Episcopal Church assault data reveals the dark side of inclusive Christianity

[Anonymous]

https://religiondispatches.org/episcopal-church-assault-data-reveals-the-dark-side-of-inclusive-christianity/

But there’s a problem.

Gender and sexual minorities don’t just experience rejection, shaming, and violence outside Episcopal churches—they experience them within Episcopal churches at alarmingly high rates, too. And the denomination’s structures (canon law included) have consistently failed to protect them.

Buried deep in the Reports to the General Convention are the results of a survey, conducted in 2020, that quantifies the violence epidemic. Based on a similar survey conducted in 2017 amongst United Methodists in the United States, it contributes to the “truth telling” element of a planned truth-and-reconciliation process on gender and sexual abuse in Episcopal spaces.

Of those victims who did report their victimization to Episcopal leaders, the number one assessment from both trans/non-binary and cisgender respondents was that “little or no change” came about as a result. 20.6% of transgender and non-binary survivors reported that they simply left the church altogether. By comparison, “only” 10.7% of cisgender women felt they had to leave. (Curiously, there’s no data on this front for LGB-identified Episcopalians.)

It would be difficult to come to any conclusion other than that the culture of The Episcopal Church is one in which “problem” victims who speak out are either ignored or made to go away. It’s a wonder any abuser survivors responded to the denomination’s survey at all.

Lots of very troubling statistics at link.

[Anonymous]

Aggression towards LGBTQ is horrific wherever it occurs. But OP, although you must have put some time into digging up a six-month-old article, weirdly you didn't include these paras from your link:

The survey organizers caution that the data they collected is unlikely to be representative of Episcopalians as a whole. “Because victims/survivors are more likely to complete a survey on [their victimization],” they argue in the preface to their report, the percentage of respondents reporting gender and sexual violence “is surely higher than it would be if all Episcopalians had participated.”

To be sure, the data isn’t based on a random sample size and therefore isn’t statistically representative.

Also, OP, you neglected to mention that the whole point of the survey was to do something about problems going forward.

When representatives of The Episcopal Church gather in Baltimore for the denomination’s General Convention taking place from July 8-11, they’ll be asked to consider a proposed overhaul to the church’s sexual violence prevention policy.

Currently, Episcopal canon law requires those preparing for ordination to demonstrate competencies in the “prevention of sexual misconduct.” The proposed changes would strike that requirement. Instead, ordinands would need to demonstrate the loftier-sounding, but more nebulous, ability to “form communities that understand and welcome diverse experiences of gender and sexuality, manifest safe and appropriate boundaries, and implement strategies to prevent sexual misconduct.”

The intent is to underscore “the importance of providing places for inclusion and support for those who have experienced rejection, shaming, and violence”—in particular, members of the LGBTQ+ community—which sounds like a welcome and refreshing change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aggression towards LGBTQ is horrific wherever it occurs. But OP, although you must have put some time into digging up a six-month-old article, weirdly you didn't include these paras from your link:

The survey organizers caution that the data they collected is unlikely to be representative of Episcopalians as a whole. “Because victims/survivors are more likely to complete a survey on [their victimization],” they argue in the preface to their report, the percentage of respondents reporting gender and sexual violence “is surely higher than it would be if all Episcopalians had participated.”

To be sure, the data isn’t based on a random sample size and therefore isn’t statistically representative.

Also, OP, you neglected to mention that the whole point of the survey was to do something about problems going forward.

When representatives of The Episcopal Church gather in Baltimore for the denomination’s General Convention taking place from July 8-11, they’ll be asked to consider a proposed overhaul to the church’s sexual violence prevention policy.

Currently, Episcopal canon law requires those preparing for ordination to demonstrate competencies in the “prevention of sexual misconduct.” The proposed changes would strike that requirement. Instead, ordinands would need to demonstrate the loftier-sounding, but more nebulous, ability to “form communities that understand and welcome diverse experiences of gender and sexuality, manifest safe and appropriate boundaries, and implement strategies to prevent sexual misconduct.”

The intent is to underscore “the importance of providing places for inclusion and support for those who have experienced rejection, shaming, and violence”—in particular, members of the LGBTQ+ community—which sounds like a welcome and refreshing change.

Thanks for this additional information. It makes sense in the context of Episcopal churches that I'm familiar with, that are quite inclusive and have no rules that discriminate against LGBTQ people that I've ever heard of (unlike the Catholic Church)

[Anonymous]

Our Episcopal priest is gay. While I'm sorry to hear of discrimination, I'd be surprised to find much in many of our local churches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aggression towards LGBTQ is horrific wherever it occurs. But OP, although you must have put some time into digging up a six-month-old article, weirdly you didn't include these paras from your link:

The survey organizers caution that the data they collected is unlikely to be representative of Episcopalians as a whole. “Because victims/survivors are more likely to complete a survey on [their victimization],” they argue in the preface to their report, the percentage of respondents reporting gender and sexual violence “is surely higher than it would be if all Episcopalians had participated.”

To be sure, the data isn’t based on a random sample size and therefore isn’t statistically representative.

Also, OP, you neglected to mention that the whole point of the survey was to do something about problems going forward.

When representatives of The Episcopal Church gather in Baltimore for the denomination’s General Convention taking place from July 8-11, they’ll be asked to consider a proposed overhaul to the church’s sexual violence prevention policy.

Currently, Episcopal canon law requires those preparing for ordination to demonstrate competencies in the “prevention of sexual misconduct.” The proposed changes would strike that requirement. Instead, ordinands would need to demonstrate the loftier-sounding, but more nebulous, ability to “form communities that understand and welcome diverse experiences of gender and sexuality, manifest safe and appropriate boundaries, and implement strategies to prevent sexual misconduct.”

The intent is to underscore “the importance of providing places for inclusion and support for those who have experienced rejection, shaming, and violence”—in particular, members of the LGBTQ+ community—which sounds like a welcome and refreshing change.

Thanks for this additional information. It makes sense in the context of Episcopal churches that I'm familiar with, that are quite inclusive and have no rules that discriminate against LGBTQ people that I've ever heard of (unlike the Catholic Church)

But they really don’t know, they are guessing.

[Anonymous]

Chicago Episcopal diocese’s $750,000 sex abuse case puts Bishop Chilton Knudsen’s actions under scrutiny

In 1990, a youth minister at an Episcopal church in La Grange was concerned about one of the teenagers who frequented the parish — an 18-year-old who’d been living out of a car, “acting strange and doing a lot of drugs.”

She confronted him, and he shared a secret: He’d been sexually abused for years as a boy. His abuser was Richard Kearney, an Episcopal priest who ran his childhood parish in Oregon, Illinois, before moving to a congregation in Waukegan.

“I told her I didn’t know why I was acting the way I was,” the man later said, according to court records. “I was hurting a lot, and I told her about the abuse. She said that she was going to make sure that something got done about it.”

But, according to interviews and a Cook County lawsuit that the Episcopal diocese settled in May for $750,000 without admitting any wrongdoing, she didn’t immediately call the police after the 18-year-old told her Kearney repeatedly abused him.

Though a church spokesman says she did contact the Lake County sheriff’s department within weeks, police didn’t get involved until two months later, records show — after the mother of two children called a child abuse tip line to report Kearney.

During those two months, Kearney molested another boy, according to records and interviews.

According to the recently settled lawsuit, Griswold’s office knew as early as 1987 that Kearney — who, after having been sent to a rehabilitation program, was arrested in 1990, convicted of child sexual abuse charges and “removed” from the priesthood — might have molested kids at Saint Bride’s Episcopal Church in Oregon, a half hour from Rockford, but did nothing.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/6/3/23147117/clergy-sex-abuse-episcopal-church-chilton-knudsen-frank-griswold-richard-kearney-waukegan-chicago

Wow. Just wow.

[Anonymous]

Mark Rivera, a former lay pastor in a conservative Anglican denomination who was convicted in December of felony child sexual abuse and assault, was sentenced on Monday afternoon (March 6) to 15 years in the department of corrections.

Judge John Barsanti of Illinois’ 16th Judicial Circuit Court in Kane County granted Rivera the minimum sentences for his crimes. The judge earlier found Rivera guilty of two counts of predatory sexual assault of a victim under 13 years old (a Class X felony) and three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim under 13 (a Class 2 felony). Rivera will get credit for time already served in jail and spent under electronic monitoring and will be eligible for parole before completing his full sentence.

During the first half of the sentencing hearing, which occurred on Feb. 24, Cherin Marie, the mother of the child Rivera was found guilty of abusing, read victim impact statements for both her and her daughter.
“She continues to be impacted every single day by this man’s abuse and the traumatic experience of having to testify about it in court,” said Cherin Marie, who asked to go by her first and middle name to protect her family’s privacy. Cherin added that Rivera was “a lay pastor in our church in a position of spiritual authority” over her daughter, as well as a “trusted family friend.”
“When my daughter bravely spoke up about her abuse, our church and community of friends, under this man’s influence, turned their backs on her and chose to support her sexual abuser,” she said.

https://religionnews.com/2023/03/06/mark-rivera-a-former-anglican-lay-pastor-sentenced-to-15-years-in-prison/

Why do community members and church leaders disbelieve kids who reach out for help and tell the truth?

[Anonymous]

I take it OP is upset about the recent favorable threads about the Episcopal church.

Must.not.have.positive.threads.about religion

While these are two very bad anecdotes, it's been said here a million times: your school, your online date, practically every forum you enter has risks. At least as noted in OP's article (but glossed over by OP), the Episcopalian church is taking some pretty strong steps to hold abusers accountable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I take it OP is upset about the recent favorable threads about the Episcopal church.

Must.not.have.positive.threads.about religion

While these are two very bad anecdotes, it's been said here a million times: your school, your online date, practically every forum you enter has risks. At least as noted in OP's article (but glossed over by OP), the Episcopalian church is taking some pretty strong steps to hold abusers accountable.

I wouldn't assume that the OP is anti-religion, but just someone wanting to diss Episcopalians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take it OP is upset about the recent favorable threads about the Episcopal church.

Must.not.have.positive.threads.about religion

While these are two very bad anecdotes, it's been said here a million times: your school, your online date, practically every forum you enter has risks. At least as noted in OP's article (but glossed over by OP), the Episcopalian church is taking some pretty strong steps to hold abusers accountable.

I wouldn't assume that the OP is anti-religion, but just someone wanting to diss Episcopalians.

Meh, she's probably one of the two ranting atheists on this forum. Otherwise, why diss Episcopalians? They're a small % of the population and one of the most inclusive denominations out there. It's like beating up on labradoodles because somebody said something nice about labradoodles, but you hate dogs generally and can't let anything positive about dogs stand.

[Anonymous]

Lets see. The US Episcopal Church had its first female Presiding Bishop (2006), first female Bishop (1988), first female priest (1976-8), first gay Bishop (2003), and first African American Bishop (1971). While not perfect, the Church certainly is one of the more inclusive Protestant denominations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take it OP is upset about the recent favorable threads about the Episcopal church.

Must.not.have.positive.threads.about religion

While these are two very bad anecdotes, it's been said here a million times: your school, your online date, practically every forum you enter has risks. At least as noted in OP's article (but glossed over by OP), the Episcopalian church is taking some pretty strong steps to hold abusers accountable.

I wouldn't assume that the OP is anti-religion, but just someone wanting to diss Episcopalians.

Meh, she's probably one of the two ranting atheists on this forum. Otherwise, why diss Episcopalians? They're a small % of the population and one of the most inclusive denominations out there. It's like beating up on labradoodles because somebody said something nice about labradoodles, but you hate dogs generally and can't let anything positive about dogs stand.

At least one of the "ranting atheists" is friendly to Episcopalian churches. Why diss Episcopalians? perhaps because OP is a ranting Christian who doesn't like liberal religion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take it OP is upset about the recent favorable threads about the Episcopal church.

Must.not.have.positive.threads.about religion

While these are two very bad anecdotes, it's been said here a million times: your school, your online date, practically every forum you enter has risks. At least as noted in OP's article (but glossed over by OP), the Episcopalian church is taking some pretty strong steps to hold abusers accountable.

I wouldn't assume that the OP is anti-religion, but just someone wanting to diss Episcopalians.

Meh, she's probably one of the two ranting atheists on this forum. Otherwise, why diss Episcopalians? They're a small % of the population and one of the most inclusive denominations out there. It's like beating up on labradoodles because somebody said something nice about labradoodles, but you hate dogs generally and can't let anything positive about dogs stand.

At least one of the "ranting atheists" is friendly to Episcopalian churches. Why diss Episcopalians? perhaps because OP is a ranting Christian who doesn't like liberal religion.

lol no, neither of the ranting atheists had any tolerance for any church

[Anonymous]

OP could be a disgruntled Catholic watching fellow Catholics flee for the Episcopal Church or other denominations free from the stifling patriarchy of the RCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chicago Episcopal diocese’s $750,000 sex abuse case puts Bishop Chilton Knudsen’s actions under scrutiny

In 1990, a youth minister at an Episcopal church in La Grange was concerned about one of the teenagers who frequented the parish — an 18-year-old who’d been living out of a car, “acting strange and doing a lot of drugs.”

She confronted him, and he shared a secret: He’d been sexually abused for years as a boy. His abuser was Richard Kearney, an Episcopal priest who ran his childhood parish in Oregon, Illinois, before moving to a congregation in Waukegan.

“I told her I didn’t know why I was acting the way I was,” the man later said, according to court records. “I was hurting a lot, and I told her about the abuse. She said that she was going to make sure that something got done about it.”

But, according to interviews and a Cook County lawsuit that the Episcopal diocese settled in May for $750,000 without admitting any wrongdoing, she didn’t immediately call the police after the 18-year-old told her Kearney repeatedly abused him.

Though a church spokesman says she did contact the Lake County sheriff’s department within weeks, police didn’t get involved until two months later, records show — after the mother of two children called a child abuse tip line to report Kearney.

During those two months, Kearney molested another boy, according to records and interviews.

According to the recently settled lawsuit, Griswold’s office knew as early as 1987 that Kearney — who, after having been sent to a rehabilitation program, was arrested in 1990, convicted of child sexual abuse charges and “removed” from the priesthood — might have molested kids at Saint Bride’s Episcopal Church in Oregon, a half hour from Rockford, but did nothing.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/6/3/23147117/clergy-sex-abuse-episcopal-church-chilton-knudsen-frank-griswold-richard-kearney-waukegan-chicago

Wow. Just wow.

I’m not sure of the relevance of a 30 year old case here. If the surgery was undertaken in order to fix further problems, that’s the exact opposite of what happened back in the eighties.