A chaplains group has filed a lawsuit against the Anglican Church in North America over disputes regarding their leadership and efforts to cut ties with the denomination.
The Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy (JAFC) filed the complaint on Monday in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.
The lawsuit alleges that ACNA “staged a failed corporate takeover” of JAFC last month 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,” claimed the complaint.
“ACNA’s aggressively hostile public relations campaign has significantly harmed Plaintiff’s good reputation. 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.”
JAFC has accused ACNA of engaging in commercial misrepresentation, false advertising, corporate identity misappropriation, interference with contracts, registered trademark infringement, slander, and violation of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Last month, JAFC Chairman David van Esselstyn sent a letter to ACNA Archbishop Steven Wood stating that they were terminating their affiliation with the denomination.
While the short letter did not list the reasons for the disaffiliation, a JAFC spokesperson provided information to The Christian Post explaining that it had to do with the alleged mistreatment of JAFC Bishop Derek Jones.
According to an FAQ document provided to CP by the JAFC spokesperson, Jones has been the victim of “a targeted attack” by Wood, allegedly because Jones had “been critical of errors, missteps, and mismanagement within the Archbishop’s office.”
Wood wrote in a letter that the situation began in the summer, when ACNA 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,” said Wood. “Nevertheless, they were concerning because abuse of ecclesiastical power violates the trust that is essential for effective ministry.”
Wood claimed that when he met with Jones regarding the allegations and requested that the JAFC oversee an investigation “in accordance with the standard disciplinary procedures outlined in Title IV of the ACNA Constitution and Canons,” Jones refused.
A JAFC spokesperson provided CP with an FAQ document that claims Jones was actually cooperating with the proposed investigation until JAFC officials concluded that “the request was unlawful and intentionally violated the ACNA’s canons.”
Although JAFC stated that they had cut ties with ACNA, the Anglican denomination refused to recognize this disaffiliation and instead appointed new leadership for the jurisdiction.
