(RNS) — Archbishop Steve Wood, who leads the Anglican Church in North America, will face a church trial beginning on July 20, according to an announcement from the court Tuesday (April 21).
He has been accused of sexual harassment, bullying and plagiarism and faces three church charges: alleged violation of ordination vows, conduct giving cause for “scandal or offense” and sexual immorality. The Tuesday announcement also revealed that Wood filed a motion to dismiss the case. The court will hear arguments on that motion beginning on May 7.
“We are grateful to the Court for its diligent work in this matter,” said the Rt. Rev. Julian Dobbs, who serves as dean of the province, in the statement. “I ask that our clergy and lay members join me in earnest prayer that God, in His wisdom and providence, would bring a just and righteous resolution, that His Church would be preserved in truth and unity, and that all parties involved would know His grace.”
Wood was inhibited, or temporarily suspended from his ministry, in mid-November, days after more than 140 clergy in the denomination signed an open letter calling for his inhibition. Wood previously announced he was taking a paid, voluntary leave of absence on Nov. 3, after a series of reports in The Washington Post in which a former church employee and another woman accused Wood of unwelcome sexual advances.
A bishop in South Carolina, Wood was elected in 2024 to lead the ACNA, a small denomination that began in 2009 as a breakaway group of cong …