A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) by a chaplains group trying to break away from the denomination. U.S. District Judge Bruce Hendricks of the District of South Carolina’s Charleston Division issued an order Monday dismissing the lawsuit filed by the leadership of the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy against the ACNA.
Hendricks cited the church autonomy doctrine, a legal principle that bars secular courts from deciding disputes over a religious group’s doctrine or internal governance. “Stated succinctly, the Court finds that Plaintiff’s claims clearly involve matters not only of Bishop Jones’ church discipline, but also fundamental questions of internal church organization and polity,” Hendricks wrote.
“Indeed, to adjudicate any of Plaintiff’s claims, the Court would be forced to wade into these ecclesiastical disputes and delve into, for example, the extent to which both Bishop Jones and Plaintiff are subject to the ecclesiastical control of Defendant, which the Court believes would run afoul of the First Amendment.” The leadership of the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy (JAFC) sued ACNA last year over the denomination’s refusal to let the group disaffiliate.
The group’s decision to cut ties stemmed in part from what it describes as the mistreatment of JAFC Bishop Derek Jones, whom ACNA has accused of abusing his power.
The district court “has neither the desire nor the authority to entangle itself in such an essentially religious controversy,” Hendrickson said, granting the ACNA's motion to dismiss "pursuant to the church autonomy doctrine.” In September 2025, JAFC Chairman David van Esselstyn sent a letter to ACNA Archbishop Steven Wood saying the group was cutting ties with the denomination.