church

Bishop Derek Jones. (Photo © Anglican Chaplains)

Derek Jones is currently the center of attention in a scandal that rocked the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Derek has problems with his ego and his anger. Several people went to the Archbishop of the ACNA and complained about the way Derek treats people, which led to him being suspended, pending the completion of an investigation to see if an ecclesiastical court is necessary to charge him with violating the canons of the ACNA.

But Derek was not about to allow himself to be examined by a trial court, so he left the ACNA, took about half of his chaplains with him, and started a rival church. Anger and ego again.

Well, it seems there is more going on here than just Derek being an ecclesiastical thug. There are significant questions about the validity of his orders too. Here is the article: https://vulcanhammer.org/2025/12/29/derek-jones-and-those-wandering-acna-bishops/

Had the ACNA been more “on the ball” they could have contacted Derek’s old denomination (the Evangelical Episcopal Church) to uncover even more scandal. I knew Derek when we were both in the same diocese under Dr. Michael Simmons. I was a priest and Army chaplain, Derek was a deacon preparing for ordination to the priesthood. It seems that Derek wasn’t too happy with Dr. Simmons because he dared to follow the process involved in moving from the transititional diaconate to priesthood.

So Derek just up and left Dr. Simmons and found himself another bishop who would not only immediately ordain him to the priesthood…he would make him a bishop too! And that’s what happened to Derek.

You see, Derek has massive insecurities about appearances as well as problems with anger and ego. And when you mix all this up, you get an insecure man of little substance who takes out his anger and self-loathing on subordinates…all the while gaming systems and fooling people by “looking good” so he can “get ahead”.

In short, Derek Jones is a fraud.

In fairness to Derek, I ran afoul of him ten years ago. He was my former endorsing agent when I was with the ACNA. But Derek decided that my wife divorcing me was the right time to try to put me through a witch hunt instead of doing his due diligence and getting to the truth about my marriage and my ex-wife’s mental health challenges. And in the midst of all this, Derek violated his ordination vows by revealing privileged information in written documents.

I was angry for a long time, but not now. I believe what Derek and another bishop (Bill Murdoch) intended for evil, God intended for good and the salvation of many. Not the least of which is no longer being in the ACNA and free of the dysfunction found therein.

But I am concerned about the people still in the clutches of Derek in his little club where he gets to be the big cheese. And anything I can do to expose tyranny – especially in the Church – is part of my calling.

Full disclosure: I have faced accusations of moral inappropriateness in my life as an Army chaplain. I also resigned from ministry because my wife left me. And I faced a probationary period my last semester at a Christian College because of inappropriate sexual behavior with my then-fiancee’. I am no stranger to this situation.

What is happening in Dallas / Fort Worth at Gateway Church is terrible.

Here are the facts as reported in the media:

Robert Morris, the now-former pastor Gateway Church, had sexual contact with a 12-year old girl. Not sure how old Morris was at the time, but I’m guessing he was in his 20’s and married. He was very open about this situation and went through a process of reconciliation and forgiveness with the girl’s family. Throughout his ministry, he was open about this situation except the age of the child.

He apparently did not discuss this latter detail with the leadership team when he planted Gateway Church in the year 2000. Now, almost 40 years later, the woman is going public and making this an issue. She claims it was “abuse”, and instead of going to Morris to confront him, she went to a “whistle blower” to make a media issue out of this situation.

Here are my thoughts in the midst of these reports:

1. What Morris did with a 12-year old girl was immoral, inappropriate, stupid, and illegal. He was the adult in this relationship and bears the full consequences. All people of goodwill can agree that this was repugnant and SINFUL.

2. The parents had the right to prosecute Morris in 1987 but chose not to do it. I don’t know if there is a statute of limitations involved here, but there may be legal issues involved.

3. Pastors are moral leaders. Situations like this are complex because a young pastor made a serious moral error, but did everything correct in response. I believe raising this issue 40 years later is questionable.

4. Morris made the decision to resign his position today, which was the correct move. The people in his congregation have suffered too much for him to continue in ministry with them.

5. After a period of recovery, I believe Morris can and should take up ministry again…whether he should pastor a church is a matter between him, a congregation, and those to whom he is accountable.

6. I am OUTRAGED at how the media is silent about this woman coming forward 40 years later. This smells putrid to me. I believe the same sort of thing happened to Bill Hybels – with the difference that he still emphatically denies any sexual behavior occurred with his accuser.

7. Finally, the #MeToo movement looks more and more like a means to destroy people instead of healing victims. Make no mistake: inappropriate sexuality has no place in our society and definitely the church. But these revenge situations four decades later – especially in a case where the accused dealt honorably with his sin – is both wrong and immoral.