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Here's the thing, though, & it should be š©šØ. Rez & presumably other churches w/in UMD *do* require members agree to obey clergy in their extraordinarily unconventional "New Member Covenant."
Full document here, but I will highlight multiple things drive.google.com/file/d/1YHQtthā¦š§µā¬ļø
Full document here, but I will highlight multiple things drive.google.com/file/d/1YHQtthā¦š§µā¬ļø
It opens with a commitment to obey and support those in spiritual authority, particularly the bishop and clergy.
Nowhere in this document does it discuss informed methods of issuing a complaint about clergy, only a members responsibility to comply.
Nowhere in this document does it discuss informed methods of issuing a complaint about clergy, only a members responsibility to comply.
Concerns with leaders are to be kept private, not even to be discussed with friends or other leaders in the church.
Instead, the concerned layperson is to attempt to privately confront the leader, something that disregards power dynamics & safeguarding best practices.
Instead, the concerned layperson is to attempt to privately confront the leader, something that disregards power dynamics & safeguarding best practices.
It's a very valid feeling to feel lost in the Christian world looking at the harm in just about every denomination or group.
Beware of those who think that their group is instantly safe/inherently better.
Beware of those who think that their group is instantly safe/inherently better.
But I also think there are healthy people and healthy versions of every kind of Christianity there is. Genuine advocates who take a strong stand against abuse, for example.
Sometimes what we need is a community of people we know we can trust & walk with.
Sometimes what we need is a community of people we know we can trust & walk with.
I do believe that it is God's work exposing sin in the church. Those who attack whistle blowers are resisting the conviction of God.
I've seen a lot of #acnatoo #sbctoo #pcatoo & #churchtoo on Christian Twitter & have been encouraged by every kind of Christian who's speaking up.
I've seen a lot of #acnatoo #sbctoo #pcatoo & #churchtoo on Christian Twitter & have been encouraged by every kind of Christian who's speaking up.
Read this today & was struck by:
--How similar response failures are again & again across denoms.
--How much "easier" it is to identify when it's not close in.
I hope ppl in @The_ACNA will consider this š§µ@MidwestAnglican @ChurchRez @ACNAalice #ACNAtoo
christianpost.com/news/texas-megā¦
--How similar response failures are again & again across denoms.
--How much "easier" it is to identify when it's not close in.
I hope ppl in @The_ACNA will consider this š§µ@MidwestAnglican @ChurchRez @ACNAalice #ACNAtoo
christianpost.com/news/texas-megā¦
ā¬ļøI spotlight parallels b/w ways Denton Bible Church (DBC) failed in their abuse response & the ongoing failure within @The_ACNA.
To the complacent in ACNA: Are you pleased w/DBC's response? With our own? Will anything change w/out actively pressing for episcopal prioritization?
To the complacent in ACNA: Are you pleased w/DBC's response? With our own? Will anything change w/out actively pressing for episcopal prioritization?
1. Women were not heard or represented.
Denton Bible Church (DBC): "Our church culture lacked involvement of women in decision-making processes related to the abuse of these girls. Further, in almost all meetings with the victims, no women were present, which was inappropriate,"
Denton Bible Church (DBC): "Our church culture lacked involvement of women in decision-making processes related to the abuse of these girls. Further, in almost all meetings with the victims, no women were present, which was inappropriate,"
Why do I celebrate that Mark Rivera is headed for prison?
Because abusers like Mark hold vulnerable people inside invisible prisons. They imprison souls, and they torture nervous systems. And the torture continues long after the direct sexual and emotional imprisonment is over.
Because abusers like Mark hold vulnerable people inside invisible prisons. They imprison souls, and they torture nervous systems. And the torture continues long after the direct sexual and emotional imprisonment is over.
Putting abusers like Mark in prison is the only way, in the world as we know it, to keep them from torturing their victims inside invisible prisons.
As a middle-aged adult, my soul and nervous system were trapped inside Markās prison.
How much worse is that prison for a child?
As a middle-aged adult, my soul and nervous system were trapped inside Markās prison.
How much worse is that prison for a child?
One brave 9-year-old broke out of Markās prison before the rest of us, and blew the whistle. Every person who didnāt heed this call, me included, kept vulnerable people imprisoned longer.
Shame on all of us, and more shame on those who still donāt believe and support this child.
Shame on all of us, and more shame on those who still donāt believe and support this child.
Rez shuns survivors and sics cops on its own members for being advocates, yet welcomes in a child molester and protects his anonymity.
@ChurchRez, was John Hays allowed to attend your āfamily meetingā?
Is he āsaferā than @LuhmannAudrey and @Bookof_kell?
@ChurchRez, was John Hays allowed to attend your āfamily meetingā?
Is he āsaferā than @LuhmannAudrey and @Bookof_kell?
This isnāt a rhetorical question. I donāt know if John Hays was at the āfamily meeting.ā I just know about people @ChurchRez kicked out or tried to kick out, and why.
And Iām curious if a registered sex offender was welcome where survivor advocates and a victimās mother werenāt.
And Iām curious if a registered sex offender was welcome where survivor advocates and a victimās mother werenāt.
And when I ask if John Hays is āsaferā in @ChurchRezās opinion than Audrey and Kelley, that isnāt random or rhetorical either.
Rez leaders specifically told Audrey and Kelley that they were unsafe, disruptive, and ānot part of the family.ā
kelleygoewey.wordpress.com/2022/11/23/thiā¦
Rez leaders specifically told Audrey and Kelley that they were unsafe, disruptive, and ānot part of the family.ā
kelleygoewey.wordpress.com/2022/11/23/thiā¦
.@The_ACNA and @ChurchRez:
Yes, I am an āoutsider.ā
But my Christian friends who are in/supporting/corroborating @ACNAtoo?
They love the Church. Deeply. Even though you have wrought destruction on them and, in many cases, their families.
See all comments on this thread:
Yes, I am an āoutsider.ā
But my Christian friends who are in/supporting/corroborating @ACNAtoo?
They love the Church. Deeply. Even though you have wrought destruction on them and, in many cases, their families.
See all comments on this thread:
A number of my dear friends have been in @The_ACNA for years or decades.
They are devastated. They still love Jesus. They cannot reconcile their love of Jesus with what you are doing to āthe least of these.ā
They are crying out, and youāve rebuffed them by scapegoating me.
They are devastated. They still love Jesus. They cannot reconcile their love of Jesus with what you are doing to āthe least of these.ā
They are crying out, and youāve rebuffed them by scapegoating me.
You can tell yourselves that I am evil, a tool of Satan, out to burn down the Church.
But unless Iām a truly brilliant mastermind whoās single-handedly bewitched all these intelligent, sincere, highly ethical Christian peopleā¦
ā¦their devastation is on you.
But unless Iām a truly brilliant mastermind whoās single-handedly bewitched all these intelligent, sincere, highly ethical Christian peopleā¦
ā¦their devastation is on you.
Hi @The_ACNA, public and private language matters.
"I can also confirm that language like "good survivors" and "bad survivors" was also used to discredit those affiliated with ACNATOO."...
"I can also confirm that language like "good survivors" and "bad survivors" was also used to discredit those affiliated with ACNATOO."...
Hi Comm Director @frandrewgross, your choice of words for @RNS ā that the ACNA was, "thankful for the courage of the BelieveUsToo survivors who chose to go public last week and for all survivors who are working to build up the Body of Christā ā were and are still damaging.
Hi Alan Hawkins, your side conversations stirred the pot, poisoned the well, and succeeded in fanning the flames. What is one of a fafillion ways I've seen this with my own eyes? The following quote comes from an email from a longtime Rez member (two tweets, caps mine):
There are so many ways to deceive without technically lying.
Facts are not the same as the truth.
My abuser lied, but much more frequently he wielded facts and omissions to gaslight me.
@The_ACNA comms team reminds me much more of Mark Rivera than they remind me of Jesus.
Facts are not the same as the truth.
My abuser lied, but much more frequently he wielded facts and omissions to gaslight me.
@The_ACNA comms team reminds me much more of Mark Rivera than they remind me of Jesus.
[collective gasp]
āHow can you compare ACNA leadership to a serial sexual predator?!ā
Because it was not the sexual assaults, per se, that nearly destroyed my soul.
It was the pervasive co-optation of my reality.
The theft of my lived experience.
The erasure of my humanity.
āHow can you compare ACNA leadership to a serial sexual predator?!ā
Because it was not the sexual assaults, per se, that nearly destroyed my soul.
It was the pervasive co-optation of my reality.
The theft of my lived experience.
The erasure of my humanity.
These are the parts of the abuse that institutions replicate when they tell survivors that we donāt know what we need, they know better, stay quiet, play nice.
When they say we consented, weāre equal partners with them, they love us and just want whatās best for us.
When they say we consented, weāre equal partners with them, they love us and just want whatās best for us.
So glad @condorhanson wrote this piece. I read it and cheered because it echoed so much of how I felt that same day, watching the same kids run around and play.
Those kids are the most compelling possible answer to, why bother doing all this?
Those kids are the most compelling possible answer to, why bother doing all this?
It was so good to see the little girl in question having such a great time, days after watching her endure a brutal cross-examination in court while her abuser sat maybe 20 feet away, facing her.
It was good to see her just getting to be a kid instead of having to be a hero.
It was good to see her just getting to be a kid instead of having to be a hero.
And I was thinking about the other kids, too, many of whom were there playing together that day because their parents had met and connected with each other due, at the root of it all, to their various experiences with spiritually abusive churches.
Church leaders: this is šÆ how it comes across when you refuse to listen to survivors, advocates & others who challenge your chosen response path. Donāt like the implication? Choose humility. Listen to, learn from, & respond to what your critics are saying. #churchtoo #acnatoo
If there is another reason @The_ACNA continues to ignore public critiques, resignations & stories of injury (while muffling social media), Iād love to hear it. B/c otherwise it looks like abandoning the injured b/c making repairs would require leaders to admit mistakes & change.
I will never understand how any spiritual leader thinks simply *not replying* to emails, phone calls, public letters of resignation, survivors begging for response is a legitimate pastoral/professional option.
Helen Keuning's second witness piece is linked below. An important aspect of this particular piece is how she sheds light on the danger of Either/Or thinking when it comes to the abuse scandal in @The_ACNA.There is so much more Both/And going on in this story with @ChurchRez.
"We're attracted by the āpolesā.Either Stewart is a perfectly godly man who's enduring the attacks of Satan&the abuses of the Enemy or he's a sick&twisted man who's been masquerading all these years & who cares little to nothing for injustices & is only out to cover up the truth.
"Those are the two poles that pulled at me ā from opposite directions and by opposing voices ā throughout my last months of service on the response team at REZ (post-Joannaās Twitter revelations) and during my many months on the BC post-Stewartās leave in July."...
Here is Helen Keuning's first witness piece, explaining the yellow (and red) flags she saw firsthand, and the marred and compromised way the Bishop's Council of the Upper Midwest Diocese functioned in the wake of @The_ACNA abuse crisis.
There is A LOT here, it is well documented, it will take you time to sit and read and digest...and it's really important if you've been following the story and are looking to better understand it.
#ACNAtoo @ArchbishopFoley @frandrewgross @The_ACNA
#ACNAtoo @ArchbishopFoley @frandrewgross @The_ACNA
Helen doesn't claim to have all of the pieces, but the ones she has are critical to pay attention to.
#ACNAtoo @ArchbishopFoley @frandrewgross @The_ACNA
#ACNAtoo @ArchbishopFoley @frandrewgross @The_ACNA
I haven't tweeted recently about the ongoing sexual abuses crisis and allegations of spiritual abuse at @The_ACNA's Upper Midwest Diocese, but I have read with appreciation and also, now, horror at some of the dynamics described on the Bishop's Council acnatoo.org/acna-witnessesā¦
The source, Helen Keuning, a former BC member who resigned last month, is IMO highly credible: nuanced, charitable of reading others' motives, without an "axe to grind" over theological differences. She has done a very good and brave thing in writing this.
What was so galling to read today - and yet quite a common dynamic when allegations are leveled at many Christian communities - is that any criticism from outside is Satanic, part of some evil attempt to take down godly leaders on the inside.
Rev. Gina Roes (ACNA ordained, former-PRT member), wrote a piece that was published Monday. It is crucial to understanding what has been unfolding, unhelpfully and uncharitably, REPEATEDLY, behind the scenes within @The_ACNA.
#ACNAtoo @ArchbishopFoley @frandrewgross
#ACNAtoo @ArchbishopFoley @frandrewgross
I want to quote 89% of it here, but it's worth 10 focused minutes of your time to read in full.
acnatoo.org/acna-witnessesā¦
acnatoo.org/acna-witnessesā¦
"But after our resignation we were met with hostility and power plays from those who also made vows to be a bridge, but instead actively engaged in sabotaging us. I recognize that I am using very strong language, and I would not use it without cause. I am deeply grieved."...
[ Regarding Confidentiality Concerns w/the ACNA Investigation]
On February 13th, @The_ACNA announced that the formal abuse investigations had begun and directed people how to contact the chosen firms, Husch Blackwell (sexual abuse) and Telios Law (spiritual abuse).
On February 13th, @The_ACNA announced that the formal abuse investigations had begun and directed people how to contact the chosen firms, Husch Blackwell (sexual abuse) and Telios Law (spiritual abuse).
They noted at the end of this email, "The Province is committed to seeking justice for any acts of abuse. We will not shield anyone who has committed abuse or engaged in misconduct from the scrutiny of an impartial and objective investigation that seeks the truth."
"Our great desire is that the Anglican Church in North America will be a safe place for adults and children, the broken-hearted and the vulnerable".
(Note: I won't be discussing the specific content of the BelieveUsToo statements or the specific content of the ACNAtoo response. I stand by what I said last week, "I do not believe digging into them will benefit survivors who are already the walking wounded, pleading for help".
This weekend I found a window to sit with a slow cup of coffee and last fall's Magnolia Journal. This issue is over six months old, but I hadn't made it past the first 28 pages. Burrowed on page 29 was this:
"Whether you think youāve played a part or not, I think itās fair to say weāve all been caught in the crossfire. Things get thrown at us so quickly and so recklessly that it can feel like weāve been robbed of our depth perception, seeing only whatās visible on the surface."
What happens when you speak up about abuse in a churchā¦ a š§µ:
When the spiritual & emotional abuse happened to me at an ACNA church, I didnāt share anything about it for a long time. Who would believe me? /1
When the spiritual & emotional abuse happened to me at an ACNA church, I didnāt share anything about it for a long time. Who would believe me? /1
When I finally did share (because what had happened had torn me apart and it was impossible to continue to pretend nothing had happened), the responses and reactions made things so much worse. /2
I was disbelieved; the abuse was minimized; I was blamed for the abuse; a so-called friend held an intervention because I āhad a mental illnessā because of how I was reacting; close friends in the church turned against me and chose to align themselves with the abusers. /3
A letter to @archbishopfoley & the College of Bishops, from survivors of Mark Rivera in the UMD.
We have not yet spoken publicly about this investigation and this process. It has been painful and distressing, but it did not feel like there was any helpful way to engage.
We have not yet spoken publicly about this investigation and this process. It has been painful and distressing, but it did not feel like there was any helpful way to engage.
We are choosing to share our stories now, as well as our perspectives and our wishes for this process and this situation and our church.
We ask you to hear what we have to say.
dropbox.com/s/u1pvsfu8fb66ā¦
#ACNAtoo
We ask you to hear what we have to say.
dropbox.com/s/u1pvsfu8fb66ā¦
#ACNAtoo
Regarding my ongoing concerns surrounding the abuse scandal in @The_ACNA:
Dear Provincial Response Team,
I first wrote to you four weeks ago with my concerns about the state of the investigation into the Anglican Church in North America's abuse scandal.
Dear Provincial Response Team,
I first wrote to you four weeks ago with my concerns about the state of the investigation into the Anglican Church in North America's abuse scandal.
I've yet to hear a response, unfortunately. This will be my 3rd letter to you, in addition to a number of social media posts I've written or pertinent articles I've found and tagged you in, all in hopes of some kind of dialogue, or at the very least, the respect of a response.
As I noted a week ago, "I realize I might feel like a fly in your ointment, but I urge you to consider I might be one of the canaries in your coal mine".
Today I was asked, "At what point do we stop hoping they will ādo betterā, and ruefully recognize that the PRT and the leadership of the Province as a whole simply cannot respond with humility or sensitive hearts...". #ACNAtoo @ArchbishopFoley @The_ACNA @frandrewgross
My answer was this: I have many thoughts around this question, as it is a crucial one for all of us to be aware of as we sift & sort information as it becomes available. I'll offer my take, but I'm not prescribing it as a universal...
I think we all have various roles to play in this hard situation. Some need to publicly confront. Some need to advocate behind the scenes. Some need to be networkers who get the right people in the right place.
If youāre tracking the #acnatoo debacle, itās might seem to there isnāt an alternative to outrage and furor. I disagree.
I encourage you to read the first āsurvivorā accounts on acnatoo with fresh eyes, trying to understand what is going on. Are there real grievances, of course. But I would ask, what is the role of the church here?
The Mark Rivera case concerns a layman who should rightly be prosecuted. He must stand trial for his crimes.
How is it that after all this, all this time, all this waiting ā what you have to present to victims and the #ACNAtoo team are two firms who do not abide by the most basic requests for an abuse investigation?
#ACNAtoo
#ACNAtoo
How is it that even after Church of the Resurrection and the Upper Midwest Diocese's leadership committed to an open, fair, and survivor-centered investigation, you, PRT, are backpedaling on those commitments?
Bishop Stewart himself stated in his June 29th, 2021 letter, "Let me speak to the independent review...
I want to speak to the concerns that have been raised about the firmās process, concerns that I can imagine some of you may share.
I want to speak to the concerns that have been raised about the firmās process, concerns that I can imagine some of you may share.
As I mentioned in my Sunday post (regarding the current abuse scandal in @The_ACNA, @ChurchRez, @MidwestAnglican, I wrote the Provinicial Respose Team a letter.
#ACNAtoo
#ACNAtoo
I've held that letter for the last few days to weigh and consider whether it would be beneficial to share with a wider audience. Upon seeing the alarming news today that Mark Rivera, who has 9 felony counts of child sexual assault against him...
...has once again been bailed out of jail with merely an ankle bracelet (!) and this is the second time his bond has been paid for him ā to the tune of a total of $40,000 posted on his behalf ā I've decided to post my 3+ page letter in full below.
Maybe at the point the modern Church resembles corporate America more than it resembles Jesus, itās time to scrap the whole institution and start from scratch.
(a š§µ about my complete exasperation with @The_ACNA, also an update on the @MidwestAnglican investigation)
#ACNAtoo
(a š§µ about my complete exasperation with @The_ACNA, also an update on the @MidwestAnglican investigation)
#ACNAtoo
Nov. 7 I asked @The_ACNA Provincial Response Team 10 questions about the upcoming @MidwestAnglican investigation.
They sent responses to each question on Nov. 30.
They sent responses to each question on Nov. 30.
(Itās taken me this long to put this online because I only have so much energy to deal with @The_ACNA hierarchy anymore. Itās been over a year since I wrote Mark Riveraās church community telling them what he did to me and asking them please to take care of it. Iām exhausted.)
