(RNS) — Bishop Julian Dobbs, who was appointed last month to serve as acting archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, was previously investigated — and reportedly cleared — of two instances of financial misconduct, both allegedly involving tens of thousands of dollars.
Dobbs is leading the troubled denomination as it faces a broader reckoning over bishop misconduct. He has denied the claims against him.
“I stand by the integrity of my ministry and am grateful for the independent reviews that have confirmed my conduct was beyond reproach,” Dobbs said in a statement to RNS. “With this clarity, I remain focused on leading our clergy and congregations forward in the mission Christ has given us.”
According to a report Tuesday (Dec. 30) from The Washington Post, Barnabas Aid, a global nonprofit aiding persecuted Christians, accused Dobbs and his wife of mismanaging over $28,000.
Dobbs held various leadership positions at Barnabas Aid USA, the national chapter, from 2006-2018. He and his wife, who worked at the nonprofit as an office manager, were investigated by the charity in 2018 regarding “unauthorized, unjustified or unexplained expenses, in some cases related to their phones, travel or meals,” according to the Post. The charity also accused the Dobbses of secretly running a similar nonprofit, Katartismos Global, from Barnabas Aid’s offices. That nonprofit, the charity claimed, had donors listed on the Barnabas Aid mailing list, and had “almost certainly” diverted donations that would have been given to Barnabas Aid.
An ACNA spokesperson told RNS that in 2018, Archbishop Foley Beach, who then led the denomination, appointed a team to investigate the charity’s claims. The following year, Beach announced that the investigation cleared Dobbs of wrongdoing. While the charity accepted the decision to close the case, it also later noted its disagreement with the findings. In January 2025, two of the charity’s founders were arrested “on suspicion of fraud by false representation and money laundering,” accounting to a public statement from Barnabas Aid.
Filings in a federal lawsuit between the denomination and its former chaplaincy jurisdiction, which until recently endorsed the ACNA’s chaplains, show an unrelated financial impropriety claim. In March 2021, the chaplaincy jurisdiction found that Dobbs had “absconded with approximately $48,000,” according to a statement included in the legal filings authored by Derek Jones, who leads the chaplaincy jurisdiction and faces his own ACNA investigation over alleged misconduct. Jones told the Post that from 2014 to 2019, the chaplaincy jurisdiction had donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a onetime group of Anglican churches then led by Dobbs. According to Jones, the Convocation could not account for the money.
A spokesperson for the Anglican Church in North America said that in 2019, Jones raised concerns that the Convocation of Anglicans in North America had mishandled two sums of money, “one in the amount of $3,750 and one in the amount of $11,250.” Three investigations — one led by an investigative team appointed by then-Archbishop Beach and two by Dobbs’ own diocese — absolved him of any financial misuse, according to the denomination. Per the legal filings, that dispute was resolved in March 2021. Dobbs is not named in the chaplaincy jurisdiction’s lawsuit against the denomination.
On Nov. 16, Dobbs temporarily suspended from ministry Archbishop Steve Wood, who has been accused by a former church employee and another woman of unwelcome sexual advances. Wood, a bishop in South Carolina, was elected last year to lead the ACNA, a small denomination that began in 2009 as a breakaway from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, which had begun ordaining LGBTQ+ clergy.
The Washington Post’s Oct. 23 report broke the allegations from a former children’s ministry director who said Wood gave her more than $3,000 from church funds and, in April 2024, attempted to kiss her in his office. A second woman said Wood pressured her into situations she was “uncomfortable with” and invited her to drink alcohol with him. Wood also faces allegations from several priests of bullying and plagiarism. He has denied all but the most recent allegations of sexual harassment, which he declined to comment on, and will face a church trial.
Dobbs is the second bishop to serve in the interim archbishop role. In November, Bishop Ray Sutton, who initially took over Wood’s archbishop responsibilities, resigned from those duties, saying he was experiencing a recurrence of back issues. Sutton’s departure came after he and Wood were accused of discussing the appointment of a “bishop-friendly” Board of Inquiry, the body that investigates claims of misconduct against bishops. Sutton initially denied the conversation took place but later backtracked, saying he “could not recall” the discussion. Four chaplains also accused Sutton of playing a key role in mishandling their complaints against Jones, the head of the chaplaincy jurisdiction.
The changes in ACNA leadership are occurring as some denomination members question the ACNA’s commitment to holding its bishops accountable. On Dec. 16, an ACNA church court declared Bishop Stewart Ruch, an Anglican bishop accused of mishandling abuse allegations and failing to safeguard parishioners, not guilty on all counts. Over 70 ACNA clergy, 100 lay members and 25 former ACNA members have signed a public letter calling for an independent, third-party assessment of the Ruch investigation and trial. An audit of the proceedings is expected in 2026. The scope of the audit and the auditor have not yet been determined.