Mount Pleasant, South Carolina – A Mount Pleasant rector who serves as archbishop of the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), a conservative group that split from the Episcopal Church in 2009, wrote a letter to church members on Friday in response to allegations of misbehavior against him.
According to the Washington Post, former children’s ministry director Claire Buxton of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church accused Archbishop Steve Wood, 62, of sexual assault and abuse of authority.
Buxton told the Post that Wood initiated a “intimate” hug and attempted to forcibly kiss her in April 2024.
The alleged event occurred only two months before he was named archbishop of the ACNA on June 22, 2024.
Buxton eventually resigned from her director role following Wood’s appointment. She told the Post that Wood’s appointment as archbishop prompted her to come forward with her claims, despite having earlier reported the occurrences to church officials.
Buxton further claimed that Wood gave her over $3,000 in church cash for personal purposes starting in 2021.
“I unequivocally, categorically, and emphatically deny in their entirety the accusations made against me by Ms. Claire Buxton, who was employed at St. Andrew’s,” Wood wrote in an Oct. 24 letter to the congregation.
Wood has held many positions at St. Andrew’s since becoming rector on September 1, 2000. In addition to his archbishop and rector responsibilities, Wood is the bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas.
According to the Post, Wood’s colleagues claimed he would publicly insult and berate them, openly discuss sexual encounters among members of his congregation, and plagiarize his lectures.
According to Anglican Ink, the complaint was originally filed with the ACNA on Monday, Oct. 20, and included six affidavits describing misbehavior. It was brought by four presbyters and seven lay members.
To address the objections, the ACNA will follow a canonical process.
If validated, Bishop Ray Sutton, Dean of the ACNA’s College of Bishops, will establish a Board of Inquiry to determine whether more action is required. If required, an ecclesiastical trial will be held, which may result in Wood being defrocked.
News 2 has contacted Bishop Sutton to discuss the process further.
“I am absolutely dedicated to this process and believe that the truth will emerge in due course. “Even in this difficult situation, I am confident that the Lord will use everything for His glory and the strengthening of His Church,” Wood wrote in his letter to St. Andrew’s attendees.
Lenny Lowe, Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the College of Charleston, believes the church must take action when charges are made.
“When there have been individuals harmed, if there have been individuals harmed there, those things have to be addressed,” according to Lowe. “There have to be changes put in place to make sure that things like this, not that they never happen again.”
St. Andrew’s and Lowe both admit that the process of dealing with the claims will be traumatic, regardless of the outcome.
“I suspect that a lot of the possible healing that could happen will depend on the decisions that leaders make moving forward,” Mr. Lowe said.
“This is a painful and very personal process for all involved,” St. Andrew’s Senior Warden Mike Hughes stated on Oct. 22 after informing the church of the complaint and accompanying Post report.
V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, was elected bishop of New Hampshire in 2003. This exacerbated the division among church members, resulting in a considerable number of conservatives walking away and founding new Anglican sects.
The ACNA was created in 2009 by theological traditionalists, and its constitution and canons were approved at a ceremony in Bedford, Texas.
The claims against Wood come as the ACNA concludes an ecclesiastical trial for Rev. Stewart E. Ruch III.
Rev. Ruch is accused of permitting men with violent backgrounds, including sexual assault or misconduct, to be members of his congregations and, in some circumstances, hold positions of authority.
The ruling on Rev. Ruch’s trial is due by December 16.
