By: Kara Grace Hess, Senior Associate Editor
Members of the Anglican Church of North America’s (ACNA) Court for the Trial of a Bishop declared Stewart Ruch III, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Upper Midwest and rector at Church of The Resurrection (Rez) in Wheaton, IL., not guilty of “habitual neglect of the duties of the bishop’s office” and of “conduct giving just cause for scandal or offense.”
This decision comes more than two years after the initial formal church charges, known as presentments, were made on June 21, 2023, and over three years after the allegations were brought to the diocese’s attention. Ruch was also found not guilty of “violation of ordination vows” and “disobedience to canons,” accusations brought against him in a second presentment.
The 71-page Final Order issued by the Ecclesiastical Court late Tuesday afternoon, finding Ruch not guilty of violating “Canons of the Church,” also acknowledges the “profound sufferings of victims” and families affected by the actions of Mark Rivera, a former ACNA lay pastor under Ruch’s diocese, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2022 for felony child sexual abuse and assault. While Ruch was not found guilty of “habitual neglect” for how he dealt with concerns of sexual abuse before and during Rivera’s misconduct, the verdict acknowledged problems with how the diocese responded. The court rule that:
“The evidence presented revealed circumstances in which mistakes occurred, in which systems proved inadequate, and in which assumptions and miscommunications caused additional pain.”
However, the court affirmed its belief that Ruch “is positioned to lead continued reform with integrity and seriousness.”
Ruch began attending Rez in 1988, a year before he graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts in English from Wheaton College, where he also received his Master’s in Theology in 1998.
The first presentment came after Ruch finished a leave of absence in 2021 following “substantial allegations of abuse and abuse mishandling” filed by three ACNA bishops in December 2022. The bishops accused Ruch of neglect in understanding sexual abuse issues, creating and implementing a child protection policy per the advice of church members and leadership, and adequately receiving and responding to allegations of misconduct.
The second of Ruch’s presentments, filed in June 2023 by over 40 lay members and clergy, includes allegations of allowing several men with troubling histories of reported violence, inappropriate behavior or sexual misconduct to hold staff or leadership positions at Rez.
About a month after the second presentment was filed, Ruch and his defense attorney filed a secret appeal to the Provincial Tribunal, the denomination’s court of final review, requesting that the presentment be declared invalid. The Tribunal ruled in Ruch’s favor on June 6, 2023. The following day, former Archbishop Foley Beach released a statement detailing the appeal. Ruch’s official trial began in July but was delayed after two prosecutors resigned — Alan Runyan on July 18, 2025, and Job Serebrov on Aug. 1. Thomas Crapps was the final prosecutor.
Archbishop Steven Wood, the top official for the ACNA following a presentment filed in 2025, is also facing allegations. His presentments include one filed by a previous employee for trying to kiss her in his office, another for plagiarizing sermons and a final for speaking demeaningly to colleagues. The alleged accusations put Wood at risk of removal from his position as the Archbishop of the ACNA.
A month after the presentment was filed against him, on Nov. 3 of this year, Wood announced his retirement from his position as rector at St. Andrews in South Carolina, and said, “I believe the charges against me lack merit.”
For Reese David, an Anglican sophomore at Wheaton College studying English literature, the tension within the ACNA has not been a major point of conversation at the church he attends in Wheaton, All Souls Anglican Church. His pastor back home in Moultrie, Georgia, at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, offered the parish an opportunity to learn more about the controversies through a roundtable discussion on the church’s history and the significance of the trials.
David attended a non-denominational mega church until his junior year in high school, but was inspired to move to an Anglican church when he saw the “intentionality” of their community and worship service. This past summer, he began confirmation at his home parish. Despite the controversy, he has remained in the Anglican tradition, largely because of his appreciation for its liturgies.
“I think that Anglicanism provides a really solid foundation for the renovation of our hearts and becoming more Christ-like within the liturgies, within the Eucharist, baptism and all of this,” he said.
Paul Chelsen, vice president of student development and a longtime member of Rez Church, has attended the church since 1994. Like David, he has come to greatly appreciate the liturgy and significance of the Eucharist in the Anglican church. He said he and his family have never considered leaving, attributing this to the investments the church has made in them.
However, Chelsen said his commitment does not diminish his understanding of students or families who have chosen to leave amid the trial of Ruch.
“I respect the people who have chosen to leave,” he said. “I would want a student to worship in a place where they feel safe.”
He encouraged students at Wheaton to research the trials from all sides and pray for the Anglican church during this time.
“I think that’s the Lord’s heart, is that we’re in prayer for one another and see each other as members of the larger body, whether any student worships at an Anglican church or not,” Chelsen said.
The ACNA was founded in 2009. Chelsen said the denomination lacks policy for handling sexual misconduct, which he believes can be attributed to its youth. Even so, he expressed confidence in the leadership and governance of the denomination to resolve the present issues.
“When that decision comes out on December 16th, I may or may not like it, I may or may not agree with it, but I trust the authority structure,” he said.
However, Audrey Luhmann, who attends Christ Our Advocate Anglican Church, said she has lost trust in the authority structure of the ACNA. She joined the Anglican Mission in the Americas in 2007, prior to the formation of the ACNA.
Luhmann became involved in the ACNAtoo movement in July 2021, about three weeks after it began, after seeing victims of abuse in the diocese post their experiences on Twitter. She first heard about the posts from her husband, Andrew Luhmann, an associate professor of geology, after news of their publishing circulated on Wheaton’s campus. The movement started in response to testimonies from sexual abuse victims. As the platform grew, concerns grew over whether reports of abuse were being handled through proper channels.
ACNAtoo’s mission is “working confidentially behind the scenes with survivors who have not received support, accountability, or healing inside the ACNA.” Audrey Luhmann and the ACNAtoo advocates have served more than 240 victims as members of the “all-volunteer” organization. She primarily assisted with survivor intake and care and networking with other services. Luhmann encourages those who have trusted the process to inquire further.
“I would just ask them to stay informed and consider where the process has broken down repeatedly over the last four and a half years, and ask themselves honestly: do we really have a process?” she said.
She stayed in the ACNA after first hearing about abuse in the denomination, believing that the system could be reformed. But over time, she said that she felt that staying was “disingenuous.” In an act of solidarity with many of those who came forward as abuse victims and subsequently left the ACNA, she decided to leave the denomination as well.
“I just don’t feel safe within the denomination,” she said. In her letter explaining why she left, which she submitted to the ACNA provincial office and posted on her Facebook page, Luhmann expressed disappointment in the denomination’s leaders, respect for survivors and hope in God’s grace.
“Where I once held trust for change, I can only hope now that something beautiful will sprout from the ashes of an entity tragically and rapidly consuming itself in its leaders’ insatiable appetite for power and security,” she wrote.
Noelle Worley and Lily Groves Contributed to this reporting.
