The Court for the Trial of a Bishop of the Anglican Church in North America has unanimously found the Rt. Rev. Derek Jones guilty of all four canonical offenses charged in the Presentment of October 21, 2025. In a Final Judgment issued August 19, 2026, the Court granted the Province’s Motion for Summary Judgment and determined that Bishop Jones, formerly Bishop of the Special Jurisdiction for the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy (SJAFC), had willfully refused a lawful Godly Admonition, willfully contravened the Canons of the Church, engaged in conduct giving just cause for scandal or offense (including abuse of ecclesiastical power), and promoted and caused schism.
The Court referred its findings to the College of Bishops for sentencing after the canonical thirty-day appellate period under Canon IV.5.5.1. The applicable canons are those ratified by the 2024 Provincial Assembly.
Bishop Jones filed no Answer. The Summons and Presentment were served by process server on April 24, 2026; the Answer deadline of May 26 passed without response. The Provincial Prosecutor moved for summary judgment on July 7. After a hearing on August 10 at which the Court heard the prosecutor’s argument and deliberated, the verdict was rendered.
Established by Canon I.11 in 2014, the SJAFC was created to provide a unified means of ecclesiastical endorsement for ACNA clergy serving in governmental and institutional chaplaincies, particularly the U.S. Armed Forces, the Veterans Administration, and the Department of Justice. Unlike a diocese, it consists of individual clergy rather than congregations and contains no laity. Oversight rests with the Archbishop.
Bishop Jones was consecrated in 2007, received into the ACNA in 2010, and elected Bishop of the SJAFC by the College of Bishops. In that office he held authority to endorse chaplains. The Reformed Episcopal Church retained parallel endorsement authority until approximately 2023, when consolidation under the SJAFC took effect.
The Court’s findings describe an environment within the SJAFC that “promoted isolation, authoritarian submission, doubt, hopelessness, and deceit.” Bishop Jones required virtually all ACNA chaplains—including medical and prison chaplains who did not need military-style endorsement—to transfer into the SJAFC rather than remain resident in their local dioceses. “Good Standing” demanded Ember reports, attendance at annual convocations, and a mandatory financial contribution (styled a tithe or donation and ranging from 5 to 10 percent of reported income) paid directly to the SJAFC, frequently before any gift to a local parish. Failure to comply could result in the withholding of endorsements or of permission to transfer orders, with direct consequences for career advancement and livelihood. Chaplains seeking pastoral care were often directed to counselors of Bishop Jones’s choosing; contact with other ACNA bishops or the Archbishop without his knowledge risked loss of Good Standing or Title IV proceedings.
On September 12, 2025, Archbishop Steve Wood, with the required consents, issued a Godly Admonition citing nine credible complaints under investigation that, if substantiated, could support a charge of scandalous conduct and abuse of ecclesiastical power. The Admonition directed Bishop Jones to restrict communications about the matter, refrain from retaliatory behavior, and cooperate fully with investigators.
He did not comply. On September 16 the SJAFC Chancellors protested the Admonition and signaled non-cooperation. Two days later staff emails, including one from Bishop Jones’s daughter (an administrator in the jurisdiction), instructed chaplains not to respond to Provincial investigators. On September 20 Bishop Jones wrote claiming withdrawal from the ACNA and the College of Bishops and declaring he would not cooperate with any investigation.
The following day Archbishop Wood inhibited him. The Inhibition barred him from functioning as clergy, wearing clerical attire or vestments, attending SJAFC gatherings, or contacting members of the jurisdiction without prior written permission.
On September 22 Bishop Jones directed a letter purporting to withdraw the SJAFC from the Province under Article II.3 of the Constitution—an article the Court noted applies only to dioceses. The next day he convened an “All Hands” video conference, displayed and discussed the Godly Admonition at length, announced that the SJAFC was no longer part of the ACNA, and described the Province as a “sinking ship.” The recording was later posted publicly on YouTube.
On October 6 a civil suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina on behalf of the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy against the ACNA. In December 2025 Bishop Jones, together with Bishops MacClellan, Nordstrom, and Williams, founded the Anglican Reformed Catholic Church. On June 10, 2026, while still under Inhibition, he consecrated Andrew Hayler while fully vested—an act the Court found in direct violation of the Inhibition.
The Court received sworn affidavits from three chaplains, anonymized in the Judgment.
Chaplain A, a military chaplain who left the SJAFC in 2023, reported that after informing ACNA leaders of Bishop Jones’s efforts to transfer the jurisdiction as a diocese to the Church of Nigeria North American Mission, he was threatened with a Godly Admonition, inhibited, and made the subject of a Title IV presentment. After his departure he alleged that Bishop Jones contacted his subsequent employer and spread unfounded claims of financial misconduct.
Chaplain B, a hospice chaplain, compared his experience to life in a cult. When he sought transfer of orders amid unemployment and personal hardship, authorization was withheld until unpaid tithe pledges were satisfied, despite written permissions for absence from convocations. The Court found a pattern of escalating harassment by email, text, and telephone, culminating in the hand-delivery of an inhibition by process server to his residence. The Archbishop ultimately recommended the transfer, which then occurred.
Chaplain C, a military chaplain endorsed by the Reformed Episcopal Church and never canonically resident in the SJAFC, received a Godly Admonition and attempted inhibition from Bishop Jones after declining to complete an application and join the tithing system. Metadata established that the document had been backdated. Bishop Jones contacted the Anglican Mission in America—to which Chaplain C was transferring—and threatened to dissolve a concordat. The matter was resolved only after Chaplain C placated the demand.
The Court noted additional unsworn reports of similar conduct but confined its decision to the sworn evidence before it.
On the first count—willful refusal to follow a lawful Godly Admonition (Canon IV.2.1.12)—the Court held that Bishop Jones disregarded the communication restrictions, directed non-cooperation, attempted withdrawal, filed suit, and established a rival denomination.
On the second—disobedience to or willful contravention of the Canons (Canon IV.2.1.9)—the Court found that he violated the Inhibition by convening the September 23 meeting, continuing to wear vestments, performing episcopal acts, and holding himself out as a bishop through the new body.
On the third—conduct giving cause for scandal or offense, including abuse of ecclesiastical power (Canon IV.2.1.4)—the Court detailed the use of Title IV processes against clergy both under and outside his authority, the linkage of mandatory financial contributions to endorsement and career security, improper withholding of transfers, sustained harassment, retaliation against those who raised concerns, interference with employment, and the backdating of at least one official document. While affirming tithing as a spiritual discipline, the Court observed that connecting a required contribution so tightly to livelihood constitutes an abuse of power.
On the fourth—promoting and causing schism (Canon IV.2.1.2)—the Court concluded that the formation of the Anglican Reformed Catholic Church, the targeting of ACNA chaplains, interference with relationships with other Anglican jurisdictions, the attempted severance of the SJAFC, and the unauthorized consecration all advanced schism.
In closing, the Court expressed particular concern for the chaplains who had served under or encountered Bishop Jones, quoting one affidavit: “Surely a pastoral response to a wolf involves the protection of sheep.” While acknowledging the limits of its jurisdiction over earlier disciplinary actions taken by Bishop Jones, the Court respectfully asked the College of Bishops to consider a biblical and canonical response and, where warranted, the reversal of any undue measures.
The members of the Court recorded their deep regret for the pain caused and their prayer for healing, peace, and restoration.
The Judgment was signed by Bishop Ryan Reed (President), Bishop David Bryan, Bishop Allen Kannapell, the Rev. Canon Jonathan Millard, the Rev. Canon Dr. Kathleen Rankin, Mr. Larry Doyle, and Ms. Katherine Grosskopf (Presiding Officer).
As of the date of the Judgment, Bishop Jones had not been released from the governance or discipline of the ACNA. The College of Bishops will determine sentence after the appellate period. The South Carolina civil litigation remains pending.