Thread by @alethia24689

🧵Really surprised to see church leaders describing the fallout from abuse within the church as a “stormy season” (ACNA) or “judgment on a denom” (SBC). As though church leaders struggling to respond are somehow the victims here. This seems to me to reveal a mistaken emphasis.

The complexity and cost of abuse response is not a judgment or difficulty for a church to “handle” - but a reality that should remind us of the impossible-to-measure nature of the injury of abuse and the rippling effects of the devastation of betrayed trust.

I will never understand why church leaders don’t scramble to repent & make things right when allegations become public rather than spotlighting how hard it’s been *for the church.*

Imagine surviving abuse, reporting it, only to listen to your church leaders explain how hard & expensive the season of response has been *for them.*

I mean, if, due to parental neglect, a child was injured & needed medical care, how would it land if the parent’s conversation continually revolved around how difficult & expensive that was, & how great they were at parenting to provide it?

I would have a hard time believing the parent genuinely cared about their child’s welfare, would be working to grow their parenting skills, & that their other children would be well tended.

Of course parents might feel distress in that situation, but the inability to prioritize the child’s welfare is alarming. That is how I felt listening to @The_ACNA’s reporting on abuse misconduct responses at the provincial assembly yesterday.

@The_ACNA I do not know if @The_ACNA provincial leadership actually perceives that figuring out proper abuse safeguarding, prevention & abuse response is a minimum standard of care. Dealing w/the fact that it hasn’t been in place is not a storm or trial to endure.

I am posting these thoughts publicly not to frame a narrative, as social media conversation was labeled in yesterday’s address, but b/c people remain unheard & unresponded to. Muffling survivors’ voices is unhelpful & underscores the above church leader-centric approach.

For others interested in the official statements: Wed AM session 1 - Abp Beach addresses these matters for a bit at 1hr43 mark; Bp Guernsey for a bit at 2hr. 33, & Bp Hawkins at length beginning at 2hr 33: anglicanchurch.net/provincial-cou…

I would like to see part 2 of this address where @The_ACNA leaders demonstrate their ability to name not only their own “parental” challenges but also demonstrate compassion & care for their “children” - the immediate survivors & many other survivors in their pews.

I saw yesterday that #SBC members voted to formally apologize to survivors of abuse who took to social media for years & were villainized for it. I hope it does not take @The_ACNA as long to recognize the need for a truly survivor-centric approach.