Rivera was a beloved volunteer church leader in the Chicago suburbs for decades. Former parishioners say the church community dismissed Rivera’s frequent physical affection—kissing young girls on the cheek or inviting teenagers to sit on his lap—as “just Mark being Mark.”
“I feel like it’s the Lord’s kindness that this early in our life together we’re having this conversation and have an opportunity to reform our church before this abuse becomes more entrenched and endemic,” said Heather Ghormley, rector at Tree of Life Anglican Church in South Bend, Indiana.
Two news reports this week provide further details on the failure of the Anglican Church in North America to take sexual abuse charges seriously. The multiple allegations against one man occurred in ACNA’s Diocese of the Upper Midwest. The diocese’s bishop said he made “regrettable errors” handling the allegations.
Religious News Service has
Alleged victims say ACNA church leaders failed to acknowledge their abuse allegations,
Ten people in all have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against a volunteer leader in the Anglican Church in North America.
Christianity Today has
Faced with Allegations, Anglicans Want to Change the Trajectory of Abuse Response,
Mishandled case in Wheaton has been a wake-up call for the relatively young denomination.
Following those reports, ACNA tweeted a call for possible victims to contact its “Provincial Response Team”.
Kathyrn Post, author of the RNS report tweeted a thread on her findings:
(2/6) Rivera was a beloved volunteer church leader in the Chicago suburbs for decades. Former parishioners say the church community dismissed Rivera’s frequent physical affection—kissing young girls on the cheek or inviting teenagers to sit on his lap—as “just Mark being Mark.”
— Kathryn Post (@kathrynmaepost) July 28, 2021
(4/6) In June 2019, 5 additional abuse allegations against Rivera are said to have been reported to leaders at Church of the Resurrection in ACNA’s Upper Midwest Diocese. The allegations were later also reported to Bishop Stewart Ruch, III of the Upper Midwest Diocese.
— Kathryn Post (@kathrynmaepost) July 28, 2021
(6/6) “There is no excuse to not reaching out to a victim who suffered abuse at the hand of someone so highly involved in the church,” said another. Read the full story here: https://t.co/JcVJK47ioc
— Kathryn Post (@kathrynmaepost) July 28, 2021
The report from Christianity Today focused on the reaction in ACNA, especially from female clergy
On July 1, more than 30 female clergy in the ACNA published an open letter expressing support for the survivors and pledging to help the denomination create better processes for responding to abuse allegations with “urgency, compassion, accountability, and transparency.”
…
Because it is still relatively young and small, it has the opportunity to make decisions in these early years to set a precedent for how it will handle cases of abuse. The incidents in the Diocese of the Upper Midwest are the most recent in a string of abuse cases to emerge in the ACNA within the past two years.
…
Sandy Oyler is a clinical social worker and a deacon at Church of the Savior in Wheaton. Though Church of the Savior is in a different diocese than Christ Our Light and Church of the Resurrection, Oyler said many of her parishioners have close relationships with people at Resurrection. News that horrendous abuse happened nearby has rattled members.
…
“I have no doubt that the leaders at [Church of the Resurrection] did not intend for this to happen. I do not question their good intentions or sincerity,” Emily McGowin said in a July 10 sermon at Church of the Savior, which is part of the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others (C4SO). “But the truth is good intentions and sincerity count for nothing when women and children are being abused and proper actions are not taken to protect them and help them. Sincerity is not a substitute for competency.”
In its tweet thread, ACNA invites victims to report:
If you know of a survivor of alleged abuse by Mark Rivera in the Diocese of the Upper Midwest who would like to be engaged in the independent investigation in the days ahead, please encourage them to reach out to us at ProvResponseTeam@AnglicanChurch.net.
2/4
— ACNA (@The_ACNA) July 30, 2021
Social media response was swift, including,
Until you provide information regarding who is on this response team, who has access to the email address, who is investigating, and what confidentiality/anonymity is provided, reaching out in this way is not safe for survivors. Please provide more information.
— Whitney Evans Harrison (@Wevans0987) July 30, 2021
@frandrewgross I’m really struggling to get why the @The_ACNA public statement or your response would be posted if the @The_ACNA is not yet willing to reveal who is on the provincial response team? It seems like such a basic first step to make in good faith?
— John Perrine (@john__perrine) July 30, 2021
@The_ACNA Are you kidding me?? This is what you directed the survivors to reach out to? Do better. Just…. the bar is so low. Do better. https://t.co/RzabhONrKz
— Whitney Evans Harrison (@Wevans0987) July 30, 2021
ACNA is a breakaway from The Episcopal Church.
The Episcopal Church is not immune to mishandling of abuse: for recent examples see here, here and here.
Image: ACNA College of Bishops Statement on the Ordination of Women, Sep 8, 2017
there is insufficient scriptural warrant to accept women’s ordination to the priesthood as standard practice throughout the Province.