Thread by @acnasurvivor

I write this as a survivor of spiritual and emotional abuse in an ACNA church. (My story did not take place at Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton). /1

As I have been processing my story and preparing to report it, I have communicated with Cherin Marie and @ladyjessicahaze of @ACNAtoo. Both have been incredibly loving, kind, and careful. They have committed time and effort to reading my story and responding to it. /2

They have been supportive and offered listening ears to a stranger, holding deeply painful memories with care and gentleness.

In the years since my abuse occurred, I have not often shared my story, even with those close to me. /3

Because many don’t understand emotional and spiritual abuse, many also respond in ways that are at best unhelpful and at worst very damaging. It's why I'm choosing to remain anonymous. /4

In the midst of this landscape where I often can’t speak up, Joanna and Cherin both offered and continue to offer me safety and the type of care that has been rare— /5

the willingness to listen and to hold the story with me, to tell me they believe me and to give me a love and understanding I haven’t often received.

My ACNA church did not support me when the abuse happened. I did not have official advocates in the church who cared for me. /6

I had a handful of friends who were wonderful, but even they couldn’t make headway in having the abuse addressed in the church. I’m grateful for every advocate and every survivor who is willing to listen, support, understand, and hold stories. /7

Along with that I know that there is no perfect survivor. We all make mistakes along the way of understanding our abuse, talking about it, reporting it, and trying to heal from it. We sometimes make mistakes before we understand what the abuse is. /8

Those mistakes can be weaponized against us. /9

My own mistakes as I was trying to understand and recover from the abuse I experienced were weaponized against me, used as character attacks to say why I shouldn’t speak up, and also used to invalidate what I was sharing about the abuse. /10

Abuse situations are complicated, and each survivor has a different set of needs and a complex experience, even within the same framework of abuse. /11

I believe you, @believeustoo. I’m so sorry for the horrors you’ve experienced, each one of you. /12

I believe you, @JoannaLaurel. Thank you for sharing your story with me and for holding mine, and for advocating for me. /13

I believe you, Cherin Marie. Your courage in caring for your daughter and using what you’ve experienced to help others is inspiring. /14

I pray for reports that expose full truth. I pray for real justice. I pray all survivors are met in their pain and heard. I pray for healing for all involved, and that our churches would be made to be more like Christ through these processes. @The_ACNA @ArchbishopFoley /15