Thread by @ladyjessicahaze

With the open letter to @ArchbishopFoley published, it's time for me to clarify some things about my personal position within #ACNAtoo.

I hear predictable murmurs of an "outside-agitator-run" campaign.

So to be clear: I do not run #ACNAtoo.

acnatoo.org/news/openletter

I am not in @The_ACNA and never have been.

A now-former ACNA catechist raped and abused me, and my coming forward about that last November brought with it a moral imperative that I advocate for his other victims.

All his other known victims do/did attend ACNA churches.

I went to @MidwestAnglican leadership to advocate for Mark Rivera's other victims because Mark had long used his various roles within @The_ACNA and the social credibility he borrowed from good Anglicans as sheep's clothing to prey on vulnerable congregants of COLA and @ChurchRez.

When I came forward about my rape and abuse in November 2020 I never envisioned being the face of #ACNAtoo.

I created the hashtag in June as public pressure became a last resort for holding @MidwestAnglican accountable and pursuing justice for survivors.

https://twitter.com/ladyjessicahaze/status/1410310546163961861

Within days of me telling my story on Twitter, Anglicans flooded into my DMs, offering help.

They contributed encouragement, corroboration, perspective, advice, and an array of technical skills.

Several worked tirelessly to create and populate ACNAtoo.org.

I participate in #ACNAtoo as Mark Rivera's most public victim, fulfilling a commitment I made many months ago.

I'm the aberrant #ACNAtoo survivor who has never been Anglican.

I don't *lead* the movement.

#ACNAtoo is a movement of and by Anglicans, for ACNA abuse survivors.

My commitment is and always has been to advocate for Mark Rivera's other victims.

The vision of #ACNAtoo is to transform @The_ACNA into a place that's safe for sheep and not for wolves.

I enthusiastically support this vision, but it is for Anglicans to enact it, not me.

As @ladyjessicahaze I speak for myself, as a person and as a survivor, not as a movement leader.

I do not tweet from @ACNAtoo or select or edit their content, but I trust those who do, and I love that committed Anglicans have emerged to do this work for #ACNAtoo survivors.

.@ACNAtoo and ACNAtoo.org are volunteer-staffed by longtime Anglicans.

#ACNAtoo (the movement) is a fluid coalition of survivors, Anglican lay people, and Anglican clergy who share a basic vision: making @The_ACNA safe for vulnerable people and hostile to predators.

Not only do I not control @ACNAtoo, but @ACNAtoo (the group) does not control #ACNAtoo (the movement).

#ACNAtoo belongs to all Anglicans who deeply desire to protect sheep from wolves and actively work to do so.

This work is happening throughout @The_ACNA.

A few examples:

I haven't communicated with Cornerstone Anglican in Oak Park, IL, so I don't know if they identify as "part of #ACNAtoo."

But 9 people there recently signed this beautiful public commitment to protect vulnerable people in their church from abuse: docs.google.com/document/d/1hy…

I don't personally know any of the 34 female clergy who signed this group letter 3 weeks ago.

But several have reached out privately, and I see them and others online raising awareness and taking steps to address issues of abuse in @The_ACNA. yumpu.com/en/document/re…

#ACNAtoo in action is @EmilyMcgowin fielding floods of survivors who are coming forward to share their own abuse stories with a clergy person because they can see that she is open and humble and willing to learn as she goes.

https://twitter.com/EmilyMcgowin/status/1413857402387042311

#ACNAtoo is @scotmcknight seeing survivor stories surface in his denomination, asking for input from the actual survivors, and writing a blog post brainstorming a "survivor-sensitive response" to help church leaders reframe reactions to abuse allegations.

https://twitter.com/scotmcknight/status/1412573336740171781

#ACNAtoo is @AaronMHarrison reading survivor stories on Twitter and sensing something very wrong with the governance structures of @MidwestAnglican---then doing the research to demonstrate how dysfunctional polity creates an environment ripe for abuse. acnatoo.org/news/loose-can…

#ACNAtoo is @ChurchRez now providing vital abuse education resources for parents and committing to "schedule online training sessions that will inform adults on how to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse."
churchrez.org/resources-for-…

#ACNAtoo is Anglicans betrayed by past diocesan responses to abuse allegations---including outside of @MidwestAnglican---getting a second chance to speak up and be heard:

https://twitter.com/anghopew/status/1413756910126436355

#ACNAtoo is @MidwestAnglican spiritual abuse survivors going public to corroborate the accounts of sexual abuse survivors after we described the spiritually abusive responses we endured when we brought our sexual abuse stories to @StewartRuch.

https://twitter.com/Weejenbug/status/1415435602359685124

#ACNAtoo is leaders credibly implicated in serially mishandling abuse allegations stepping aside because Anglicans on Twitter have amplified the stories of the survivors until @MidwestAnglican was forced to respond. midwestanglican.org/selection-proc…

#ACNAtoo is @ArchbishopFoley tweeting us back to say he is reading and listening.

#ACNAtoo is us knowing that his response matters, but also that regardless of his response lay people and clergy are already doing what is in front of them to do.

https://twitter.com/ArchbishopFoley/status/1415840560816984069

#ACNAtoo is also what happens offline, behind the scenes.

An ACNA employee finally reporting her (former ACNA coworker) rapist to the police.

An ACNA leader who already repented of his poor response to that woman's allegations and humbly educated himself to do better.

#ACNAtoo is a lay person who just sent their decade-old spiritual abuse allegations to @ArchbishopFoley, because the accused is still in leadership today.

#ACNAtoo is victims of grooming who are now able to name what was done to them years ago and seek help to begin healing.

All of the above, and much more, constitutes #ACNAtoo.

I'm not #ACNAtoo. I'm sticking around here to help, but I made that hashtag in order to give it away.

#ACNAtoo is my gift to ACNA abuse survivors and especially to one 9-year-old girl whose community shunned her for outing a church leader as a child rapist.

I'm not innocent. I enabled that church leader, too.

#ACNAtoo is my gift, and it is also part of my amends.

I plan to write more soon about the complexity of being both an abuse victim and an abuse enabler.

But the gist of that story is, if wolves dressed like wolves, you wouldn't need #ACNAtoo.

They don't. So you do.

I learned the hard way.

Learn from my mistakes and do better.

#ACNAtoo is me telling you: I enabled an abuser. I was deceived.

I'm facing my shame. I'm making amends for harm unintended but very much done.

That's the painful birth of #ACNAtoo.

It belongs to you now, Anglican friends.

Be brave. Learn to spot wolves. Protect your sheep.