne fruit through it, we acknowledged areas where we have not fully met the high calling entrusted to us." 🧵 Image
"In a spirit of honest repentance, we express sorrow for the hurt that these shortcomings have caused, and we ask the clergy and people of the Anglican Church in North America to forgive us where we have not lived up to the sacred trust placed in us." Image
"We did not pass over these matters lightly," they wrote of several bishops' having been approached with complaints against Abp. Steve Wood, declining to sponsor the charges, and later publicly claiming the complainants went to the press before the mechanisms of the church. Image
Read 8 tweets
Nov 10, 2025
@vermeerlight @AcnaTruth @ACNAtoo Good questions; short 🧵incoming. Here is the canon on inhibition of the archbishop. Note two things:
1) The Dean (Bp Ray Sutton) is the one who decides to inhibit; and
2) He would also need the additional consent of 4/5 of the seniormost bishops in the College. Image
@vermeerlight @AcnaTruth @ACNAtoo Here's the canon regulating all inhibitions (including of the archbishop). A cleric can be inhibited at any time if the inhibiter "believes, on reasonable grounds," that the cleric has committed presentable behavior & that the inhibition is in the best interests of the church. 2/ Image
@vermeerlight @AcnaTruth @ACNAtoo An inhibition can come "pending" essentially any element of the disciplinary process; so my read is that, no, whether a Board of Inquiry is going or not is not a blocker to inhibition, if Bp Ray Sutton + 4/5 of the seniormost bishops desired to inhibit Abp Wood. 3/
Read 12 tweets
Nov 4, 2025
The ACNA released an FAQ on Abp. Steve Wood's leave: "While our canons do not establish limits on how long investigative and disciplinary proceedings last, we expect that the relevant church bodies ... will make every effort to resolve these matters as quickly as possible". 🧵 Image
"The Dean [Ray Sutton] is a senior bishop whose character is known and well respected. ... Bishop Julian Dobbs is one of the most senior active diocesan Bishops in the College with a strong reputation for advancing misison." Image
Abp. Wood will "continue to be paid and receive benefits" while on leave, but he is "solely responsible for seeking and retaining independent counsel" in the disciplinary matter. Image
Read 6 tweets
Oct 18, 2025
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. Image
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. Image
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". Image
Read 12 tweets
Aug 8, 2025
The Standing Committee of ACNA's Diocese of South Carolina has announced:
1) Bp. Edgar has suspended episcopal visits by suffragan Bp. David Bryan, Court president in the trial of Bp. Stewart Ruch.
2) They request an independent investigation into ACNA's handling of the trial. Image
"Given that two of our own diocesan leaders, Bishop David Bryan and Mr. Alan Runyan, have played major roles in this trial and have issued public and seemingly conflicting statements, this turmoil is being experienced particularly acutely within our Diocese."
Read 6 tweets
Jul 30, 2025
In case you missed it: yesterday, Bp. Chip Edgar of the ACNA's Diocese of South Carolina issued a statement saying he himself objected to yesterday's College of Bishops statement of confidence in the Court, claiming it was not unanimous. 🧵 Image
He declined to impugn Alan Runyan, the former prosecutor who resigned over a Court member who allegedly improperly sought and used evidence at trial that a Court order had itself excluded; and Bp. David Bryan, the president of the Court. Both are in his diocese.
Bp. Edgar himself sits on the Provincial Tribunal, the superior court that would hear any appeal from the Court for the Trial of a Bishop, & recused himself from the CoB meeting. The rest of the PT & Court were similarly excluded, a footnote later added to the CoB statement said. Image
Read 4 tweets

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