Prominent Anglican bishop takes recede of absence amid ongoing accusations of mishandling abuse allegations

(RNS) — A prominent Anglican bishop has announced a recede of absence after admitting he mishandled allegations of abuse. 

Bishop Stewart Ruch III of the Anglican Church in North The USA’s Upper Midwest Diocese had identified since 2019 that former lay minister Imprint Rivera had been charged with felony child sexual abuse. But he didn’t repeat folks in his diocese regarding the abuse allegations till final month — which Ruch has known as a “regrettable error.” 

That call — and controversy over Ruch’s, apart from to other leaders inner the diocese, handling of the abuse allegations — led him to step aside swiftly.

“I need you so as to belief me as your bishop and pastor,” talked about Ruch in a public letter revealed Thursday, July 8. “I feel fancy the excellent manner to drag in integrity now’s to step aside as this path of moves forward and as efforts are made to wait on any survivors of abuse.”

Ruch declined to comment on this story.

No lower than 10 survivors’ allegations of abuse by Rivera had been reported to the diocese since 2019, with allegations along side rape, assault, child sexual abuse and grooming. 

Per a letter from Ruch in May perhaps per chance well, Rivera attended Church of the Resurrection — the diocesan headquarters — in Wheaton, Illinois, from the mid-90s till 2013. Per one victim’s mom, he moreover served as a prayer minister, preschool volunteer, formative years chief and small neighborhood chief. 

From 2013 to 2019, Rivera used to be lay minister at Christ Our Mild Anglican, an ACNA church plant in Huge Rock, Illinois, many of whose founding contributors were from Church of the Resurrection.

Rivera used to be arrested in 2019 and is being prosecuted for felony sexual assault and predatory abuse of a victim beneath 13 years of age.  While Rivera’s attorney didn’t acknowledge to a ask for comment, police allege there would possibly be an ongoing investigation. Rivera is in the intervening time out on bond awaiting trial, field to commence up on Oct. 21, 2021.

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The first to legend Rivera for sexual assault used to be a 9-three hundred and sixty five days-inclined child whose mom, a member of Christ Our Mild Anglican, came forward to the church’s leadership in May perhaps per chance well 2019. The mom has talked about she moreover notified Church of the Resurrection leadership in June 2019 of seven other doable victims.

After Rivera’s arrest, Ruch talked about two folks came forward in November 2020 with allegations in opposition to Rivera.

One in every of those used to be Joanna Rudenborg, who alleged Rivera raped her twice while he used to be living as her nextdoor neighbor. Rudenborg has moreover reported the rape allegations to local authorities. Rudenborg has strongly criticized Ruch for no longer telling the diocese regarding the allegations or taking on the spot action to beget a look at if there had been other victims of abuse. 

“The diocese had my rape story, a second abuse story and a 9-three hundred and sixty five days-inclined’s abuse story. So the folks the total manner on the reside knew for obvious of three completely different sexual abuse or assault stories … And they didn’t create any moves to carry in any selection of third-occasion (investigation),” Rudenborg instructed RNS in an interview. “They moreover didn’t take hang of any steps to affirm the congregation at Church of the Resurrection that a one who has been alive to with the church for years in diverse capacities used to be now credibly accused of three completely different actually serious issues.”

After Rudenborg and a crew of survivors and advocates requested third-occasion involvement in January 2021, the diocese publicly shared news of one of the significant most allegations in a May perhaps per chance well 4 letter and announced they had hired a Third-occasion investigative firm, Enormous River Alternatives. The firm used to be chosen without enter from the survivors, in conserving with Rudenborg.

Within the letter, Ruch moreover admitted to his mishandling of the allegations:

“I made regrettable errors on this path of. When the recent allegation came out in opposition to Imprint in 2019, I mistakenly assumed that the desired criminal investigation used to be a enough subsequent step. I believed it handiest to let the county district criminal educated’s place of job lead an intensive investigation ensuing in a positive ruling. I anticipated that after this path of we would possibly well per chance well expose the diocese of the court’s ruling. I naively expected the trial to happen worthy forward of it has.”

Following the announcement, Rudenborg and a crew of survivors and advocates expressed concerns about Enormous River Alternatives’ investigative means. Rudenborg talked about the firm lacks skills in trauma-instructed fancy victims and their households and has ineffective outreach techniques for finding other doable victims.

After talking with Enormous River Alternatives, Rudenborg and the 9-three hundred and sixty five days-inclined victim’s mom emailed Ruch declining to take part in the investigation.

On June 26, Rudenborg shared her story of abuse on Twitter.

“Imprint hid in slow seek for for years, grooming girls, ladies, and the total neighborhood to accept physical boundary violations no other male adults will beget gotten away with,” she wrote, and integrated several photos from Facebook of Rivera with minors.

Per Rudenborg, Ruch no longer illustrious five appeals made by herself and the 9-three hundred and sixty five days-inclined victim’s mom asking him to create the outcomes of the Enormous River Alternatives investigation public. Yet, as Rudenborg’s Twitter thread won traction online — and after public theologian and Anglican priest the Rev. Esau McCaulley intervened on Rudenborg’s behalf— Ruch launched a observation on June 29 agreeing to post the investigation firm’s fats legend.

Since then, others in ACNA leadership beget raised concerns about how the abuse allegations were handled.

“It took too lengthy to expose the churches alive to, the households alive to,” talked about Scot McKnight, an ordained Anglican and author who co-wrote a 2020 e book about abuse of vitality in the church.

“They didn’t strive to search out all cases of sexual abuse. They didn’t incorporate the survivors into the formulation so that they would know what used to be going on and what used to be wanted to be carried out,” talked about McKnight.

“I’m disheartened by ACNA at a profound level. If ACNA doesn’t handle this case with Stewart Ruch valid, ACNA will never acquire better,” he added.

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Ruch is belief of as a number one bishop in the Anglican Church in North The USA, which claims about 127,000 contributors and factual beneath a thousand congregations. The denomination used to be founded in 2009 by conservative Episcopalians who disagreed with the Episcopal Church’s views of sexuality. Church of the Resurrection used to be founded in the 1950s as an Episcopal church and beget change into segment of ACNA in 2012, in conserving with the church’s web region. The church has drawn a replacement of high-profile evangelicals, in segment attributable to its proximity to Wheaton College and the headquarters of Christianity Nowadays magazine. 

In most up-to-the-minute years, ACNA has had several high-profile cases of abuse and sexual misconduct. Bishop James Pastime of Pittsburgh resigned in November 2020 for mishandling abuse allegations about a priest in his diocese. Bishop Ron Jackson of the Mammoth Lakes diocese used to be defrocked in 2020 after pleading guilty to sexual immorality attributable to a longstanding use of pornography.

In 2019, an investigation by GRACE, a nonprofit that provides with sexual abuse at Christian organizations, discovered that a high-profile priest at St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral in Tallahassee had sexually confused men on the church.

As the ACNA works toward therapeutic and justice, Rudenborg — who left Christianity after high college, in segment, she talked about, attributable to concerns about hypocrisy and patriarchy in the church — notes the church can’t merely level of curiosity on particular person cases of abuse. It must moreover address the culture that lets in abuse to happen in the first field.

“Justice would possibly well per chance per chance be going succor in time and having this regarded after valid from the origin,” talked about Rudenborg. “In a nearer sense, culturally, justice appears to be like fancy straightening out these techniques so that the spaces they assemble are stable for inclined folks and antagonistic to predators.”

Bob Smietana contributed to this legend.