Anglican Bishop Steve Wood Hospitalized with COVID-19, Lambeth Postponed

A prominent official in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) has been hospitalized with the disease caused by the Novel Coronavirus. Bishop Steve Wood of the Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas is in an intensive care unit and has been placed on a ventilator after falling ill, according to Anglican clergy.

The news comes as Church Times reports today that the Lambeth Conference, a decennial gathering of Anglican Communion bishops, will be postponed until 2021. That gathering was originally scheduled to occur in late July through early August in Kent, England.

Wood has been a prominent leader in both the North American Anglican realignment and within Reformed Anglican circles. He serves as rector (senior pastor) of St. Andrew’s Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

Wood was consecrated by ACNA Archbishop Bob Duncan as the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas in 2012. 

The bishop is regularly on Twitter, and last shared on March 19 the song “Remedy” by musician David Crowder with the words “Carrying me through this long night #COVIDー19”.

Another member of the church staff, the Rev. Anthony Kowbeidu, also tested positive for the virus last week according to an email sent Friday to St. Andrew’s congregation. Wood’s wife is quarantined at home. The church had already implemented a series of procedures to reduce the likelihood of virus transmission.

The church counts thousands of members and held six worship services on Sunday, March 15, leading to concerns that it may be a major vector in transmitting the disease. Symptoms often take at least five days to appear after infection. The ACNA College of Bishops has released a statement asking congregations not to hold in-person worship services or gatherings until further notice, but to offer, when possible, worship services on a virtual platform.

The Charleston Post and Courier has a full story here.

Transmission of the virus through congregations is a public health concern, as clergy can be in direct contact with hundreds of persons. A disproportionate percentage of congregants can be in high-risk groups, including the elderly or medically compromised receiving clergy visitation. The first confirmed case of Coronavirus in the District of Columbia was an Episcopal Church rector who is believed to have spread the virus to a church organist. The Rev. Timothy Cole of Christ Church Georgetown is believed to have contracted the virus at the annual meeting of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes in Louisville, Kentucky. Cole was one of at least eight Episcopal clergy present at a conference session who were later diagnosed with COVID-19.

The Georgetown rector has since recovered, although his congregation was asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. Aside from the organist, WTOP radio reported March 11 that only one member of the congregation has been symptomatic. Christ Church reports an average Sunday attendance of 444.

St. Andrew’s Mount Pleasant was at one point the seventh-largest congregation by attendance in the Episcopal Church, cutting ties in 2010 to join the Anglican Church in North America, where it continues to rank among the largest parishes. Situated in suburban Mount Pleasant, St. Andrew’s has grown into a multi-site church with additional congregations in North Charleston and downtown Charleston, directly across the Cooper River.

The congregation hosted the annual ACNA Provincial Council in 2016. Two years later, the church was heavily damaged in a fire that spared the historic chapel but required the church’s ministry center to be rebuilt. Wood shared regularly about community support the congregation received from other Christian organizations in Mount Pleasant.

“The Lord promises to bring beauty out of ashes,” Wood told the Post and Courier the day after the 2018 fire, surveying the remains of the charred ministry center, “and we’re taking him at his word.”

The ACNA has already made moves to postpone or convene virtually a series of upcoming events, including the June gathering of Provincial Council originally scheduled June 22-24 outside Asheville, North Carolina. A major gathering of bishops organized by the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) that was to feature the Rev. Rick Warren in Kigali, Rwanda, has also been postponed.

Update [3/24/2020]: “We don’t have a new word as of today to share at this time,” reported St. Andrew’s Worship Arts Leader Dwight Huthwaite in a video message shared on the church’s Facebook page the morning of Monday, March 23. “The last word we had was that he was stable. They were seeing improvements and the doctors were happy with that.”

I was able to speak with St. Andrew’s Church Communications Director Greg Shore, who relays on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 24 that doctors have seen improvements in x-ray images of Bishop Wood’s chest. “It will be a slow process,” doctors say of his treatment.

The Rev. Anthony Kowbeidu has been released from isolation by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Asked if the church staff is aware of anyone in contact with either clergy who have presented with symptoms, Shore explained “We don’t discuss the health issues of our members, good or bad.”

Update [3/24/2020]: Bishop Wood’s condition has worsened and an additional member of the clergy team, The Rev. Randy Forrester, has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Forrester serves as Associate Rector for Teaching and Equipping at St. Andrew’s Church and as Director for The Ridley Institute.

“Steve’s doctors tell us that he has taken a step back,” Shore writes. “His chest X-rays are slightly worse and they had to go back up on the ventilator setting. His temperature is in the low 100’s. His white blood count thought is slightly better. Continue to pray for Steve’s healing and for his family. Jacqui Wood asks that you also pray for wisdom for the medical team as they treat Steve and to pray for those that care for him.”

Update [3/25/2020]: An update from the Wood Family: “Thank you all for your prayers for Steve. Our spirits are lifted and warmed by the outpouring of love and support from our church family. Today Steve’s physicians and nurses have communicated that he is stable and slightly improved compared to yesterday. They anticipate that this will be a longer process than we all originally thought, but that they are pleased with how he is doing. We ask for your continued prayers for healing for his body and comfort for his soul.”

Update [3/27/2020]: “Steve did a breathing trial this morning that went well, though he is not quite ready to come off the ventilator. They are encouraged by his progress and think he will be off the ventilator soon.”

Update [3/29/2020]: “After a breathing trial on Saturday, the doctors kept Steve on the ventilator on the lowest settings. After evaluating him this morning, they believe a conservative approach to weaning him off the ventilator is best and will keep him on the ventilator today. Steve’s condition is definitely improving. The doctors believe that if he continues to improve, then he may be ready to come off the ventilator tomorrow.”

Update [3/30/2020]: Wood is off the ventilator and breathing on his own.

Update [4/1/2020]: “Steve continues to recover in the hospital. He is no longer in ICU and is in a step-down unit. He is able to talk with his family and is now eating on his own. After being on a ventilator for over a week, he does need time in the hospital to let his body continue to repair and strengthen before being discharged.

Right before we sent this update, the staff received a text message from Steve telling us that the doctors are pleased with his progress and that he may be discharged as soon as early next week.”

Update [4/3/2020]: Bishop Steve Wood has been discharged from the hospital and is now resting at home. He will continue to recover there.

Update [4/10/2020]: Bishop Wood have his wife Jacqui have written the St. Andrew’s congregation: