Wood Trial Concludes; Verdict Could Take Until December 21
ACNA's Court for the Trial of a Bishop heard 38 witnesses over five days in Charleston. Bishop Julian Dobbs urges the province to wait in prayer, not speculation.
By David W. Virtue, DD
September 14, 2026
CHARLESTON, SC — The ecclesiastical trial of Archbishop Stephen D. Wood, the inhibited head of the Anglican Church in North America, ended on September 11 after five days of testimony in Charleston, South Carolina. But the province he once led now faces a wait of as long as 101 days before it learns whether its archbishop will be found guilty or cleared.
In a statement released at the close of proceedings, the Court for the Trial of a Bishop said it had heard from thirty-eight witnesses over the course of the trial, and thanked each of them for their testimony and travel to Charleston.
The court laid out a timeline that could run to 101 days from September 11. That span allows for the processing of the trial transcript by the court reporter, the receipt of proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law from both the Province and the Respondent, and the court's own further deliberations. The absolute last day the court may release an opinion, it said, is December 21, 2026. It cautioned that the timeline could prove shorter but declined to speculate on when a decision would come.
Wood faces three charges arising from the presentment brought against him: violation of his ordination vows, abuse of ecclesiastical power, and sexual immorality. He has denied wrongdoing. He was inhibited from the exercise of ordained ministry in November 2025, and Bishop Julian Dobbs, Dean of the Province, has exercised the canonical duties of the archbishop's office throughout his suspension. It is the first trial of a sitting archbishop in the young province's history.
The Statement of the Court
In the Matter of The Most Rev’d Stephen D. Wood
(Archbishop, The Anglican Church in North America; Bishop, Diocese of the Carolinas)
STATEMENT OF THE COURT
The trial in the case of the Presentment of Archbishop Steven Wood concluded on September 11, 2026. The Court for the Trial of a Bishop would specifically like to express its gratitude to each of the thirty-eight witnesses it heard from over the course of five days for their testimony and travel to Charleston, South Carolina.
The next steps in the timeline could take up to 101 days from September 11, 2026, including time for the processing of the transcript by the court reporter, receipt of findings of fact and conclusions of law from both the Province and Respondent, and further deliberations of the Court. The absolute last day the Court may release an opinion is December 21, 2026. While the timeline may end up being shorter, the Court cannot speculate on the timing of an opinion at this time.
Each morning before trial opened, the Court prayed with the attorneys, the Respondent, the Court advisors, and court reporter. Each day we prayed in the words of our Lord and Savior, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is our continuing prayer. That even in the midst of the great grief and stress this process has brought to the Province, God’s will shall be done. As you move forward in these months of uncertainty, please let that prayer ground your heart. Please keep the Court’s deliberations in your prayers.
/s/ +Ryan Reed
The Right Reverend Ryan Reed
President of the Court for the Trial of a Bishop
/s/ Katherine R. Grosskopf
Katherine R. Grosskopf
Presiding Officer, Court for the Trial of a Bishop
A Pastoral Message from Bishop Dobbs
In a pastoral video message released September 14 at the conclusion of the trial, Bishop Julian Dobbs — Dean of the Province and acting head of the ACNA during Archbishop Wood's inhibition — urged clergy and laity to meet the long wait for a verdict with prayer rather than speculation. He framed the proceedings as part of the Church's canonical discipline, meant to uphold the integrity of ordained ministry, and reminded the province that the inhibition he imposed on Wood in November 2025 was a procedural safeguard that implied neither guilt nor innocence.
Dobbs appealed for grace and unity toward everyone caught up in the matter — complainants, witnesses, and the wider Church — and asked the faithful to trust the canonical process and stay fixed on the Church's mission as it awaits the Court's opinion.
Now, the Waiting
For a province that has spent the better part of a year consumed by the Wood affair, the trial's end brings no resolution — only a change in the character of its waiting. The verdict, when it comes, will be the first any sitting archbishop of the ACNA has faced. Until then, as the court itself prayed each morning in Charleston, the province is left to wait upon a will not its own: thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
END
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