Published on August 14, 2024, 12:38 am

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ACNAtoo, an organization established to shed light on abuse issues within the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), has raised concerns about recently updated standards regarding the reporting of misconduct. The new additions to their bylaws meant to strengthen protections against misconduct and improve the handling of alleged abuse cases were approved during a June meeting held in Pennsylvania.

The amendments pertain specifically to Title IV, which outlines ACNA’s ecclesiastical discipline enforcement standards. As of now, this is reportedly “in the works.” Founded in June 2021, ACNAtoo began as a support network for abuse survivors in ACNA’s Upper Midwest Diocese before shifting its focus to allegations across the broader denomination.

According to an ACNAtoo spokesperson, most power within ACNA resides with individual dioceses which are permitted to determine their response measures against abuse accusations. They argued that while these enhanced canons purport to impose ‘minimum standards’ for safeguarding and misconduct reports on the dioceses, they paradoxically allow each diocese to adopt procedures they see as ‘fair’, ‘transparent’, and ‘integral,’ even if these have not been appraised at higher levels.

This accommodating approach theoretically sustains inconsistent policies across different dioceses without guaranteeing connectivity with existing disciplinary proceedings. This allows too much freedom and doesn’t sufficiently protect abuse survivors, according to the spokesperson.

Moreover, updates to Title I (local structures) are difficult to apply effectively given that changes related to Title IV(discipline) remain in preliminary stages. Any positive change hinges upon introducing consistent policies across all dioceses combined with effective lay education and more proactive governance procedures.

However, existing reforms seem more focused on insulating each province from potential liability in case of failure adhering reporting protocols than ensuring justice for survivors. Dioceses should undertake active measures by educating laity on their role in both local and provincial administration.

Providing adequate time for laity to evaluate revisions to governing documents and guidance on how changes might be initiated is equally important. ACNAtoo advocates for yearly business meetings held by the ACNA Provincial Assembly to ensure efficient ratification of proposed reforms, citing that clergy and lay people cannot vote on much-needed transformations to Title IV until the next Provincial Assembly in 2029 unless a special meeting is convened.

Turn your gaze back to 2021 when doubts were cast about ACNA’s ability to competently handle misconduct allegations. This was stimulated by accusations of poor handling of clergy abuse reports in the Diocese of Upper Midwest under Bishop Stewart Ruch III. A remarkable case was that involving Mark Rivera, an ACNA lay leader based in Wheaton, Illinois, who was convicted on several counts of sexual assault.

Consequently, evidence sufficient enough to run an ecclesiastical trial on Bishop Ruch surfaced last year due intervention from an ACNA Board of Inquiry. He stands accused from various quarters of breaching ordination vows and abusing his ecclesiastical power among other denominational bylaws infringements.

Moving forward, bolstering trust within the Christian community will hinge upon maintaining consistent policies across all dioceses, improving education efforts for congregants about their roles in church governance, as well as integrating more transparent and responsive governance procedures into existing structures.