03 | We’re a Mess
ACNA Witnesses Series:
How the Anglican Church in North America failed victims of sexual abuse.
ACNA leadership failed repeatedly to create a transparent, workable, fair way to support victims of sexual abuse under their care.
ACNA leaders, after being made aware of abuse allegations in their churches, focused on self-protection and secrecy instead of providing immediate help to multiple victims. Our witnesses document these failures with emails, minutes, and their personal conversations.
As I described in Reason #2 yesterday, we had a newly reconstituted Bishop’s Council (BC) beginning in approximately July/August of 2021. In fact, several former BC members had their terms expire in 2020 and one had moved away that year, such that I was the most senior member left on the BC by the beginning of 2021.
This was especially true after the original deans also left the BC at the exact time when Bp. Stewart was asked to take a “voluntary” leave of absence by Alan Hawkins. To the best of my knowledge, these Deans, along with Bishop Stewart, had sat on the BC since the beginning of our Diocese in 2012.
The new acting deans were: Fr. Alex Cameron (Dean of Greenhouse Deanery), Fr. Paul Calvin (Dean of Minnesota Deanery), Fr. Michael Flowers (Dean of Chicagoland Deanery), and Fr. Eric Snyder (Dean of Wisconsin Deanery). *Please note: There had been no previous “Dean of Chicagoland,” although there were lay representatives on the BC from that area. And, Fr. Steve Williamson, at some point, was named “Dean of the Cathedral” so the BC went from having 3 permanent deans under Bp. Stewart to having 4 or 5 brand new acting deans.
My young daughter was reading Little House books last summer and this new transition in all the senior leadership felt a bit to me like Ma and Pa leaving the farm – and taking Mary with them, leaving Laura and baby Carrie to bring in the harvest and make sure the household remained intact.
The Good (BC)
I tried to start again on this new BC by introducing myself – via a late July 2021 email – as openly and vulnerably as I knew how and asking the others to do whatever type of introduction they wanted to tell us about themselves.
I knew that, with a few exceptions, most of us were not familiar with each other. I knew that, without any prior relationships and without any trust built, it would be an uphill battle to run any nonprofit board.
We started our first BC meeting on August 3, 2021 by electing a chair and vice-chair and then dealing with another allegation of sexual misconduct in a Greenhouse church. It felt like we were “building the airplane” from a DIY kit while flying it through a severe thunderstorm. Before I get into the nitty-gritty of the way the “sausage has been made” this past year on the BC, I want to tell you that — individually — each of these members is a lovely person. Please do not despise them or judge them in any way. Each person stepped into a role that required hours and hours and hours of service. In the early months, we were meeting at least every single week over Zoom for BC meetings and, often, much more than that.
Even when we stopped “putting out fires” and switched to every-other-week Monday night meetings, the tasks before us felt arduous and thankless. There was very little glory or honor to be had for sitting on this board during this turbulent time. I know these positions put the BC members into places where they had to endure conflict, pain, loss of friendships and harassment.
We were 12+ strangers meeting over Zoom, wrestling with nuanced, difficult issues. We were given an impossible job — basically, we were asked to be the “Bishop of the UMD.” You all are the ecumenical authority over this diocese now. This is what we were told by Bp. Alan Hawkins and by acting Bp. John Miller.
But how does one act as 1/12th of a bishop? That was the question that I posed to my husband. None of the BC saw this situation in exactly the same way. We definitely did not agree on the approach to take in helping the UMD find its footing without Bp. Stewart or in continuing to grow and be healthy.
Acting Bp. John Miller shepherded us tenderly and cared for us individually. I still remember his personal prayers for my family during one breakout room session on Zoom. Fr. Alex Cameron — fairly new to the UMD and hailing from Canada — agreed to Chair the BC (a job that no other dean wanted!) and did his utmost to run a fair and open meeting – but it often felt as though he were being asked to drive a stagecoach full of horses pulling in opposite directions!
Give these men and women the honor that they deserve for what they have endured. And, also, pay attention to how these good individuals were put into a corporate system that is completely inadequate and does not recognize its own need for transformation.
The Bad (BC)
First off, you need to understand the composition of the BC. It has always been predominantly male and nearly all the males are also priests. I believe there was only one female board member — Sue Awes (an amazing older woman who was a member at Church of the Cross) — before I stepped onto the board back in 2017.
Our UMD Diocese was formed in 2012, the same year that my youngest daughter was born. So, for the first 5 years of its life, the BC only had one female representative sitting on it. When I came onto the BC, a young Latina from the Greenhouse Movement also stepped onto the board. She left in 2020.
In 2020, both Dr. Barbara Gauthier (wife of UMD Canon Theologian Fr. Stephen Gauthier) and another female leader from Minnesota (wife of a rector) joined the BC. This other “lay representative” from our deanery stepped down in the summer of 2021.
The only other female — besides me — who was completely financially independent from the UMD this past year is someone who was asked in 2020 to join the BC as a lay member from the Greenhouse Deanery by Canon William Beasley. She is about two decades younger than me and I will call her “Anna” to protect her privacy.
Neither Anna nor I earned a paycheck through the UMD for the scores of hours that we spent in volunteer service this past year. Neither Anna nor I were married to men who work for the UMD.
Anna and I decided – completely separately – to resign from our BC positions after the same Monday, March 14th, 2022 meeting. The two women remaining on the BC both are married to men who work for REZ or for a different church in the UMD. Barbara Gauthier’s husband, Fr. Stephen Gauthier, wrote the original Canons & Bylaws (alongside Bp. Stewart Ruch and Cn. William Beasley) back when the UMD was formed.
The one man on the BC who is neither a priest nor a rector is married to a Children’s Pastor in the MN Deanery.
The composition of the BC is predominantly 50+ years old. Though I am nearly 50 years old, I was probably one of the younger members on the BC. Only two members — Anna and a young priest who was consecrated by Bp. Stewart back in the spring of 2021 and working in a Greenhouse church run by Fr. Keith Hartsell – were in their early 30’s. I won’t venture to guess how old Fr. Paul Calvin (Acting Dean of MN) or Fr. Steve Williamson (member of Chicagoland Deanery and Dean of the Cathedral) are exactly, but I believe they are younger than me. That leaves 7 members older than me.
And, finally, the composition of the BC – including its non-voting members – is predominantly REZ-centric. Although Chicagoland Deanery has 3 representatives on the BC just like every other deanery, the new acting Dean that joined the BC in 2021 (Fr. Michael Flowers) is a close personal friend of Bp. Stewart Ruch’s, Fr. Steve Williamson is the senior pastor or Dean of REZ and the man hand-picked by Bp. Stewart to pastor the Cathedral so that the bishop could focus on diocesan business, and Barbara Gauthier is also a leader at REZ and a close personal friend of Bp. Stewart and Katherine Ruch. There is no representation on the BC from any other church in Chicagoland.
Add to this the fact that many of the REZ staff also sit as non-voting members on the BC and you can see how REZ’s weight exercises a heavy gravitational pull. For example, both Anne Kessler (COO of REZ and Treasurer for the BC) and Dawn Jewell (Communications Director of REZ and for the UMD) both work predominantly at REZ. They both attended multiple meetings and spoke up often. Brenda Dumper, the Canon to the Ordinary, attended nearly every meeting and drafted all the minutes of the meetings that she attended. She rarely spoke up when Bp. Stewart was leading these meetings in previous years, but during this last year, she offered her input as an equal on the BC. Let me be clear – I think it is a good thing that these women spoke up! I think it’s a wonderful thing whenever intelligent, capable and caring women are given a voice. Each of these women offered valuable input. But, I am pointing out that many of the folks attending BC meetings had both personal loyalties to Bp. Stewart and professional jobs to protect at REZ.
And, other than myself, the composition of the BC is all Caucasian.
Perhaps this composition helps provide context for what happened next:
1. Initial Phone Call to Me:
I got an initial call from one of the new male leaders of the BC asking me to “set aside” my experiences from January 2021 - June of 2021. He knew that I had been a part of Bp. Stewart’s crisis response team and he was concerned that I would be too focused on what happened with Joanna and Cherin. He implied that if I dragged the entire BC into that mire with me, we would be “stuck” and we could not focus on the important work ahead of us. The PRT created by Bp. Alan Hawkins and the Province would look at issues related to the Mark Rivera sexual abuse allegations. Our job – I was told – on the BC was to focus on the continuing mission and ministry of the UMD. The problem with this perspective, of course, was that accusations of sexual misconduct and questions about the lack of oversight (particularly over Greenhouse churches and the “lay catechists” commissioned by them) continued to trip us up as a BC in the fall of 2021.
2. Strong Signals re: ACNAToo at Early BC Meeting:
During one of our very first introductory BC meetings, on August 10th, 2021, someone — I forget exactly who — brought up the topic of the new ACNAToo blog and the posts on it. Very rapidly, three or four other BC members jumped in. Here was the gist of some of their statements:
You should fast and pray before you read ACNAToo because it is definitely Satan’s work in our diocese . . . You know, of course, that everyone who signed the ACNAToo Statement is ultra-liberal and is out to promote female ordinations and/or out to destroy the traditional Biblical views on marriage? You know that the Evil One is out to destroy Bp. Stewart and he is using Joanna/Cherin to do this work?
I knew that I had to jump in and say something — fast! I had met Joanna & Cherin over Zoom and even that was enough to show me that these women were NOT demonic in any way. They came to REZ – at great personal cost – to seek help from Bp. Stewart in finding and helping other survivors. They were concerned that Mark Rivera may have groomed and abused other young girls and/or women during his 20+ years of lay ministry at REZ in children’s ministry, youth ministry and prayer ministry positions. They have since been proven right.
I tried telling the entire BC this: I certainly believe there is great evil in the world. I certainly agree that Satan is always at work to lie, steal, kill and destroy. But, I entirely disagree that ACNAToo or Joanna/Cherin are synonymous with “Satan” or are somehow “his instrument.” They are a SYMPTOM of a great underlying illness in our UMD. They are the “pains” that tell us that this “body” is in distress. They have done us a GREAT FAVOR in not leaving quietly but in speaking their story and asking us all to examine what has gone wrong in our churches that Mark Rivera’s ongoing abuses were allowed to happen for so many years.
The BC listened to me politely but nobody else chimed in.
The next day, Barbara Gauthier sent all of us an email with her views about ACNAToo and a list of resources that she used, citing an Anglican Unscripted podcast that is factually incorrect on numerous core details of the story.
3. Confronting a Dean:
Speaking up in any group can be a fearful thing. Speaking up in a group of spiritual leaders, all of whom are male, carries an extra burden for us females. During many of the early BC meetings in the fall, I kept bringing up the fact that there were gender differences, generational differences and perhaps even church power-related differences in how we were each viewing the ACNAToo narratives. During one of these times, I was spoken to rather harshly during an early BC meeting. Nobody came to my defense. I felt raw and vulnerable. I cried to my husband. I prayed. I called this particular Dean and had a Matthew 18 conversation with him. He thanked me for calling. To his credit, he was somewhat chagrined that I — the lay person — had reached out to reconcile with him, rather than the other way around. It was a good conversation and rebuilt some level of respect for one another. But, at the end of the call, he admonished me to not talk so much any more about how the fact that being a minority woman and younger than most of them gave me any different perspective on this situation. He said that this was “offensive” and I should be more respectful towards the leadership of the BC and towards the leadership of the ACNA.
4. Child Safety Task Force:
After these two initial talks with two new powerful members of the BC and the strong signals from vocal members about how Bp. Stewart and REZ were on “God’s side” and Joanna and ACNAToo were on “Satan’s side,” I kept my mouth shut more often. I decided to focus solely on the business aspects of the UMD. First, I tried to interest the BC in inviting a trauma-informed counselor to come educate us about issues related to rape, child molestation and similar issues. This was one of the primary reasons that I remained on the BC – to encourage the “top leaders” (and not simply the children’s ministry or youth workers) to educate ourselves on this complex issue. There was little to no interest in this trauma-informed education. (The MN Dean, Fr. Paul Calvin, however, took up this suggestion and created a Saturday seminar for all the leaders in the MN churches in March.) I decided that I would take my survivor-advocacy drive and pour that energy and time into setting up a Child Safety Task Force. This Task Force would focus on creating diocesan-wide policies, connect concerned leaders across the UMD, and create a list of the best available resources for all churches within the UMD to access. I began laying the groundwork for recruitment in late fall of 2021 and got the first few Zoom meetings rolling in the first couple months of 2022.
5. Evidence of Circling-the-Wagons:
The first time that I brought up Fr. Keith Hartsell’s name was after reading Carol's Story on ACNAToo. I had had absolutely zero contact with Joanna, Cherin or any of their supporters since Bp. Stewart’s leave. In our August 31st BC meeting, I said — very casually — Hey, has anybody read this new story on ACNAToo? I don’t know Keith Hartsell from Adam. I have never had any interaction with him in my life. But, since we are the “ecclesiastical body” here in the UMD, shouldn’t we speak to him about this or find out more about what happened? Three or four loud, emphatic male voices jumped in and said: Keith Hartsell is a wonderful man! He’s been my mentor. (Echo from another priest: “And my friend!”). He’s done great work for the church and for Greenhouse. ACNAToo is just going after another priest. They don’t care who they attack . . .” The conversation then devolved into how difficult it was to be a priest these days and how you were vulnerable to attack from anybody, no matter how specious. I thought to myself: Wow. This is what ACNAToo meant by “circling the wagons.” I just saw a real-life demonstration. Should I point this out to the BC itself? And get shot up some more myself? No thank-you. I am just going to keep my mouth closed yet again.” And, instead of focusing anymore on the underlying matters, the BC moved on to discussing “soul care” and support for Fr. Keith Hartsell.
Excerpt from the August 31, 2021 Bishop’s Council minutes
6. Rowing Hard & Getting Nowhere Fast:
Many, many BC meetings seemed to be discussions ad nauseam with very little movement in any direction. There was a vocal minority that argued that no changes should be made until Bp. Stewart returned. The majority of the BC members remained stoically silent and held their cards tightly to their chest. Thus, the prevailing sentiment expressed on the BC seemed to be that Bp. Stewart’s return was imminent and all we needed to do was to “row around in place” until he arrived. To do anything significant in the UMD without Bp. Stewart’s approval seemed to be disloyal.
The Minnesota contingent — including myself, Acting Dean Paul Calvin, David Stewart, and our Acting Chancellor (who had no voting powers on the BC) — argued that we should at least “clean house” and try to clear the way for Bp. Stewart’s return. That is, we felt like our row boat had some holes in it and instead of just bailing water and waiting for rescue from Bp. Stewart, shouldn’t we plug holes and maybe row to land for repairs? Shouldn’t we review our Canons & Constitutions? Wouldn’t Bp. Stewart benefit from a BC that actually did some work in his absence? Doesn’t the entire UMD need our leadership right now? Let me be clear. The four of us from Minnesota (only three of whom had votes) did not always stand on the same side of any issue. We disagreed — respectfully — with each other. But, all four of us agreed that the BC needed to be a lot less talk and a lot more action! We four started meeting semi-regularly towards the end of 2021 – at a local restaurant – simply to think about specific motions that we could draft and put forward. We didn’t even care if these motions would carry. The idea was simply to get the BC unstuck. (And we were very up-front and told the entire BC that we were doing this!) We all felt like we were rowing super hard, but we were anchored to the same spot and we were not getting anywhere. One of the men said that getting the BC to take a vote on anything substantial was like “dragging a dead body across a heavily carpeted room.”
7. Engaging with the “Enemy”:
Towards Christmas of 2021, an old friend from Church of the Cross reached out to me via FB. We set up a conversation for the evening of December 22nd. After catching up on our kids and our lives, we had a 3+ hour conversation about everything happening in our UMD. She had connections with folks who had joined ACNAToo and wanted to share some of those stories with me. I mostly listened. I knew this conversation might raise eyebrows on the BC. But, it was very important to me to be someone whom females in the diocese could approach.
Over the summer and fall months, I had already had a dozen or more conversations with women in the MN churches about this issue. I knew that issues related to sexual abuse or abusive relationships were very real and personal to many women in the church – and that they were watching to see how we responded. I had heard directly from several moms whose own girls had been raped or molested – not within the church, but in other settings – and whose experience of the response of other Christians was very painful. There was nowhere else within our UMD for these women to go. I wanted to represent these women – and many others in our diocese – well. And I believed – rightly or wrongly – that this included listening to the voices that spoke on behalf of ACNAToo.
But, I wanted to be above-board in all my interactions. And, I had not engaged with Joanna or Cherin or Eve or anybody related to ACNAToo since Bp. Alan Hawkins had asked for their contact information and had taken over this investigation. So, the very next morning, I sent an email update all the way up the chain of command to inform them about this new contact and to explain my reasons for engaging.
8. PRT Resignations & BC Similarities:
When I read the resignation letter in January 2022 from the three women appointed to the ACNA’s Provincial Response Team (PRT), I felt a deep sense of affirmation. Yes! Finally! These women were speaking out on issues similar to what I was also facing on the diocesan level. There was a “power” group behind the official group – whether that be the PRT or BC – that was actually setting the agendas and running the show. We females on these official groups were there mainly to lend the team credibility and to put our “stamp of approval” upon whatever these groups decided. But, we did not have access to all the same information or channels of communication as the priests or the males in charge.
One clear example of this occurred when I was not allowed to attend a Diocesan meeting between our clergy and Bp. Alan Hawkins. On the afternoon of Friday, January 28th, 2022, an “all clergy” meeting was slated to take place between our UMD clergy and Bp. Alan. When I asked the BC Deans about the Zoom link to this meeting, I was told that it was ONLY for clergy members. Since I was not a clergy member, I could not attend. I brought up the fact that I sit on the BC that is currently the “ecclesiastical authority” that oversees all the clergy in the UMD. I brought up the fact that I work on the Communications Subcommittee (that included women at REZ who were also not clergy) that sent out formal newsletters to our entire diocese and that also sent informal updates to the clergy. So, I was supposed to communicate with clergy on behalf of the BC, but I was not allowed to listen in on the conversation between the clergy and Bp. Alan Hawkins? This made absolutely no sense to me. Two other non-clergy members, Barbara Gauthier and David Stewart, had access to these clergy-only meetings via their spouses. Only Anna and I were excluded from this important meeting between the UMD and ACNA.
9. Meeting in-person (finally) at REZ:
After six months of hard labor and after the contentious mid-February debates about whether we should oppose the ACNA and bring Stewart back or not (see Reason 01 for more on this), we finally were able to meet in Wheaton, IL at REZ for an all-day, in-person Saturday meeting on February 26th, 2022. I flew down to O’Hare and got picked up by Anna. We talked and got to know one another better as we made our way through Friday night traffic to an informal pizza dinner at REZ. There, we met the other members of the BC and had a fun evening sharing hilarious stories about family trips and international travels. The next day, acting Bishop John Miller led us — not in a business related meeting — but in a reflective meeting.
He truly shepherded us through 3 questions: (a). What has brought you the most joy or blessing in serving on the BC? (b). What has brought you the most pain or heartache in serving on the BC? And (c). What is one thing you would change about the way the BC operates? I won’t share anybody else’s responses, but my own were: (a). The opportunity to get to know and serve alongside the MN Deanery folks and to form a friendship with Anna. (b). The very real and raw struggles of being one of the only female voices on a very male-dominated team in a church context that values male headship and authority. (c). The fact that I am left off so many communications and conversations but I still have the burden and responsibility of voting and making decisions for the UMD. Everyone who attended in-person responded to me with: “of course, your perspectives as a female are valid” and “of course, your voice matters on this board.”
10. Giving Up after March 14th, 2022 Meeting:
I had been encouraged by some of the statements that had been made in our in-person BC meetings at REZ. Barbara Gauthier had named my role as a “ligament” in the body of Christ – someone who was trying hard to bring together two opposing parts of the body. One priest had confided that he was often silent because he knew that the things he said that might be taken to support ACNAToo could and would be used against him later. Another priest encouraged me greatly by saying, “You have been a teacher to me. I know you think we are not listening, but every time you speak, I listen and I learn something new. Thank you.” A third priest wanted to learn more about our experiences as female leaders in a church and evidenced a strong desire to be more aware of the male-female power dynamic at play in the church.
I had also told the entire BC that I was going to be meeting my ACNAToo contact/friend during my weekend in Chicagoland and that Cherin might be there as well (see email from the new WI Dean John Mackett which confirms Helen told the BC of her meeting with Cherin). Instead of condemning me, they prayed for me. This indeed seemed to be a shift in tenor and I was so hopeful that the BC would come together and work to build a healthier, safer diocese. But, two weeks later, the March 14th, 2022 meeting on the BC demonstrated to me — very acutely — that nothing had changed. Even after I had spoken up during our in-person meetings at REZ, nobody was listening. Everything was going to go on exactly like it had been. And most of the BC was simply biding their time until Bp. Stewart’s return to power. There was no point in sacrificing my time or energy in this endeavor. And, my own conscience told me that I could not stay and lend my name, my reputation, or my efforts to this BC.
The Ugly (BC)
I will be combining many separate events in this section.
On February 13, 2022, the BC was sent the original letter written by other survivors of Mark Rivera’s sexual abuse at REZ.
This letter was originally sent to the UMD’s BC, to Archbishop Foley, and to the College of Bishops. Their names were redacted to protect their identity. This group eventually became known as “BelieveUsToo.” They officially went onto Twitter and shared their letter openly with the public on March 12, 2022.
In both the original letter and the officially posted one, there were egregious allegations made against Joanna. The longer, more complex story underlying these allegations was not one that Joanna had hidden from the team on ACNAToo – or even from Bp. Stewart and COLA Leaders. As I would learn later, Joanna had openly and vulnerably disclosed to them and apologized for what she believed to be the worst and most damning details of this story, over a year before the BelieveUsToo letter was posted publicly. No one from COLA or the UMD ever responded to these sections of Joanna’s email or engaged her in conversation about this. Because the other survivor involved had never responded to Joanna’s private apology to her and had also expressed a desire for complete privacy about her story, Joanna did not feel it was possible to share these details widely without further harming the other survivor. This story was therefore not publicly known.
In many of the Zoom meetings, in-person conversations, emails and texts regarding these BelieveUsToo letters from February 13th - March 12th, members on the BC and folks from REZ expressed ELATION and even GLEE. Not everyone, of course. And to varying degrees and varying volumes. But there was a strong sentiment of: Hooray! The tide is turning and our Bishop will be coming back soon! We are saved!
And, alongside this sense of relief, was an acute sense of condemnation: I cannot believe what Joanna did! Wait until her supporters find out! She’s going to get what she deserves! I can’t wait . . . She accused Bp. Stewart and, now, look at what is going to happen. We knew she was evil and this just proves it. [NOTE: These are not all exact quotes, but they convey both the words and the sentiments I noticed in tone of voice, facial expressions and such.]
I have been attending a BSF Bible study this school year (for the first time ever) at a large Lutheran church and have been steeped in the stories of Jesus engaging with the Pharisees in the book of Matthew. Throughout the study, these encounters in scripture have made me feel discomforted. I kept thinking: Why do I feel like I am standing with the Pharisees and not with Jesus? I am trying to serve Jesus by serving the UMD on the BC, but this doesn’t feel right.
And, in seeing the BC and REZ folks’ responses to the BelieveUsToo letter, I could only think to myself: So this is what we are going to rejoice over? The fact that a woman who was raped twice by a much respected lay leader has now been “caught” in the former act of enabling her abuser after he began abusing a much younger woman? How did things get this ugly in the UMD/ACNA?
And do we not realize that this younger woman and ALL the BelieveUsToo victims apparently never came forward to REZ about their sufferings at Mark Rivera’s hands until after Joanna made a disclosure to the church about her sexual assaults? Joanna and Cherin urged the church to openly confront Mark Rivera’s abuse and create a safe space for more survivors to come forward. When the church failed to do this, Joanna and Cherin spoke up publicly, which encouraged additional reported victims of Mark Rivera to come forward with their abuse for the first time.
All I can say is that I saw myself in the midst of a modern-day telling of the time when the Pharisees dragged the adulterous woman from committing her sinful act and brought her before Jesus to stone her (John 8:1-20). I see her disheveled. I see her trying to cover up her nakedness and shame. I see the men leering at her and calling her unspeakable names. I see the religious leaders eagerly anticipating the public stoning of this woman, who has clearly broken the moral law and who has conveniently been caught in time for them to punish.
I saw Joanna in that woman’s face.
I saw Joanna being labeled as “sinful,” and being rejected for being an “unbeliever” and not “a member of the church.” I saw Joanna being painted in broad strokes as “the devil’s instrument” against our absolutely good and totally right and justifiably enraged religious leaders. I saw Joanna mocked and demonized. It didn’t matter anymore how we treated her. She was no longer someone who was made in the image of God. She was no longer someone who Christ loved and died for. She was the “other” and she was the “enemy.” We could take as many shots at her as we wanted and we would be doing God and the Church a favor. I saw many, many lies about Joanna taking deep roots into people’s consciousness – people who had never met her, never listened to her, and never heard her tell her story.
I saw Jesus bent down and writing in the sand.
I heard him say, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
I could not be part of this ugly, self-righteous mob. I had to refuse to pick up a stone and throw it at Joanna. This is the third reason I resigned from the BC.
The final post in this series will be here tomorrow. Thank you for continuing to read.
CONTACT INFO: If you want to contact me directly about this post, you can do so at helen@keuning.us. I apologize in advance if I don’t respond for a few weeks.
Read all 4 of Helen’s reasons for resigning the Upper Midwest Bishop’s Council at the ACNA Witnesses page: