(RNS) — Before he was elected as the third archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, Steve Wood was one of the earliest COVID-19 patients in the United States, placed on a ventilator for 10 days in March 2020.
Two years earlier, as bishop of the Carolinas and rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Wood watched as his church building was engulfed in a fire.
“I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences for where I am right now, because God has been so extraordinarily gracious to me through every one of them,” said Wood.
In adversity, he said, he’s learned to trust God’s faithfulness. And while he readily admits the denomination isn’t perfect, he sees the Anglican Church in North America, which formed in 2009 after splitting from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, as another testament to the graciousness of God. During his term as archbishop, he hopes that message will be not only reinforced in the pews, but shared widely throughout the continent.
On the heels of denominational dustups over women’s ordination to the priesthood and accountability for the misconduct of clergy — in particular bishops — Wood is beginning his five-year term as archbishop focusing on transparency and compassion as the young denomination continues to mature. A week ahead of his investiture, or formal installation, in South Carolina on Oct. 30, Wood spoke to RNS about where the ACNA has been and where it’s heading. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
As you step into this role, is there a word or theme you hope will guide your work as archbishop?
The ACNA determined some years ago that its principal vision was to reach North America with the transforming love of Jesus Christ — 130 million people in North America don’t know Jesus, and that is the compelling motivation in ministry for me, to hold forth the good news of Christ to the continent. I also want to tell good stories. Our Matthew 25 Initiative is extraordinary; they’re ministering to people on the margins of society. The work we’re doing with church planting is spectacular, but it’s not being talked about.
When you look back at the past 15 years, what are some of the things you think ACNA has done well, as a denomination?
I find enormous satisfaction looking back over the last 20 years and saying the Lord established us, preserved us, and he’s growing us. That’s extraordinary, coming out of a meltdown of the Anglican world in North America. We’re not perfect by a long shot. But at one level, 20 years into this process, we’ve made it. The other thing the ACNA has really done well is brought people together across the spectrum of Anglicanism. You’ll have low church Protestants, high church Anglo Catholics, people in the middle, and the ACNA has really created a place where all of those folks find a home. I think the other thing is, a number of church plants that started, they went into a community with a vision to make a long-term commitment to live there and become incarnate in that. And for me, that’s classic Anglicanism.
Archbishop Steve Wood. (Photo courtesy of ACNA)
In the run-up to the June Assembly, nearly 300 ACNA clergy and a diocese voiced opposition to women’s ordination and said disagreements on the subject imperil the denomination. Do you believe ACNA’s approach to women’s ordination is still up for debate? During your term as archbishop, do you foresee any changes to ACNA’s strategy of allowing dioceses to individually decide how they approach women’s ordination?
Probably no, as to how we’re structured. In the constitution and the canons this is our governance structure, and the dioceses have the authority to make those decisions. And so, short term, it’s not practical to think that the constitutions and canons are going to be changed anytime soon. That being the case, the question for me then becomes, how do we live together? And I prefer a more irenic, compassionate voice. I’m big on having conversations. I encourage others to listen, not to defend a position, but to hear where the other person’s coming from. Do I think it’s a threat to the ACNA? No, but I do think it’s going to be an ongoing conversation point, and I think how we have the conversation is critical.
Last year, my understanding is a Governance Task Force committee made of lay folks and clergy recommended a complete revision of Title IV. Can you catch us up to speed on what happened to that recommended overhaul, and if and when we can expect it to be considered for ratification?
I would say it never got to the point where a recommendation was made. The last time I saw it in January, the College of Bishops had a presentation on it. The presentation was not finished, and I think Governance Task Force decided not to advance it because it wasn’t ready. So they put their energy into completing the Title I revision, another part of our canons that deals with disciplinary matters.
One of the groups that were not fully included in last year’s discussion were the bishops and the chancellors, who are the ones principally responsible for enforcing Title IV. I’ve asked all the diocesan bishops and their chancellors for current evaluations of Title IV, and I expect that process will be done in the next few months. That report will go to the Governance Task Force, which will evaluate the current Title IV in light of that input. GTF will come back to the executive committee, and I’d like them to make a presentation to Provincial Council this summer, get input from those two bodies, and come up with more of a proposal by the fall. That way, when we come back into our College of Bishops meeting next year, they can put something before us. Then we can start the sign-off process with all the different bodies. We’re growing up as a church, and the canons need to grow up with us.
I’ve heard some concerns that the review of Title IV is starting again from scratch. But I’m hearing you frame this as another layer of input?
We’re not throwing anything out. This is not a replacement, this is supplemental information. We have a very good GTF, and I know they had a very good process. And the draft copy that I saw last year, I was pleased with it. I’m very happy we revised Title I, and I would be very happy to have Title IV on the table as well.
ACNA has the unique feature of including nongeographic dioceses united by affinity, rather than region. Do you think this approach has been successful?
Historically, Anglicanism has been geographically based, not necessarily affinity based. But we’re in a missional era right now, and my goal is to have as many people in the fields working for the harvest as possible. We can sort out the geographical issues downstream. I don’t think we should create any more nongeographical dioceses, and I do anticipate a day when these things get sorted, but today we’re a new denomination, 15 years old, still trying to reach North America with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. That takes precedent.
This year we also saw open letters asking for increased transparency and expediency regarding trials for bishops. Can you talk about changes that have already been made, and any you’d like to see, regarding the pace of and communication around bishop trials?
I am a fan of transparency. I’ve begun implementing quarterly provincial letters bringing people up to date. Sometimes people don’t understand the limits of authority. For instance, the archbishop cannot demand that the court do anything, but the archbishop can request. The first request I made of the court elected this June was that they would publish their rulings and schedule on the provincial website, which they agreed to. I’m thrilled with that. Timeliness I’m certainly concerned about, but I’m more concerned about justice. I’d rather go slower and get it right than rush to something and get it wrong. Having said that, things need to be timely. We had two trials (involving bishops) up simultaneously, but our system only allows one at a time to proceed. That was another element I communicated this summer in my provincial letter.
In recent years, many Anglican churches in the Global South have voiced concern about perceived liberal drift in the Church of England. What’s your view on what some have called a “crisis” in the Anglican Communion? What role, if any, might the ACNA have to play in this moment?
The internal affairs of the Church of England are the internal affairs of the Church of England. Now, how that affects the global church I care about. I do think ACNA will continue to play a role in helping to reshape global Anglicanism. Most of our churches lost everything to come out of the Episcopal Church. They showed what’s possible when you follow your understanding of the gospel. You look at the growth of the ACNA, it’s been nothing other than extraordinary. And I think that is a very good example for the Global Communion, for other people in other countries that are still having to deal with, we might lose everything. Well, you also might gain everything, right? I think the ACNA can communicate to a larger Anglican world that God is faithful.