It is never enough to rely on church leaders’ good intentions or verbal assurances regarding the church’s procedures. It’s not just for canon lawyers – church governance concerns everyone.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/loose-canons-foundations/

Two years ago, @aaronmharrison noted that the Constitution and Canons of @midwestanglican did not equip the diocese to function within the nominal bounds of Anglican polity, let alone navigate a crisis involving the bishop’s leadership.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/loose-canons


In December 2022, Bp. Ruch shared that the task force reviewing the UMD’s Constitution and Canons had completed its work and a new constitutional structure was going before the @midwestanglican Diocesan Assembly for a provisional vote.

https://midwestanglican.org/advent-greetings-and-an-update-to-our-constitution-canons

The Diocesan Assembly issued the 1st ratification of its revised Constitution by a two-thirds majority vote on Dec 19, 2022. To be permanently adopted, the Constitution must be ratified a 2nd time, at this year’s Diocesan Assembly meeting on Dec 16, 2023.

https://www.acnatoo.org/revised-umd-constitution

As ACNAtoo has pointed out over the past two years, @MidwestAnglican has shown little interest in learning from their mistakes and has instead doubled down on the denial of any institutional wrongdoing – including around mandatory reporting failures https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/failures-in-mandatory-reporting.

This defiant lack of transparency and accountability is further reflected in the timeline for updating the Constitution and Canons – a process that is as hurried as it is opaque.

@MidwestAnglican members who plan to attend the Revive conference on October 27 have very little time to learn what a diocese’s constitution should do – and how the UMD’s revised Constitution continues to fall short.

Even more importantly, @MidwestAnglican members must understand how to evaluate the Canons in order to weigh in on them during the narrow two-week window allotted for feedback.

Far from engaging lay people with the Anglican civic context they need to make informed decisions, the UMD has not yet even released the text of the revised Constitution or Canons to its members.

https://www.acnatoo.org/revised-umd-constitution

Read our analysis of the @MidwestAnglican Constitution and take action before it's too late.

Action 1.  There is no guarantee that the Synod will be an elected, representative body, including both clergy and lay people. Push for that to be specified in the Constitution.

Action 2.  There is no guarantee that the Standing Committee will be an independent body, and its members may assume legal responsibilities without their full knowledge. Push for that to be corrected in the Constitution and in diocesan communications.

Action 3.  Refuse to ratify the revised @MidwestAnglican Constitution as it stands. Demand a Constitution that offers governance modeled after dioceses that have held their bishops and other authorities accountable.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/ACNAtoo/BfvLLVz

Church Governance Matters

In May 2019, child sexual abuse by lay catechist Mark Rivera was disclosed to Christ Our Light, a now-defunct church in @midwestanglican. There is no indication that church or diocesan leaders ever reported these allegations to DCFS as legally required.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/failures-in-mandatory-reporting

The @midwestanglican leaders have claimed there were no mandatory reporting failures on their part, but their reasoning doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

.@ChurchRez is the cathedral church of @The_ACNA @MidwestAnglican and the second church to which the mother reported her daughter’s allegations, as well as her serious concerns about additional children who, unlike her daughter, were in ongoing contact with Mark Rivera.

To this day, @MidwestAnglican leaders assert that there were “no mandatory reporting failures” in this situation, something they claim to have verified with three unnamed lawyers.

During a November 10, 2022 closed-door “family meeting" at Rez, Alec Smith, Advising Chancellor for the @MidwestAnglican and husband of @ChurchRez Sr. Warden Jill Smith, justified church leaders’ failure to report child sexual abuse

https://religionnews.com/2022/11/17/returning-from-self-imposed-hiatus-acna-bishop-stewart-ruch-works-to-regain-trust/

Alec Smith posited that Rivera was “not in a caregiver position,” that “the abuse claim was hearsay since it was reported by the mother," and that “allowing” the mother to report the abuse instead of church leaders doing so actually represented “victim-centered” best practice.

1) UMD’s Argument: Rivera was not in a caregiver position, so this was “not a DCFS matter.” As such, no clergy or church leaders were required to report.

Analysis: Illinois state law requires mandated reporters to make a report within 48 hours of becoming aware of suspected child abuse or neglect.

It is never the function of a mandated reporter to decide whose jurisdiction a report falls under or to in any way attempt to evaluate or investigate the abuse claims. It is their legal requirement to make a report, full stop.

That report is always first made to the DCFS hotline, as their operators are the ones trained specifically in child protection and therefore best equipped to decide whether a report warrants follow up.

2) UMD’s Argument: The report was “hearsay,” since the mother told the priest, Rev. Rand York, about her child’s abuse, rather than the child telling the priest directly. Therefore Rev. York and other leaders did not have enough information to make a report.

Analysis: The ONLY information a mandated reporter needs to make a report is “reasonable cause to believe a child is being abused ” The state of IL, in its case against Mark Rivera, found a child’s self-report of abuse to be reasonable and grounds for conviction.

By downplaying serious allegations as “hearsay,” @MidwestAnglican can also conveniently ignore the fact that Cherin met with @ChurchRez leaders in June 2019 to share her worries about 3 additional minors who had ongoing contact with Mark.

This is the very definition of having reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused, yet no reports were made by the church on behalf of these children. Cherin later shared these concerns with the authorities.

After two additional victims of Mark Rivera came forward in November 2020, Cherin reminded Dcn. Valerie McIntyre of her concerns about these three children, but still no action was taken by the church to protect them.

Dcn. McIntyre said while it was likely Mark Rivera may have abused one or all of them, there was nothing the church could do unless the children reported abuse themselves. It was not until Joanna Rudenborg emailed Bp Stewart Ruch in January 2021 that Rez finally called DCFS.

3) UMD’s Argument: “Allowing” Cherin to report her daughter’s abuse, rather than the priest reporting it, was the most victim-centered thing to do. Because of this, it was acceptable that church leaders stepped aside and did not report the abuse themselves.

Analysis: A mandated reporter is required to report suspected child abuse within 48 hours, regardless of their personal (and in this case, unfounded) speculations on the victim’s (or their family’s) preferences.

It is never the function of a mandated reporter to place their own legal responsibility on the victim’s family or to defend this action by claiming it is best for the victim. Sometimes it empowers the victim to report it themselves, but specific purposes and parameters apply.

A victim-centered approach means that the victim (or for a minor victim, their primary caretaker) is given the option to report the abuse first themselves with the full and unconditional support of the mandated reporter.

When Cherin later spoke publicly about these mandatory reporting failures, Rev. Rand York falsely claimed that Cherin had asked church leaders not to report her daughter’s abuse and that he was simply following her wishes by not contacting the authorities.
https://religionnews.com/2021/07/19/acna-mother/

The actions of Rev. York and Sr. Warden Chris Lapeyre were the opposite of “victim-centered.” Learning how Alec Smith and @midwestanglican church leaders defended and justified this mishandling is devastating to Cherin’s family.

To suggest that the actions Cherin’s family experienced as harmful were actually right and caring significantly compounds that harm. Continuing to deny both the original harm and how it has since been compounded is not what learning and repentance look like.

To read our full analysis of @MidwestAnglican's spurious reasoning, click here: https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/failures-in-mandatory-reporting


You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/ACNAtoo/4NT5Bni

ICYMI: After a busy year, we’re looking back on the events of 2022 and looking forward with hope to the year ahead.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-news/whistleblowers-warnings-what-you-can-do

JANUARY: On January 5, 2022, @the_ACNA Provincial Response Team (PRT) presented certain Rivera survivors with two pre-selected investigation firms. The PRT invited these survivors to vote on which of these firms should conduct a third-party investigation into @midwestanglican.

This invitation came after six months of fruitless communication between @the_ACNA COO (now Bishop) Alan Hawkins and ACNAtoo advocates, beginning around the time of our July 15, 2021 open letter to Archbishop Foley Beach.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/openletter

During these 6 months, we attempted to educate @The_ACNA on the essential components of a trauma-informed, survivor-centered investigation. Multiple Rivera survivors declined to participate in the investigation firm selection process (and ultimately the investigation itself).

Why? They were being asked to cast a vote while simultaneously being denied the most critical information about the investigation: the contract specifying the processes and parameters of the investigation.

https://www.acnatoo.org/2022-0106-joanna-prt-letter

These survivors instead added their signatures, along with almost 700 other signatories, to our January 2022 Petition to the Province.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/a-petition-to-the-province

The petition called upon @the_ACNA to honor the ACNAtoo survivors’ wishes and hire an investigation firm that would comprehensively investigate allegations of mishandling, following the best practices of an independent and survivor-centric investigation.

Despite these public survivor requests, the PRT selected @HuschBlackwell to investigate @MidwestAnglican sexual abuse mishandling allegations and refused to waive attorney-client privilege or publish the investigation contract.

The PRT also hired @TeliosLaw to separately investigate other abuse of power allegations in the UMD, again declining to waive privilege or publish the contract, as well as declining even to publish a final investigation report.

On January 17, 2022, three of the eight PRT members resigned publicly.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-news/prt-resignation-011722

In an April 25 open letter to fellow clergy, @the_ACNA Deacon and former PRT Victim Advocate Gina Roes (@artofbreathing) recounted why:

https://www.acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses/clergy-letter


This realization and other serious irregularities in the PRT process led these three PRT members to believe that Bp. Alan Hawkins and other @the_ACNA leaders had gravely mishandled the abuse cases in @MidwestAnglican and were not proceeding in good faith.

Concurrently, Helen Keuning, a longtime @the_ACNA parishioner and member of the @MidwestAnglican Bishop’s Council, began to identify patterns that revealed the UMD's continued choice to prioritize institutional power over survivors. On 3/18/22, she too would resign her position.

FEBRUARY: On February 21, 2022, ACNAtoo published River's Story, which details how @ChurchRez lay leader Mark Rivera groomed and abused her in plain view of Rez leaders in the early 2000s.

https://www.acnatoo.org/diocese-of-the-upper-midwest/rivers-story

River’s story corroborates Lily’s Story, published in 2021, further refuting @MidwestAnglican Bp. Stewart Ruch’s standing claim that Mark Rivera’s abuses did not take place “on church property or at a church event.”

https://www.acnatoo.org/diocese-of-the-upper-midwest/part-5-lillys-story

MARCH: On March 18, 2022, senior @MidwestAnglican Bishop’s Council member Helen Keuning resigned her position on the Council, saying she could no longer participate in the process in good conscience.

Helen was a longtime @the_ACNA member who had also served on Bp. Stewart Ruch’s 2021 @MidwestAnglican response team, which was formed to address survivor calls for an independent investigation into the Mark Rivera abuse mishandling situation.

Helen concluded: “I no longer trusted the leadership in @MidwestAnglican or in @the_ACNA to follow in the footsteps of Christ."

https://www.acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses/bc-resignation-reason04


APRIL: On April 25, 2022, ACNAtoo released the first installment of our Witnesses Series from @the_ACNA Deacon and former PRT member Gina Roes (@artofbreathing).
https://www.acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses/clergy-letter

This series would bring together key documentation and first-hand accounts from former @MidwestAnglican Bishop’s Council member Helen Keuning:

https://www.acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses/bc-resignation-reason01

As well as former PRT member @autumnvandehei:

https://www.acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses/victim-advocate-speaks-out

And @luhmannaudrey, ACNAtoo liaison to @The_ACNA:

https://www.acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses/a-deafening-silence

These five women demonstrated how @the_ACNA’s institutional betrayal of survivors followed strikingly similar patterns, from diocesan conference rooms up through the highest provincial offices.

Also in April 2022, a group of survivors in @ADChristOurHope issued an open letter https://www.acnatoo.org/christ-our-hope/open-letter through ACNAtoo:

They alleged serious mishandling of their allegations of spiritual abuse and pastoral misconduct against the Rev. Dan Claire at @rezchurch in Washington, DC.

https://religionnews.com/2022/04/07/anglicans-say-leaders-botched-response-to-allegations-against-dc-priest/

This letter served as a public reminder that ecclesiastical abuse of power in @the_ACNA was not limited to the @MidwestAnglican and @pittanglicans:

 https://www.acnatoo.org/pittsburgh

.@ADChristOurHope Bishop-coadjutor Alan Hawkins, who had overseen the failed PRT response to the @MidwestAnglican crisis, now became involved in the investigation in his own diocese.

.@ADChristOurHope enlisted @GrandRiverSols, the firm rejected by @midwestanglican survivors just months earlier:

https://www.acnatoo.org/piecing-it-all-together-part04

.@ADChristOurHope hired @GrandRiverSols not even to investigate the outstanding allegations of abuse, but only to investigate the mishandling of an earlier investigation.

https://caef817244d5f21ecddb-92c76cb1053f4e9ea0aba27a90d8d1b2.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/uploaded/g/0e15023305_1667229985_grs-executive-summary-report-103122.pdf

It remains unknown how @ADChristOurHope will address the original complaints against Rev. Claire at @rezchurch, make amends for their own mishandling, or prevent such problems from recurring in the future.

MAY: On May 16, 2022, ACNAtoo published Ursa's Story, which details how Christopher Lapeyre used his position as a high school teacher to groom and later sexually abuse her during the same time period when he was serving as a lay leader at @ChurchRez.

https://www.acnatoo.org/diocese-of-the-upper-midwest/ursas-story

Ursa’s story corroborates Clarke’s Story, published in 2021, in which Clarke, also a former student of Chris Lapeyre, alleges that Chris groomed her at both school and church while he was serving as a lay leader at Christ Our Light Anglican Church (COLA).

https://www.acnatoo.org/diocese-of-the-upper-midwest/clarkes-story

Ursa’s story prompted @ChurchRez to finally inform their congregation about Lapeyre, who was still attending Rez in 2022.

https://churchrez.org/parishioner-update/

Throughout the spring of 2022, current and former parishioners at @ChurchRez, as well as @midwestanglican leaders, interviewed with @HuschBlackwell and @TeliosLaw as part of the two investigations into the UMD.

Many individuals — including former @MidwestAnglican Bishop’s Council member Helen Keuning — privately and publicly raised concerns about their experience with both law firms.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses/bc-resignation-reason01

Read some of those public comments from @katierouqine and @abbinye:

https://twitter.com/katierouquine/status/1510718733915811840

https://twitter.com/abbinye/status/1521147521627680769

The @HuschBlackwell investigation report, released in September, would validate many of these concerns. Meanwhile, nearly a year after its launch, the status of the @TeliosLaw investigation remains unknown.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-news/re-release-of-husch-blackwell-report

The approximate cost of these two investigations to @the_ACNA parishioners is $350,000, according to the Province, yet to date there is no evidence that either investigation has led or will lead to any form of accountability in @midwestanglican.

JULY: Former @the_ACNA lay leader Mark Rivera’s criminal trial finally began on 7/12/22. Rivera was first arrested in 2019 and charged with 10 felony counts, inc. multiple counts of Predatory Crim. Sex. Assault of a Victim < 13 and Aggravated Crim. Sex. Abuse of a Victim < 13.

Since then, over a dozen survivors have come forward with accounts of abuse by Rivera, with allegations including rape, assault, child sexual abuse, indecent exposure, and grooming.

https://religionnews.com/2021/07/28/acna-accusers-say-church-leaders-failed-to-acknowledge-their-accounts-of-abuse/

Rivera has also been charged with 2 felony counts of sexual assault of an adult victim, with that case scheduled to go to trial in May 2023.

https://religionnews.com/2021/12/30/former-acna-lay-pastor-charged-additional-sexual-assault-felonies/

SEPTEMBER: @The_ACNA released the @HuschBlackwell report publicly on September 27, 2022, two days before the scheduled conclusion of Mark Rivera’s criminal trial.

https://anglicanchurch.net/husch-blackwell-report-released/

The @HuschBlackwell report was improperly redacted and contained explicit alleged details about the abuse of one of Rivera’s child victims, whose parents had declined to participate in the investigation citing concerns including survivor safety.

.@The_ACNA took down the report after several days of public outcry and private emails demanding proper redaction.

https://anglicanchurch.net/husch-blackwell-report-update/

After a month of waiting for @the_ACNA to issue a properly redacted report, the ACNAtoo team combed through the 58 pp, redacted personal and identifying survivor information per survivor specifications, and published this redacted version of the report.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-news/re-release-of-husch-blackwell-report.

Almost three months later, the ACNA has not re-released the Husch Blackwell report and has not issued any updates on when they plan to do so.

Starting in 2021, ACNAtoo survivors and their advocates consistently requested a demonstrably independent third-party investigation:

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/investigations-101-waiving-privilege.

In early 2022 we identified concerns about @the_ACNA’s contract with @HuschBlackwell. HB’s public report provides ample evidence that those concerns were justified.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses/victim-advocate-speaks-out

Despite survivor calls for a thorough investigation, @The_ACNA limited the scope of what @HuschBlackwell could investigate and specifically prohibited them from analyzing or evaluating the data they collected.

By preventing @HuschBlackwell from delivering evaluative assessments, guidance, or professional judgments, @the_ACNA failed to address @midwestanglican’s documented patterns of abuse and mishandling.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/umd-abuse-mishandling-summary

OCTOBER: Despite the evidence of sexual abuse mishandling detailed in the @HuschBlackwell report, and despite the ongoing @TeliosLaw investigation into abuse of power in @midwestanglican, Abp. Foley Beach announced on 10/21/22...

https://anglicanchurch.net/an-update-regarding-the-upper-midwest-october-21-2022/

...that Bp. Stewart Ruch would return from his 16-month leave of absence.

https://religionnews.com/2022/10/21/acna-bishop-stewart-ruch-accused-of-spiritual-abuse-ends-voluntary-leave/

Bp. Ruch resumed his role as acting Bishop of @MidwestAnglican under the supervision of Bp. Martyn Minns, who is alleged to have mishandled a separate recent abuse situation in @pittanglicans.

https://www.acnatoo.org/pittsburgh

NOVEMBER: On November 10, 2022, Church of the Resurrection (Rez) held a “church family only” meeting in which leaders spoke to approximately 800 attendees about the abuse situation.

https://religionnews.com/2022/11/17/returning-from-self-imposed-hiatus-acna-bishop-stewart-ruch-works-to-regain-trust/

Citing “safety of the church family,” @Church_Rez leaders, w/ hired, armed police, targeted certain people for removal from the church building, inc. a Rivera victim’s mother and 2 recent Rez members who had written publicly in support of UMD survivors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keC88TRhXkc

Attendees reported to ACNAtoo that in the closed-door meeting, @MidwestAnglican lawyers defended multiple leaders’ failure to report child abuse to the authorities back in 2019 and maintained that clergy had done nothing wrong by not reporting the abuse.

https://religionnews.com/2022/11/17/returning-from-self-imposed-hiatus-acna-bishop-stewart-ruch-works-to-regain-trust/

DECEMBER: The UMD’s failure to learn from its mistakes was thrown into further relief in December. We published the news  that @ChurchRez had failed to notify the congregation...

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/rez-fails-to-notify-parents-of-sexual-predator

...that @ChurchRez leaders had made arrangements for serial child sexual abuser and registered sex offender John Hays to secretly attend in their midst since 2019.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/oak-park/chi-river-forest-sex-abuse-20141010-story.html

In response, @ChurchRez issued an announcement about Hays’ attendance, then shortly afterward published their policy on registered sex offenders attending the church.

https://churchrez.org/publicly-named-parishioner/

https://churchrez.org/child-safety-and-rso-questions/

Closing out the main events of 2022, Mark Rivera’s bench trial finally culminated in a verdict on December 15.

https://religionnews.com/2022/12/15/mark-rivera-a-former-anglican-lay-pastor-found-guilty-of-felony-child-sexual-assault/

Rivera was found guilty on 2 counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Victim under 13 (Class X felonies) and 3 counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Victim under 13 (Class 2 felonies). The sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 10, 2023.

Although @the_ACNA Provincial leaders and @MidwestAnglican have not prioritized a trauma-informed or survivor-centered response — nor indicated that they recognize their failure to do so — we are grateful for the grassroots movement we see at the parish level around the ACNA.

It is these courageous souls who will help steer @the_ACNA towards a healthier future. We are encouraged by the people who have reached out to us asking, “What can I do to prevent abuse in my local church?”

In the last year and a half, we have been informed of unresolved abuse cases in 10 of @the_ACNA’s 28 dioceses, and we maintain confidential contact with dozens of survivors and witnesses associated with these cases.

Our conversations with numerous survivors have made it clear to us that abuse and mishandling are pervasive ongoing problems within @the_ACNA, and that the Province and many diocesan leaders remain unmotivated to acknowledge or reckon with this cancer in their denomination.

In light of this, it falls to parishioners and clergy to take swift, direct action to address the abuse crisis in @the_ACNA. Individual ACNA parishes must push for policy and ecclesial reform & take personal steps to transform the culture of @the_ACNA from the bottom up.

Our Take Action  page can help you get started with this.

https://www.acnatoo.org/take-action

We also encourage all ACNA parishioners to take the following steps:

1) Familiarize yourself with the Constitution and Canons of your diocese, as well as those of @the_ACNA:

https://anglicanchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/CURRENT-C-and-C-2019.pdf

Be sure you understand the accountability structure, including avenues for filing formal complaints and the mechanisms in place to initiate disciplinary proceedings for accused leaders. For many dioceses, these processes are not clearly laid out or accessible online.

Ask for this to be corrected. Furthermore, if you find that your diocese’s Constitutions and Canons lack structures for accountability and discipline, bring this to the attention of your clergy, diocesan standing committees, and bishop.

2) Inquire with your local clergy about the official channels for reporting allegations of abuse or mishandling. Assess whether these channels protect and support the survivors and witnesses using them.

Enlist trauma-informed, survivor-centered, independent experts to review your reporting policy and close loopholes that can lead to silencing or further traumatizing of abuse survivors.

https://www.netgrace.org/assessments

3) Transform your local parish culture by insisting your leaders provide accessible anti-abuse resources for parishioner self-education. Do ongoing trainings led by independent experts to teach clergy, lay leaders, and parishioners how to identify and prevent grooming and abuse.

Organizations offering online training include @netgrace_org and the @AllenderCenter. Many local organizations also provide training in this area.

https://www.netgrace.org/online-training

https://theallendercenter.org/offerings/

4) Explore a wide range of first-hand abuse survivor accounts, at the ACNAtoo website and elsewhere. Learn about the insidious dynamics of predatory abuse and the devastating impact it has on victims.

https://www.acnatoo.org/diocese-of-the-upper-midwest

Successful anti-abuse advocacy requires entering deeply into the stories of survivors and personally grasping the brutal reality of their experiences. A few sites to get you started: @RAINN, @RestoredVoices, @into_account, @CFCtoo.

5) If you are a parent or caretaker of children, learn how to have frank and supportive discussions with them about boundaries, consent, and bodily autonomy.

https://themamabeareffect.org/rock-the-talk/rock-the-talk-infants-toddlers/

https://www.rainn.org/articles/talking-your-kids-about-sexual-assault

Ensure that they feel empowered to come to you or another trusted adult, knowing any concerns or questions will be taken seriously. Grooming tactics may not raise questions or concerns in children initially, so learn how to ask the right questions.

https://themamabeareffect.org/red-flags-of-child-predators/

6) Seek qualified professional care to process your own experiences with & reactions to abuse, sexuality, relationships, boundaries, etc. The first step in helping others through fear, shame, & trauma is to tend to your own.

7) If you have reason to suspect a child is being abused, do not go to church leaders first. Contact the authorities, then seek expert help while protecting the identity of the victim.

Contact information by state for reporting child abuse or neglect:

https://www.childwelfare.gov/organizations/?CWIGFunctionsaction=rols:main.dspList&rolType=custom&rs_id=5

If an adult victim discloses abuse to you, believe them, keep their report confidential, and respect their autonomy by supporting them to address the abuse in the ways that are safe for them.

In short, churchgoers cannot check a few boxes and be done; anti-abuse advocacy must become a regular part of church life and culture, starting in the hearts and homes of individual parishioners.

We recognize that taking action to understand and address abuse in the ACNA will be uncomfortable. It will require people to ask hard questions of their leaders and, in some instances, may require individuals or groups to initiate disciplinary processes against these leaders.

Transforming current parish and diocesan culture into one that is safe for survivors requires challenging both ourselves and our existing power structures. Yet prioritizing the vulnerable over the powerful is what Christ calls us to do.

If we care more for our leaders’ comfort and reputations than for victims of abuse, then we have lost sight of the Gospel. In closing, we invite you to shine a bright light into the darkest and most neglected corners of your church community. This is where you will find Christ.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/ACNAtoo/rwrSNY7

Multiple people have provided ACNAtoo with a text message that a @ChurchRez member sent to congregants, warning them of a convicted sex offender who has been attending Rez for the past three years.

https://abc7chicago.com/john-hays-river-forest-pastor-reverend/144522/

While we cannot independently confirm the actions of the message’s author, we can confirm the validity of the situation addressed. ACNAtoo advocate Audrey Luhmann also learned of John Hays' attendance from sources outside @ChurchRez.

On Friday, Oct. 28 Audrey reached out to Dcn. Will Chester and Pastor Meghan Robins, requesting that the church notify its congregants of Hays’ attendance. To date, we are unaware of any action on @ChurchRez's part to address this concern.

You can read the text message from the concerned @ChurchRez congregant on our website:

www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/rez-fails-to-notify-parents-of-sexual-predator

Contrary to common assumptions, grooming and abuse often happen in plain sight.

https://twitter.com/katierouquine/status/1574409182584836097?s=20&t=2L0gATzBwpm3PHyb4KMZsQ

Research shows that individuals who sexually abuse children have an incredibly high rate of re-offense. For this reason, we are making the public aware of this grave and ongoing safety concern at @ChurchRez.

http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/rcd.html

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/ACNAtoo/d35s8KW

🧵 On Thursday, November 3, ACNAtoo received documentation and an assertion from @ChurchRez Deacon @Wwchester challenging the veracity of an entry in our recent Timeline installment.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-news/statement-on-the-recent-challenge

.@wwchester's request indicates that he believes Helen's recollection is a false statement that impugns Bp. Ruch's character, and he offers Cn. Brenda's email as evidence.

However, Helen's account states that she believes her recollections to be accurate and does not see Brenda's email as contradicting them.

Helen stands by her statement that Bp. Ruch affirmed in the July Zoom meeting that Rachael Denhollander had, for an unknown reason, canceled her appointment with the UMD.

She holds to the assertion that news of this cancellation precipitated subsequent speculation as to why Rachael would have done such a thing and conversation about how to proceed in the wake of this disappointing news.

We have therefore concluded that the public correction we initially planned to make is not warranted, and we have returned Helen’s original testimony regarding this Zoom call to our Timeline.

We will also be adding a link to this explanation and its additional documentation provided by @ChurchRez to the same Timeline post.
https://www.acnatoo.org/piecing-it-all-together-part-5 .

We appreciate @Wwchester bringing this email to our attention. If anyone has further documentation or testimony concerning the events in question, they are welcome to reach out to us at info@acnatoo.org.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/ACNAtoo/3PyhUq7

.@MidwestAnglican leaders have been accused of mishandling and failing to respond adequately to allegations of sexual abuse against Catechist Mark Rivera.

The @HuschBlackwell investigation has concluded and a report was published Sept. 27th.

https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/umd-abuse-mishandling-summary

The report has since been removed for further redaction after outcry from the public and from victims and their families.

On Oct. 21, @The_ACNA announced that @MidwestAnglican Bp. Stewart Ruch has decided to end his voluntary leave and will return to active ministry on Oct. 30.

Currently, no canonical charges have been filed against Bp. Ruch in response to the investigation's findings.

It is important to revisit the evidence previously documented by @ACNAtoo, much of which has been corroborated by HB and the testimony of @MidwestAnglican employees.

Mark Rivera was first arrested in June, 2019 on 9 counts of sexual assault and abuse of a child for allegedly abusing his 9-yr-old goddaughter.

Since then, 14 additional reported survivors have come forward alleging grooming, sexual abuse, assault, child sexual abuse, and rape.

Two active criminal cases against Mark Rivera are currently pending in Kane County, Illinois.

The following is a basic summary of how @MidwestAnglican leadership failed in their response to the initial allegations against Rivera. We have divided the examples into 8 categories.

1️⃣ Mandated Reporting Failures

🔸 Bp. Ruch, Rev. Rand York, Sr. Warden Chris Lapeyre, Can. William Beasley, and Chancellor Charles Philbrick learned of child sexual abuse allegations from a 9-yr-old child against Catechist Mark Rivera and failed to report to law enforcement.

🔸 Chan. Philbrick advised Rev. York that he was not a mandated reporter in this case:

“Philbrick said he concluded that Fr. York had no reporting obligation because [redacted] the alleged abuse did not happen at a church event, ...

" ... and that Rivera lacked any role involving oversight over the child.” - HB pg 18

🔸 On May 18, 2019, Christ Our Light Anglican (COLA) church leaders informed the alleged child victim’s mother that the Chancellor for the Diocese had told them ...

... that they were not required to report her daughter's abuse to the authorities and that she did not need to report it either. - HB pg 19

“Lapeyre acknowledged that, during the initial May 18, 2019 joint meeting, he did tell [redacted] that she did not need to call the police in part because he was unsure of her desire to do so.” - HB pg 18

🔸 No one from COLA, @ChurchRez, @greenhousemove, or the @MidwestAnglican ever filed a report on behalf of the alleged child victim.

The child’s mother was left to report her daughter’s abuse on her own, over 48 hours after first informing church leaders, against direct and felt pressure from COLA leaders and members not to report Mark Rivera to the authorities.

🔸 On June 12, 2019, Rev. York emailed Bp. Ruch and other leaders to explain others had alleged sexual abuse by Mark Rivera.

No reports were made to authorities.

No one followed up with the individuals (both former @ChurchRez members who had been abused as minors) - HB pg 32

🔸 On June 16, 2019, the victim's mother alleges that @ChurchRez leaders Dcn. Valerie McIntyre and Meghan Robins were made aware of additional child sexual abuse allegations against Mark Rivera and likewise did not report the allegations. - HB pg 31

2️⃣ Failure to Believe the Initial Child Sexual Abuse Victim:

🔸 Rev. Rand York, priest of COLA (where Mark Rivera served as church catechist), made several statements expressing his opinion that Rivera had not engaged in the abusive conduct of which he was accused:

From Rev. York’s personal notes dated May 2019:

“I believe Mark to be innocent of the accusation that is being made, but the charge itself is the most important thing at this point.” - HB pg 24

May 20, 2019, Rev. York emailed COLA and @ChurchRez leaders the following:

“While I believe this entire accusation to be spurious (something has happened to this girl, but Mark is not the culprit), I fear however that this will spell the end of Christ Our Light.” - HB pg 24

May 29, 2019, Rev. Rand York stated in an email: “I believe Mark to be innocent. I would be stunned to find anything untoward with regard to his actions.” - HB pg 25

🔸 @MidwestAnglican Chancellor Charles Philbrick, who advised clergy they did not need to report the child’s abuse to DCFS, also admitted to not believing the child’s allegations.

The HB report states: “Philbrick described the allegations as hard to believe because the child was saying she was touched with her parents and siblings in the room.” - HB pg 24

🔸 On June 14, 2019, Rev. York emailed Bp. Ruch and other leaders regarding his desire to encourage the child victim’s family to withdraw their daughter’s abuse allegations against Mark Rivera:

“I have reached out to [redacted] for her to ask [the child victim’s family] if they would prefer to drop charges and resolve this another way (1 Corinthians 6:1-6). If [redacted] does reach out in that way, ...

"... then the response from [the child victim’s family], whatever it might be, will greatly inform everyone.” - HB pg 27-28

Bp. Ruch responded the next day with approval:

“I am ok with this – as long as it is absolutely clear that [redacted] are receiving NO pressure from ...

" ... you or me – that is, the Church – to drop charges. As per the position of the Church and her ethical posture, they must follow their conscience.” - HB pg 28

🔸 Dcn. Valerie McIntyre, who provided pastoral care to the child victim’s family, described herself as one of the few individuals at the church who believed the child’s allegations from the outset. - HB pg 26

While Bp. Ruch claims to have remained “personally agnostic” regarding the accusations against Mark Rivera, he supported fellow church leaders who openly dismissed the child’s allegations as “spurious” and “hard to believe.” - HB pg 23

Bp. Ruch and his wife Katherine had a close personal connection to the Rivera family, which may have impacted their response to the alleged child victim’s allegations:

“Specifically, McIntyre said that Katherine Ruch kindly took actions seeking to protect [redacted] ...

" ... out of a sense of spiritual responsibility and felt, at the time, that Katherine and Bishop Ruch might have been better off recusing themselves from decisions about communications given that personal interest.” - HB pg 36

3️⃣ Financial and Pastoral Support for the Alleged Abuser:

🔸 Bp. Ruch provided material financial support to Mark Rivera by designating $1000 from his personal discretionary fund:

“The email specifically stated Bishop Ruch was “authorizing $1000.00 from my discretionary fund to be spent on items in which Fr. Rand and Chris unanimously agree and thereby direct those funds.” - HB pg 27

Bishop Ruch admitted in his second interview with @HuschBlackwell that this award of funds left Fr. Rand and Lapeyre discretion to direct use of the funds, without any limit on use for any attorney fees Rivera might incur. - HB pg 27

🔸 Bp Ruch provided personal support for Mark Rivera and his family by attending Mark Rivera’s bond hearing in early June 2019. - HB pg 27

Bp. Ruch would later tell the victim’s parents that he prayed with and ministered to Mark Rivera’s family and other COLA members when he attended Mark’s bond hearing.

At the time of the hearing Bp. Ruch had made no attempt to contact the child victim or her family, despite the fact that the victim’s family was cut off from their church community, had no pastoral care or support then, and was unaware that Mark Rivera had even been arrested.

🔸 When two additional survivors later came forward with allegations of rape and sexual abuse against Mark Rivera in November of 2020, Bp. Ruch and his wife would personally visit Mark to pray for and minister to him at his home.

Bp. Ruch reportedly met with and prayed for Rivera a second time in-person around this same time. - HB pg 47

🔸 Bp. Ruch gave approval to church leaders, namely Chan. Philbrick, to help Rivera find an attorney to fight the sexual abuse allegations brought by the child victim.

🔸 Bp. Ruch, Charles Philbrick, Rev. York, Katherine Ruch, William Beasley, Brenda Dumper, and Christopher Lapeyre discussed options for helping Mark Rivera pay for legal representation to fight the sexual abuse report brought by the alleged child victim. - HB pg 27

🔸 @ChurchRez is reported by multiple sources to have made contributions to Mark Rivera’s rent while he was released on bond for charges of child sexual abuse.

🔸 @ChurchRez is additionally reported to have paid for professional counseling services for Mark Rivera’s family members, while equitable support was not provided to the child victim’s family.

4️⃣ Failure to Provide Support to the Child Victim’s Family:

🔸 On June 29, 2019, Bp. Ruch told the child victim’s parents that he could not minister personally to their family, because he needed to focus his time and energy on providing support and oversight to Fr. Rand York.

This stands in contrast to what Bp. Ruch reported to Husch Blackwell:

“...he felt he needed to "stay in his lane" and provide pastoral care for the alleged victim and perpetrator.” - HB pg 24

🔸 Bp. Ruch offered $500 to the child victim’s family, but this support was never provided.

🔸 When the victim’s mother sought help from @ChurchRez to pay for professional counseling, she was told that the church would only contribute $500 towards counseling assistance.

🔸 COLA priest Rev. York promised the child victim’s parents that the church would pay for counseling for their daughter, but, after approving payment for her first four counseling sessions, COLA leaders stopped responding to the family’s messages requesting additional help.

🔸 The victim's infant brother was scheduled to be baptized in late May, 2019, but this was canceled by Rev. York within hours of the mother's report to police. - HB pg 25

🔸 Fr. York cut off contact with the victim’s family for several weeks, only emailing on June 26, 2019 to ask the child’s mother to resign from her position on the church vestry:

“You do not currently attend Christ Our Light, and there is no indication of when you might begin...

" ... attending again. Because of this, but more importantly since these recent events can indeed be construed to be conflicts of interest, it would greatly simplify matters, and protect you as well, if you stepped down from your place on Vestry.”

🔸 While church leaders discussed possible avenues to raise financial support for Mark Rivera’s legal defense, the child victim’s family was only cared for and supported by Dcn. Valerie McIntyre:

Dcn. McIntyre reported to Husch Blackwell that she felt like she was the “lone person” trying to care for [the child victim’s mother] and her family while they were attending Church of the Resurrection. - HB pg 30

Dcn. McIntyre stated that a call with Rev. York “added to [her] awareness that [she] had very little by way of support in [her] attempt to serve [the child victim’s family].” - HB pg 26

5️⃣ Failure to Support Other Known Victims of Mark Rivera

🔸 Bp. Ruch was made aware in June 2019 of several additional allegations of sexual abuse against Mark Rivera and failed to reach out to or offer pastoral care or support to any of those reported survivors.

🔸 On June 12, 2019 Rev. York emailed Bp. Ruch and other church leaders to discuss additional sexual abuse allegations against Mark Rivera, which Rev. York had just been made aware of:

“New this morning, [redacted] has told us that [redacted] has connected with [redacted]...

"... and [redacted] and that they have given statements to the police that Mark has abused them.” - HB pg 32

When asked if he did anything during the summer of 2019 to learn more about [redacted] concerns, Bishop Ruch said he did not. - HB  pg 33

🔸 In early June 2019, the mother of a second Mark Rivera victim reports that she approached Katherine Ruch and informed her, in detail, of Mark Rivera’s alleged abuse of her minor daughter.

At that time, Katherine Ruch was included in the group email discussion between church leaders as they coordinated the church’s response to allegations against Mark Rivera. - HB pg 26

Despite Katherine Ruch knowing these details, no support was ever offered to this minor victim or her family, and no attempt was made by the church to reach out to other potential survivors of Mark Rivera.

“Will Chester, Youth Minister at @ChurchRez , also reported during his interview that there was not an effort to identify the young people from Rez who may have spent time at Big Rock to ensure that someone spoke to them in the summer of 2019.” - HB pg 23

🔸 Deacon Valerie McIntyre attempted to voice her concerns to church leadership about other potential victims of Mark Rivera, but her concerns were dismissed and unheeded:

“She said she raised concerns that there were teenagers at Big Rock who may have been abused, and specifically mentioned [redacted] and [redacted] but felt her concerns were dismissed in 2019.” - HB pg 32