Deposed Anglican Bishop Back in Ministry. Todd Atkinson Provides ‘spiritual direction’ through Arrupe Spirituality.

Todd Atkinson, center, from a conference retreat photo on Arrupe Spirituality website

By Jessica Eturralde

MINISTRY WATCH

April 8, 2026

Less than two years after an Anglican church court deposed Todd Atkinson from ordained ministry, he is back in ministry.

Arrupe Spirituality—a Zoom-based ministry offering retreats, book discussions, and instruction in Ignatian prayer—lists him as a spiritual director. In a 2025 interview, Atkinson said he provides one-on-one sessions focused on listening, discernment, and guiding “directees” through their spiritual experience.

Spiritual directors meet privately with people seeking guidance in prayer and discernment, often including those recovering from church trauma. Unlike ordained roles, the work can operate without standardized licensing, supervision, or a clear disciplinary pathway, depending on the organization.

In May 2024, the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) removed Atkinson, a bishop at the time, from ministry after an ecclesiastical trial found him guilty on four charges, including improper relationships with women and inappropriate interactions with minor females. The ACNA College of Bishops voted to depose him on May 9, 2024. The denomination announced the decision nearly two weeks later.

Following the announcement, Atkinson published a formal public apology titled “Addressing My Mistakes.” Atkinson denied inappropriate relationships or circumstances with minors, calling the ACNA’s public wording “ambiguous” and “defamatory.” He wrote that if certain claims were true, civil authorities would have intervened. Atkinson also apologized for what he called excessive affirmation, attention, and contact that he said damaged relationships, and pointed to a pre-ACNA investigation conducted in 2015-2016 that he said found “emotional co-dependency” (a conclusion he said he accepted).

Arrupe Spirituality’s listing includes an Atkinson bio that emphasizes his training and formation. It says that after completing the Spiritual Exercises in 2017–2018, he undertook internships and training under Jesuit spiritual director Fr. Bill Creed, who taught him how to be a spiritual director. The bio adds that, over the last two years, he has “played a small role” in “helping” train other spiritual directors.

The bio further explains Atkinson’s 2015 “trainwreck” as a case of “good taken to excess,” saying he “exceeded emotional boundaries” while believing he was helping those he led pastorally. He later sought to “own his failings” and take responsibility, it says: language he also echoed in his public apology.

During the disciplinary process, in August 2022, a third party launched a GoFundMe titled “Atkinson Family Support Fund,” naming Atkinson as the beneficiary and setting a $60,000 goal. Donors contributed roughly 4% of that total, just under C$2,000.

In July 2025, podcast host Jobie Mallett interviewed Atkinson in a video titled “Surviving a Train Wreck.” Mallett praised Atkinson as a man who left a “long and lasting positive impression,” adding, “Todd is not perfect, but then again, who of us is?”

In the interview, Atkinson described himself as an “exile” pushed to the margins and said that while he still attends church at times, he would not start another one, citing lingering hurt and shaken confidence. Atkinson said he had found meaning in working with people wounded by the church.

MinistryWatch contacted Arrupe and Atkinson for comment. Neither has responded. We will update if we hear back from either of them.

Arrupe has a zero-star efficiency rating in the MinistryWatch database, an “F” Transparency Grade, and a failing Donor Confidence Score of 2 (out of 100).

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