Troubling accusations have emerged against individuals in an International Diocese of the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC). They require some background for those (like me) who are trying to figure out what is being said and what may have happened. For those who aren’t terribly familiar, the REC left the Episcopal Church in 1873 to protest ritualism. More recently the REC was part of the Common Cause Partnership with AMiA and others and eventually was part of the founding of the ACNA in 2009 as a semi-autonomous sub-jurisdiction. The REC retained its own General Council, bishops, diocesan boundaries, canons, Book of Common Prayer, and ecclesiastical courts.
The REC has a jurisdiction in Germany called Anglikanische Kirche in Deutschland (AKD) or missionary convocation of Germany led by the Rt. Rev. Gerhard Meyer. According to a REC website “For many years, he assisted his wife Grace in operating “The Knüll,” a Christian Camp ministry in Schwarzenborn.” The same site gives the history of this camp as “Built as a German army camp in the late 1930’s, it was briefly owned by the U.S. Army before being acquired by REC Missionaries. For nearly 50 years, it was run sacrificially by Bishop Gerhard and Grace Meyer as a hospitality center and annual English Camp for young people.”
The camp was developed by Herman Brodish, a lay missionary and field director under the Reformed Episcopal Board of Foreign Missions and Global Outreach Mission. Brodish had a daughter named Grace who went on to marry the current bishop, Gerhard Meyer. Herman Brodish died on July 30, 2005, at the age of 77.
The AKD synod of October 2020 created a “Reform Commission” to “begin addressing the problems of the Diocese.”1 The Commission presented a report authored by the Reverends David Ayres, Marc Jankowski, and Ulrich Springer. This month REC priest the Rev. Lee Nelson wrote a Substack post regarding the camp and Bishop Meyer. Both Rev. Nelson and the report mention many highly concerning allegations, but none more so than this:
That multiple clear warning signs of pedophilia in an individual (now deceased) who had access to youth at the Knüllcamp for decades may have been ignored.
So that this does not get lost in all of the complicated ins and outs of this situation, I want to focus on just this accusation in this post. According to the report, “In early May 2020, these concerns were brought personally to Bishop Meyer. A letter was subsequently sent to him, outlining problems and offering recommendations for achieving solutions. A copy of the letter was eventually forwarded to Bishop Sutton, but a conversation with him in August 2020 indicated that since the AKD is an independent diocese, its problems would have to be addressed by and within the AKD.”
Question: did Bishop Meyer or the ADK investigate then or before the dead individual who had pedophile inclinations?
On October 20, 2021 Bishop Meyer forwarded the Commission’s report to Bishop Sutton. I do not know how or whether Bishop Sutton looked into this past case of a possible pedophile having access to an AKD (and thus REC) camp.
Five years later, on May 26, 2026 the Rev. Lee Nelson who had been sent to Germany unaware of this troubling history and who was then fired emailed Bishop Sutton, asking him about a phone call with another AKD priest who gave him the Commission’s report and made these long-held allegations,
“…in this phone call it was alleged that Bishop Meyer had knowledge of a priest in the AKD having possession of child pornography. It was further alleged that Bishop Gerhard did not notify authorities, and that you yourself were made aware of this, and did nothing. Is this true? I am aware also that this particular acquaintance made you aware of this, and nothing was done about it. He characterised it as ‘you just need to get over it.’ This call recounted decades of manipulation, and conniving not worthy of a bishop in the Church. I assume you were aware of this well in advance of my being sent to Germany?”
Bishop Sutton apparently denied that he did nothing about the Child Sexual Abuse Material situation. Bishop Sutton said that the police took a phone from an individual and found nothing on it. This situation seems to involve someone who is perhaps still alive and is a separate case from the dead person, although that is unclear at this time.
Bishop Sutton said of the dead person accused of having warning signs of pedophilia and who had access to youth at the Knüllcamp:
Regarding another individual referenced, this person’s inclinations were not known or confirmed until after his death.
Question: how were this person’s inclinations “confirmed” after his death?
Question: did the REC or AKD ever conduct an investigation to see if this dead person had victims from his decades of exposure to youth at the Knüllcamp?
Bishop Sutton denied problems with Bishop Gerhard:
As for Bp Gerhard being “manipulative and conniving,” that has not been my predecessors’ nor my experience with him over decades of training and ministry in the REC.
This despite having the Commission’s report on Gerhard in his possession for five years.
Currently there is an ongoing REC investigation into Bishop Meyer and an ongoing ACNA investigation into Bishop Sutton. Rev. Nelson wrote “Now, a new investigation into Bishop Meyer by the REC has been ongoing since July. I have asked repeatedly to see documents, such as police reports and even a copy of the final report, and have been ignored.”2
Fr. Lormand says, “The provincial office and chancellors say that this situation is not somehow under ACNA canons, so it’s not our business to sort out.” I am told that Chancellor Bill Nelson believes that Bishop Meyer is not a bishop in the ACNA, and therefore the ACNA has no jurisdiction. The REC has also apparently claimed that the ACNA has no jurisdiction.
On October 21, 2026 Bishop Gehard announced “I also enter into retirement from the Church, becoming Bishop Emeritus.”
On November 8, 2026 the REC issued an official call for nominations to elect a Bishop Coadjutor for the Diocese of Mid-America. The deadline for nominations is Friday, November 20, 2026.
I will update this post if I learn more.
- Ayres, David, Marc Jankowski, and Ulrich Springer. Report of the Reform Commission: Anglikanische Kirche in Deutschland. Reform Commission, 20 Apr. 2021. Dropbox, www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/za5ket16txylur74cp07b/Report-of-Reform-Commission-ENG.pdf. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026. ↩︎
- Substack post. ↩︎
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