Bishop Ray Sutton has withdrawn a license he granted to the Rev. Calvin Robinson only ten days earlier. Robinson posted a notice of Sutton’s decision on his Facebook page. Sutton’s decision came one day after Archbishop Steve Wood of the Anglican Church in North America issued a letter questioning the wisdom of Sutton’s granting the license.
The license, which Sutton granted May 4, did not make Robinson a priest of the Reformed Episcopal Church or of the Anglican Church in North America, but Wood objected to the association.
“I am concerned to have the Anglican Church of North America affiliated with a leader whose public comments and persona consistently fail to exhibit the love and grace of Jesus Christ,” Wood wrote. “I have concerns about Rev. Robinson’s ability to uphold the full commitments of our Anglican tradition, and his ability to model the Christ-like virtues of peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, and love.”
Robinson accepted Sutton’s withdrawal of his license without protest.
“It is done. Bp Ray Sutton is a good man. One of the best Anglican bishops I know,” said a brief note added to a screenshot of Sutton’s note to Robinson. “If even he cannot find a place for me, even temporarily, perhaps God is sending me a message.”
Robinson’s page on X.com is now inactive, but he remains active on Facebook, Substack, and TikTok.
Robinson is a former host on GB News in the United Kingdom, and he now presents Fox & Father, a show on YouTube. His partner on the show is actor and conservative political activist Laurence Fox, who ran for a seat in Parliament in 2023 but placed fourth. He also ran for mayor of London in 2021.
Robinson’s congregation, St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, voted to leave the Anglican Catholic Church on May 4. It has not posted a response to Bishop Sutton’s decision.
Douglas LeBlanc is the Associate Editor for Book Reviews and writes about Christianity and culture. He and his wife, Monica, attend St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Henrico, Virginia.
