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ACNA bishop faces discipline for joining Episcopal bishop at South Carolina chapel dedication

September 10, 2026

[Episcopal News Service] A bishop in the Anglican Church in North America, or ACNA, has submitted himself to potential disciplinary action after facing criticism from within his denomination for appearing last month alongside an Episcopal bishop at a school chapel dedication in Charleston, South Carolina. ACNA Bishop Chip Edgar issued an apology to his Charleston-based diocese on Aug. 25, acknowledging that “photographs of me and the Episcopal bishop have caused pain and confusion.” Edgar and Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina both sit on the board of Porter-Gaud School, which accepts students in grades 1-12. The independent school, rooted in the Episcopal tradition, chose to maintain ties to both denominations after a group of South Carolina Episcopalians led by their bishop left The Episcopal Church in 2012 over theological differences and joined the newly created ACNA. The two current South Carolina bishops took office nearly a decade after the diocesan split—Woodliff-Stanley in 2021 and Edgar in 2022—and have developed a respectful ecumenical relationship. Most notably, they worked closely in 2022 to resolve the decade-long property litigation between the two dioceses. Woodliff-Stanley, in an interview with Episcopal News Service, said neither she nor Edgar is naïve about the persistence of ongoing theological differences between The Episcopal Church and ACNA, and their dioceses’ mutual ties to the Porter-Gaud School have offered opportunities to remain in conversation. “To me, this is really about working across lines of difference in spaces where we can,” she said. In that context, the reaction within ACNA to the Aug. 18 chapel dedication has been disappointing, Woodliff-Stanley said. “We really had what I think was just a beautiful coming together and quite a lovely liturgy, and I’m just heartbroken and distressed that that would lead others to consternation.” Edgar’s precise offense wasn’t immediately clear. ACNA Bishop Julian Dobbs, head of the ACNA province that includes Edgar’s diocese, issued a statement saying some Anglicans were “shocked by what appears to be renewed communion with The Episcopal Church.” “The Anglican Church in North America is not in communion with The Episcopal Church, and those who hold ecclesiastical authority in our province bear a solemn responsibility to uphold this position,” Dobbs said. He also restated the common ACNA claim that Episcopalians had “departed from the faith,” likely a reference to The Episcopal Church’s record of embracing greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in church life. Edgar, in his letter, said some people saw photos of the chapel dedication service and mistakenly thought he and Woodliff-Stanley had celebrated Eucharist at the altar together. “The liturgy was planned so that neither bishop would preach or celebrate the Eucharist,” he said. “Perhaps the greatest outcry has come from a photo of me with my crozier and the Episcopal bishop with her hand on it. I wish I could go back and change that,” Edgar said. “Neither bishop was to carry a crozier in the service, as the chapel is independent of both dioceses. At the last minute I was asked to use my crozier only to mark the sign of the cross on the threshold of the door. “After that, I put my crozier away. It was not carried into the chapel nor was it used in any other part of the service. Clearly, both of our hands should not have been on it, even if only momentarily.” Under ACNA’s canons, it takes only three bishops to file a disciplinary charge, or presentment, against a fellow bishop. “A complement” of bishops took that action against Edgar, according to a follow-up statement from Dobbs on Sept. 2 that noted what he described as “the seriousness of the situation.” Edgar has “agreed with the charges against him and has consented to be disciplined by the College of Bishops when it gathers later this month,” Dobbs said. “This act of humble submission means there will be no board of inquiry, nor a trial.” Dobbs did not specify the date of the bishops’ meeting. Woodliff-Stanley said she has not received any similar criticism from her Episcopal colleagues over the episode. “When you look at all of the things going on in the world by which we might be concerned … to think that two bishops who have developed a holy friendship across lines of difference sharing a service at a school would create that level of consternation is mystifying to me. It’s beyond words.” Some church leaders in both The Episcopal Church and ACNA have cited the Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin as a well-established model for interdenominational dialogue and coordination. The Episcopal seminary welcomes students from both denominations, and its Board of Visitors and Board of Directors include both Episcopal and ACNA leaders. The Rev. Matthew Olver, an Episcopal priest who teaches at Nashotah House and serves as publisher of The Living Church Foundation, posted an article on The Living Church website decrying the “swift and, in some cases, vicious” reaction to Edgar from some of his ACNA colleagues. At the same time, Olver voiced concerns about what the incident means for the future of ecumenical relations between the two denominations. “What, exactly, does the ACNA think the Episcopal Church is?” Olver said. Applying ACNA’s own texts to Edgar’s alleged offenses, he suggested Anglican leaders need not reject all interaction with their Episcopal counterparts. Unless ACNA concludes no ecumenical relationship is possible, The Episcopal Church “remains a church of Christ with whom relationship is not only possible but required.” Though the differences between the two denominations may remain profound, Woodliff-Stanley said she thinks church leaders are called to attempt the difficult work of conversation across those differences, especially to model that behavior for the students at Porter-Gaud School. Woodliff-Stanley cited a passage from 2 Corinthians 5: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” Episcopalians in South Carolina are not interested in engaging in a theology of division, she said. “People are really eager to be about the work […]