Thread by @AlethiaWrites

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 🧵@MidwestAnglican @ChurchRez @ACNAalice #ACNAtoo
christianpost.com/news/texas-meg…

⬇️I 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?

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,"

#ACNAtoo: "After consulting with senior UMD leaders Cn. William Beasley and Chancellor Charlie Philbrick, Rev. York then asks Cherin to attend a meeting with himself, COLA Senior Warden Christopher Lapeyre, and Catechist Mark Rivera." acnatoo.org/piecing-it-all…

#ACNAtoo: PRT ignored concerns & resignations of 3 women w/expertise:

"We feel strongly that our voices-like those of the victims-were silenced by Church leaders & deserve to be heard to protect Anglican women & children now & going forward."

https://twitter.com/autumnvandehei/status/1632888004833361922?s=20

#ACNAtoo: Helen Keuning, vestry & member of Bishop's Council in UMD concludes:

"I no longer imagined that women have a true voice in our diocese. I no longer believed that I am – or that my daughters would be – believed by those who hold power here." acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses…

#ACNAtoo: More could be said about way male bishops/clergy are appointed to oversee taskforces, response teams & engage w/survivors & advocates, This demographical reality requires women (survivors & advocates) to navigate male-only or male-dominant conversations & processes.

2. The church did not act immediately upon disclosure and did not report the abuse, citing loopholes to justify their failure to report.

DBC: "[The legal investigator] was hired by the church in 2019 after it became aware of a federal investigation into Shiflet."

#ACNAtoo Church leaders repeatedly failed to take appropriate action to the initial disclosure as documented throughout the timeline of responses and in their communications: acnatoo.org/piecing-it-all…

#ACNAtoo: Church leaders did not seek outside help or consultation on their own initiative. B/c advocates continued to press for change, they only began looking into external investigative firms nearly two years later: acnatoo.org/piecing-it-all…

#ACNAtoo: UMD leaders said delay was b/c they thought it better to wait for the state to conclude the trial. Rivera was sentenced a few weeks ago. W/out the work of @acnatoo, UMD/Rez wld only be learning of these events now...4 yrs after initial disclosure.midwestanglican.org/big-rock/

#ACNAtoo: DBC: "Since Texas law did not yet mandate the reporting of abuse by clergy, the elders stated that no official report was made to authorities at that time."

UMD: Secret "family only" meeting to justify lack of reporting acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/f…

3. Abusers groomed communities.

DBC: "Shiflet was...witnessed 'wrestling w/a girl, counseling a girl sitting on his lap, pulling girls over his body while caving in a small tunnel, & otherwise interacting w/middle school girls in ways that made the observers feel uncomfortable."

#ACNAtoo: Mark Rivera groomed the community. Despite many instances of inappropriate action, he was given various visible leadership roles & his actions excused away for nearly 20 years.

Lily's story: acnatoo.org/diocese-of-the…

River's story: acnatoo.org/diocese-of-the…

#ACNAtoo: Behavior like offering minors consecrated wine, flirting w/ways that made ppl uncomfortable, drawing young girls onto his lap, etc. went unchecked & in fact became something that was "just the way he was"

https://twitter.com/katierouquine/status/1574409182584836097?s=20

#ACNAtoo: Don't overlook the fact that Mark's close friend & another lay leader also groomed minors. Even after being fired from his teaching job, Chris LaPeyre was given access to the community.

Ursa's story: acnatoo.org/diocese-of-the…

Clarke's story: acnatoo.org/diocese-of-the…

4. Churches did not inform broader community, something that led to additional victims.

DBC: "Shiflet left...to become the youth pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas...[he] continued the sexual abuse of at least one girl from AR while he was in Denton."

#ACNAtoo: UMD continued to fail to consider community risk in various ways, instead defaulting to keeping things quiet & internal to leaders. This led to additional victims and broken trust.

"At the time of his 5/29/19 email, where Mark Rivera presents...as a victim of false accusations, [he] has already allegedly raped his next door neighbor, Joanna Rudenborg, & is allegedly engaged in an abusive sexual relationship w/a teenager." acnatoo.org/piecing-it-all…

#ACNAtoo: UMD
-Made special accommodations for convicted CSA offender to attend services w/out informing congregation:

https://twitter.com/ACNAtoo/status/1610377061658681345?s=20

-Did not warn parents re: Chris LaPeyre:

https://twitter.com/LuhmannAudrey/status/1598648064851341312?s=20

https://twitter.com/LuhmannAudrey/status/1596253063852851200?s=20

#ACNAtoo: UMD left Fr. Keith Hartsell's behavior & the processes that enabled it unaddressed. Instead he quietly leaves UMD to continue self-supported church work.
Carol's story: acnatoo.org/diocese-of-the…
Helen's concerns: acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses…

5. Further traumatized victims were left to piece things together on their own.

DBC:"The girl connected...counselor w/another girl who had been in Shiflet's youth group in AR. That girl disclosed the sexual abuse Shiflet had committed against her over the course of yrs."

#ACNAtoo: "I publicly named Chris Lapeyre as an (unrepentant) abuse enabler, mid-2021, and a few months later I was introducing two of his abuse victims to each other. They’d each reached out to me, independently, after I went public."

https://twitter.com/ladyjessicahaze/status/1620953252941692928?s=20

6. Survivors were neglected:

DBC: "'Denton Bible made no effort to shepherd or care for the girls after they came forward,' the elders admitted. In 2015, another [victim] reported to the church & police that he sexually abused her. The church... offered no care to the victim."

#ACNAtoo: The @acnatoo timeline at as well as the Husch Blackwell report reveal ongoing neglect of victims & survivors, summarized here: acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/u…

#ACNAtoo: In addition to situations w/in the UMD, there is a broader provincial pattern of being incapable of prioritizing care for victims.

Ppl receive "no comment" as a response to queries.

https://twitter.com/LuhmannAudrey/status/1619926541416419328?s=20Survivors

https://twitter.com/ShawnMcCain/status/1623357564661514241?s=20

#ACNAtoo: People are waiting months for basic customer service level response or updates on processes & procedures.

https://twitter.com/ChanaSophi/status/1632943777555034112?s=20

#ACNAtoo: Internal reporting processes are not easily accessible:

https://twitter.com/AlethiaWrites/status/1582459185286983680?s=20

#ACNAtoo: Survivors have tweeted (from private accounts so cannot link) to indicate difficulty receiving promised provincial survivor-care funds & compensation.

7. Church insiders protected the institution:

DBT: "Investigators also found that even among church members, there was a culture that seemed to protect the institution from criticism."

#ACNAtoo: There is almost too much to list.

HB report has intentionally limited scope, Telios report was never greenlit for public release. There has been no accountability for Greenhouse. In all cases, information has been controlled & withheld: acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/h…

#ACNAtoo:
Bp Alan Hawkins phoned me to berate me for tweeting in support of acnatoo survivors and for publicly critiquing the provincial response, naming it a "betrayal".

Clergy & others were discouraged from speaking publicly in support of @acnatoo

https://twitter.com/matttebbe/status/1578408688075018241?s=20

#ACNAtoo: Advocates were barred from a Rez family meeting & continue to be criticized by insiders

https://twitter.com/LuhmannAudrey/status/1600723974052511746?s=20

The first victims in the DBC situation came forward in 2005 and only in 2022 that the pastor acknowledged their multiple failures in detail and with some indication of remorse and repentance.

DBC: "We were and continue to be overwhelmed with grief for the harm our church allowed to happen to young women entrusted to our care. We were taken aback by our failures to not only prevent the harm but to also assist victims in the healing process..."

DBC: "While no amount of words can bring true healing to the victims, we feel a responsibility before the Lord to say to them & their families, 'We are exceedingly sorry.' These things should not have happened."

DBC: "And even after we were made aware of the abuse, we did not respond in the victim-centered manner befitting a church led by Jesus."

DBC's letter writers are correct. No words can undo harm of the church's failures. I also commend them for the attempt, b/c this is where the DBC & #ACNAtoo comparison diverges.

ACNA has opted for silence, leaving everyone to interpret what that means.

https://twitter.com/AlethiaWrites/status/1633299180063186944?s=20

Words won't heal the many ppl who've been harmed by ACNA failures. It seems unclear whether any further action will be taken to attempt repair to what has already occurred.

Without actionable change, though, what prevents a repeat? What will be done differently?

Please let's keep pressing for change at the parish and diocesan level. Please let's also all review and offer feedback to the proposed canonical amendments by March 31, many of which have to do w/abuse response.

https://twitter.com/The_ACNA/status/1634254151990358017?s=20

/End