Anglican Church in North America charges breakaway chaplains group leader with misconduct
An Anglican Church in North America court is charging the bishop who heads a breakaway chaplains group with multiple accusations of violating canon law.
The ACNA Board of Inquiry released a statement Tuesday regarding charges against Bishop Derek Jones, who leads the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy.
According to the board, Jones is facing four charges: “Refusal to follow a Godly Admonition,” “Disobedience to, or willful contravention of the Canons of the Church,” “conduct giving cause for scandal or offense, including the abuse of ecclesiastical power” and having “promoted and caused schism within this Church.”
The Court for the Trial of a Bishop will determine the next steps, according to Anglican Ink, with the possibility that Jones could be tried in absentia if he refuses to participate in the proceedings.
JAFC was established in 2014 to serve as the endorsing agency for Anglican chaplains; its jurisdiction traces its origins to the Anglican Church of Nigeria.
In September, ACNA Archbishop Steve Wood wrote a letter alleging that, beginning in the summer, Church leadership “received credible complaints regarding Bishop Derek Jones, alleging abuse of ecclesiastical power.”
“These complaints did not involve physical or sexual misconduct, nor did they involve any doctrinal concerns,” wrote Wood. “Nevertheless, they were concerning because abuse of ecclesiastical power violates the trust that is essential for effective ministry.”
For its part, JAFC disputed the merit of the accusations and the investigation, claiming that Jones was the victim of “a targeted attack” by Wood because he had “been critical of errors, missteps, and mismanagement within the Archbishop's office.”
JAFC Chairman David van Esselstyn sent a letter to Wood stating that JAFC was terminating its relationship with ACNA and demanding that the denomination refrain from using its trademark or meeting with its members.
ACNA refused to recognize the JAFC disaffiliation, instead appointing new leadership for the chaplains group. In response, JAFC filed a complaint in October in district court against ACNA.
The lawsuit accused ACNA leadership of enacting “a failed corporate takeover” of JAFC when it attempted “to suspend Plaintiff’s corporate president” and assume their responsibilities.
“ACNA also published reports accessible to all of the hundreds of chaplains endorsed by Plaintiff, using Plaintiff’s registered marks while deprecating Plaintiff and falsely claiming that it had assumed Plaintiff’s power to endorse Anglicans for chaplaincy services,” the complaint alleged.
“ACNA’s misrepresentations and use of Plaintiff’s marks have induced approximately half of Plaintiff’s chaplains, and at least two-thirds of Plaintiff’s affiliated missions, chapels and parishes, to end their affiliation with Plaintiff.”
Last month, United States District Judge Bruce Hendricks of the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division, issued an order partly granting JAFC’s request for a temporary restraining order against ACNA.
Hendricks said that while the court “does not intend to entangle itself into an internal canonical dispute over the Anglican Church’s ecclesiastical structure,” some issues raised by JAFC “may be ripe and appropriate for the Court’s consideration, such as Plaintiff’s trademark claims.”
“After hearing arguments from the parties, counsel for Defendant effectively conceded that Defendant would refrain from using Plaintiff’s service mark ‘Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy,’ Plaintiff’s trademark, ‘Anglican Chaplains,’ and Plaintiff’s trademarked logo,” wrote Hendricks.
“Additionally, after review of the evidence of record and the applicable law, the Court finds that Plaintiff has met its burden … as to these three items, and the Court thus grants Plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction as to those three items.”
Hendricks ruled against JAFC on other issues, like the alleged slander of JAFC Bishop Derek Jones, the court ruled against the chaplain group, stating that “very little about this case is clear.”
“Furthermore, as noted on several occasions during the hearing, the record abounds in material factual disputes, and the Court does not find it appropriate to resolve those factual disputes at this time and based on the current record,” he wrote.
“Lastly, as to Plaintiff’s request that the Court restrain Defendant from slandering Plaintiff or Bishop Jones, the Court simply notes that law already exists to prevent slander.”
