From: Barbara Gauthier
Subject: #ACNAtoo Open Letter to Archbishop Foley Beach + two news articles on the letter
Date: August 11, 2021 at 10:05 PM
To: David Stewart, Brenda Rez, [redacted], Alex Cameron, [redacted], Eric Snyder, H. Keuning, Kyle Oesch, Matt Arndt, Michael Flowers, Paul Calvin, Steve Williamson, Bishop John Miller
Hi everyone,
It's been a busy day so I'm just now getting to you this material on #ACNAtoo.
Bp. John is absolutely right that anyone reading this letter from the #ACNAtoo group to our Archbishop needs to get on their knees and pray hard before reading it.
I think in addition that it would also be advisable to pray through Ephesians 6:10-19, as we are also engaged in spiritual warfare, as Paul says, in which our Enemy attacks by sowing fear, dissension and confusion among the faithful. The Lord has equipped us to be able to stand firm in faith.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
We on the Bishop's Council have not been left as orphans, for He has given to each one of us the fullness of his Holy Spirit, and his parting words to his disciples in Matthew's gospel -- "I am with you always, to the close of the age" -- are spoken to us also, here and now, both as members of his Body the Church, and as individuals in Christ. We proclaim every Sunday that "He will come again in glory," but Jesus is also here now in our midst, as "God with us" -- Immanuel. Let's keep our eyes fixed on Him through all of this that we may be of one mind and one accord as Paul as commended us to be (Philippians 2:1-2).
In Christ,
Barbara
The first link below goes directly to the #ACNAtoo Open Letter to Foley Beach, articulating their demands to the Archbishop and to the ACNA.
Below that is a brief article on the #ACNAtoo letter by George Conger, whom I have found to be one of the foremost and most trustworthy of Anglican journalists.
At the bottom is the link to the video newscast Anglican Unscripted (Episode 674), hosted by Kevin Kallsen and George Conger, followed by my summary and transcript of the 10-minute segment of the video dealing with #ACNAtoo and the "manifesto" sent to the Archbishop.
[The last two items I have taken directly from the July 19 edition of Anglican News Update, which also includes my own commentary in addition to that of George Conger and Kevin Kallsen -- my commentary will be highlighted in red to distinguish it from theirs]
An Open Letter to Archbishop Foley Beach (July 10)
https://www.acnatoo.org/news/openletter
Cancel Culture Comes to the ACNA -- George Conger (July 16)
https://anglican.ink/2021/07/16/cancel-culture-comes-to-the-acna/
A group representing some of the abuse victims of Mark Rivera, a former lay minister at a diocese of the Upper Midwest church plant in Illinois, have published a series of demands asking they be given control of the investigation process.
#ACNAtoo published an open letter yesterday addressed to the Most Rev. Foley Beach, primate of the ACNA laying out demands. They asked the Upper Midwest Diocesan Council be dissolved, two diocesan staffers placed on leave, the right to approve any outside investigators, and editorial control over the final report. They have also demanded to know if the Rt. Rev. Stewart Ruch is being paid while on administrative leave, and have asked that he be dismissed from office if he is shown to have acted improperly.
“We ask that you commit publicly not to hire an investigative firm until the #ACNAtoo survivors and their advocacy team have approved both the firm, scope, and parameters of the investigation,” the group said in its letter. “Likewise, we ask to be given the opportunity to correct any public statements made about the investigation before they are published.”
Responding on twitter, Archbishop Beach said he would look into their demands and respond accordingly.
Anglican Unscripted Episode 674 (#Too)-- Kevin Kallsen and George Conger (July 16)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0LAnFxf3jA&list=PL7p2AAcz9AHjDgD3tOoOgq8BIQ7KcdDOb&index=35 -- The portion of this Anglican Unscripted episode discussing in detail the situation in the Diocese of the Upper Midwest begins at 22:04 ends at 32:00. I have provided the following summary and transcript of George Conger and Kevin Kallsen's discussion, commentary and analysis for those of you who would rather spend 3 minutes reading the information instead of taking the 15 minutes or more required to download the episode, locate the starting point of discussion and listen to it in its entirety.
There is a lot more going on here than one might initially think and Conger does a masterful job analyzing this #ACNAtoo letter demanding that Abp. Foley Beach do exactly what they tell him to do in regards to this case. Bypassing all due process, #ACNAtoo demands that the diocesan council be immediately dissolved and replaced, Bp. Ruch be fired and any interim bishop be of their choosing -- and not the Archbishop's. The group also demands access to the diocese's personnel files and clergy disciplinary records and, before the ACNA forms its investigative team, #ACNAtoo wants to be given veto power over who are its members. Moreover, when the final investigative report is written, the #ACNAtoo advocacy group is to be given full editorial control over the content before it is published. Conger and Kallsen conclude that there may be a good bit of cancel-culture activity going on here, which is more eager to destroy than it is to bring healing. READ (OR LISTEN TO) IT ALL VERY CAREFULLY and pray for all those involved in finding a godly way forward:
George Conger starts out by describing briefly the situation in the Diocese of the Upper Midwest, where allegations have been raised of sexual abuse having been committed by a lay leader in a small church plant in Big Rock, Illinois. He lays out in order "the facts as we know them" (from what is publicly available) concerning the ACNA Diocese of the Upper Midwest, where allegations have been raised of sexual abuse having been committed by a diocesan church member: "A lay catechist in a mission church of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest has been accused, credibly accused, of sexual misconduct involving women and some children: he has been arrested by the police and is currently out on bail awaiting trial.
It is alleged that the pastor, or vicar, of this parish did not deal with this according to the guidelines or norms of the ACNA in dealing with abuse. Staff at the diocesan level, who were initially sympathetic and supportive in their investigations, did not do the job that the victims felt they should have done. It is alleged that the bishop did not give adequate supervision to the parish priest, to his staff." The bishop has taken a voluntary leave of absence pending a third party investigation into the whole issue.
It is Conger's opinion that +Ruch's decision to step aside is "a wise choice" and indicates the diocese's commitment "to play it out and play it straight" in line with the ACNA's due process procedures.
Then last week, a small group of individuals identifying themselves as the "#ACNAtoo Advocacy Group" issued a 13-page open letter to Abp. Foley Beach outlining their demands to be given full control of the investigation, the process and the outcome.
Conger briefly summarizes the essence of this "manifesto" being lobbed at Abp. Beach: It first demands that some staffers of the diocesan office be placed on leave, that the diocesan council be immediately dissolved and replaced, that Bp. Ruch be fired and that the interim bishop be of their choosing. The group also demands access to the diocese's personnel files and clergy disciplinary records. Before the ACNA investigative team is formed, the group demands to be given veto power over who are its members. Moreover, when the final report is written, they are to be given full editorial control over the report before it is published.
Conger then provides a good bit of sound commentary. This small (8-member group) of advocates and survivors do not want due process in this case: they "wish to be Victim, Prosecutor, Jury and Judge" in their own process of "verdict first, trial afterwards." What they are proposing is "not the way the ACNA system works," Conger notes, but "the system of people who are pushing themselves forward, claiming the right and authority to do this."
While having great sympathy for victims of sexual abuse, Conger adds that he has "no sympathy for cancel culture, where an allegation is sufficient to destroy the life and career of somebody." What is needed here is due process and fair play, Conger says. "Yes, it is more emotionally satisfying to shoot the people you dislike immediately, and then prove that you had a right to shoot them." But we "need to follow the rules" and "the Diocese of the Upper Midwest is playing it by the book in its internal deliberations."
Yet this is "not good enough" for the advocacy group, Conger concludes: "#ACNAtoo wants oversight -- they're calling it 'input' -- but when you get the right to correct 'misstatements' of facts' on the final report, you've been given the right to control the outcome as 'Prosecutor, Judge, and Jury' in addition to being Victim. It's not fair."
Conger adds emphatically: "Understand that games are being played here, that this is just a bad way forward if you want a fair and truthful and godly outcome. If you want revenge, if you want punishment, if you want humiliation, this is the smart way to do it."
Kevin Kallsen agrees: "If you want to divide and break down the Church, you're doing a wonderful job. If you're looking to heal a situation, this is not the way forward."
There's a yet bigger perspective in all this, Kallsen contends. It's not just a big fuss being raised surrounding an alleged sexual abuse case concerning a former lay leader in a small church of a diocese which may not have handled things perfectly in accordance with a prescribed process. But it's also -- perhaps even more importantly -- about a spiritual attack being waged simultaneously against the Church by the Enemy.
Kallsen explains: "The process wasn't followed and we have a tremendous mess in the ACNA. Here's how Satan works. I want to step back to January, when Bp. Ruch put together this wonderful statement on behalf of the College of Bishops on how we deal with those who have same-sex attractions and what they want to identify themselves with -- and it was an amazing document. Everybody praised it and it made the presses almost around the world. So, Satan's like: 'Well, I can deflate this real quick because somebody wasn't following the process'."
Conger interjects: "Boom! Let's shoot the messenger! And to go from that high to that low -- Satan is at work."