An ecclesiastical court is a group of people elected to consider formal accusations against a bishop within the ACNA. The ecclesiastical court only has authority to address formal charges (“presentments”) that accuse a Bishop of violating canon (church) law. 

The members of the Court for the Trial of a Bishop will determine the facts of accusations and the defense, like a jury. The members of the Court are elected every three years and include three bishops, two priests, and two adult confirmed lay members. You can read about the current court members here.

The Archbishop selects a prosecuting lawyer and a lawyer to serve as counsel to the Court members. The accused bishop is responsible for securing his own legal representation. The burden of proof for a guilty verdict is “clear and convincing evidence,” meaning the evidence must prove the accusations are highly and substantially more likely to be true than untrue.

If a “not-guilty” verdict is rendered, there is no sentencing.

If the Court renders a “guilty” verdict against the bishop, then the Archbishop and the College of Bishops (the body of all ACNA bishops) determine sentencing. Potential sentences range from: “Censure and/or admonishment; temporary suspension for a period up to five years; permanent suspension for life;” or “deposition from the sacred ministry,” known in other traditions as defrocking. 

The accused bishop may appeal to the Provincial Tribunal within 30 days of the Court’s decision. The Tribunal would request the entire trial transcript and hold a hearing for both parties to present arguments based upon the trial record. Within 30 days of that hearing, “The Provincial Tribunal may reverse or affirm, in whole or in part, the appealed decision or, if in its opinion justice shall require, may grant a new trial” (C&C IV.5.5-6, pp. 35-36)

No. Anyone can create a “presentment,” or list of charges, gather signatures, swear to the charges, and submit it to the Archbishop or College of Bishops. 

Bishop Stewart is thankful to be engaged in a canonical process and welcomes the opportunity for all sides to be heard in the Ecclesiastical Trial (see his letter of August 15).

There are two presentments (lists of charges) against Bishop Stewart: the three bishops’ presentment, and the clergy and lay presentment. The latter was drafted by an attendee (not a member) of Restoration Anglican in Minneapolis. It was circulated widely to clergy and laity throughout the ACNA to garner signatures in summer 2023. The presentment required two priests to sign: One was a retired priest from our diocese and the other was from outside our diocese and, to our knowledge, has never met Bishop Stewart. On August 11, 2023, the Province announced that a Board of Inquiry found probable cause to present Bishop Stewart for trial.

In December 2022, three ACNA bishops agreed to sign a Presentment against Bishop Stewart, which included an Addendum stating that they could not swear to its charges and did not necessarily believe that the charges were true (see p. 7 of the Provincial Tribunal’s Decision & Order). However, Provincial Canons require bishops to swear to the charges for a valid presentment. In June 2023, the bishops swore to the presentment and on September 7, 2023, the Province announced that this presentment would go to a Board of Inquiry following the Tribunal’s ruling. On November 6, 2023, the Province announced that a Board of Inquiry found probable cause to present Bishop Stewart for trial.

When the Archbishop receives a presentment, he selects a Board of Inquiry to investigate the charges by evaluating the accusations and the proofs from the accusers. The Board may, at this point, ask for a counter-response from the accused bishop, but they are not required to do so. In Bishop Stewart’s case, the Board of Inquiry did not request a counter-response.

The Board of Inquiry must include at least five priests and five adult baptized members, none of whom belong to the Diocese of the accused. These members are selected by the Archbishop and are not known to the general public. This is a different group than the trial court.

If, by a two-thirds vote, the Board of Inquiry finds that there are reasonable grounds to put the accused to trial, a public declaration is made and the ecclesiastical trial process begins. Here is the declaration regarding Bishop Stewart for the clergy and lay presentment.

While the specific accusations have not been publicized by the Province, we know that the three Canons Bishop Stewart is being charged with are “violation of ordination vows,” “conduct giving just cause for scandal or offense, including the abuses of ecclesiastical power,” and “disobedience, or willful contravention of the Canons of this Church or of the constitution or canons of the Diocese in which he holds office” (C&C IV.2.1.1,9,10, p. 30). 

Bishop Stewart is not accused of committing sexual abuse, nor does the trial pertain to any civil or criminal charges. 

Since the formation of our Diocese in 2013, our diocesan churches have always had strong child protection policies in place.  

In the last four years, we have updated our Child & Adult Protection Policy, significantly revised our Constitution and Canons, rolled out an improved system for reporting concerns and allegations of misconduct, and much more. 

The Diocese continues to learn how to best serve the people in our churches and seeks to improve where needed. 

An accused bishop who is tried by a Provincial Court is guaranteed rights in the canonical process that are similar to those in a civil or criminal trial. These include the right to representation of counsel, the right to an expeditious trial, the right to confront and examine witnesses, fairness and due process, and the presumption of innocence. 

In May 2019, we learned of allegations of sexual abuse committed by Mark Rivera, a lay leader of a former church in our Diocese, Christ Our Light, of Big Rock, IL. Within 48 hours, church leadership had removed Rivera from his role in the church, and DCFS had visited the family.  In June, the police arrested Rivera. In late 2020, allegations of further abuse by Mark Rivera were reported to diocesan leadership. The Diocese engaged Grand River Solutions, a third-party investigative firm to review the actions of diocesan leadership and provide learnings to improve our abuse response protocols. 

In summer of 2021, the Province took on oversight of the Diocese’s investigation into the handling of this situation. They then turned the investigation over to a new firm, Husch Blackwell, in February 2022. Husch Blackwell completed its report in September 2022 and it was published on the Provincial website. Several days later the report was removed from the Province’s website and to date has not been re-released. See the Province’s explanation here.

According to Husch Blackwell’s report of September 2022, the Province tasked it with answering these six questions: 

1. When did individuals accused of mishandling an allegation become aware of the allegations?
2. Did people in authority receive advice and what actions did that take?
3. Were there concrete ways that a person facilitated or hindered either survivors from coming forward or the diocesan response?
4. What actions of sexual misconduct took place, by and against whom, and in what context? 
5. Whether information was or should have been known that might have led to earlier identification of any wrongdoing?
6. Whether the investigation identified other survivors whose abuse came at the hands of church leaders in the Diocese of the Upper Midwest?

The report states, “We were charged with gathering evidence regarding such issues and reporting the information collected, but we were explicitly directed not to render any legal determinations, evaluate or opine about any governance structure issues, or seek to address whether any discipline is warranted.”

Yes. Mark Rivera was convicted on December 15, 2022. He was sentenced on March 6, 2023, to 15 years in prison for felony child sexual abuse and assault against a child who was his goddaughter. Read more here.

On April 12, 2023, Rivera pleaded guilty to charges of rape brought by an adult resident of Big Rock, Illinois, who is unaffiliated with the Diocese.

In the summer of 2021, complaints were made regarding aspects of the Diocese’s leadership and certain clergy member’s pastoral practices. The Diocese and the Province desired to lead a comprehensive process to assess the concerns that were brought forward. The Province selected Telios Law firm to receive and review allegations of abuse of ecclesiastical power. In spring of 2023, Telios sent final letters to individuals who participated in its investigation, including Bishop Stewart. In September 2022, the Province announced that an update on the status of the Telios report would be forthcoming. No report from Telios has been released publicly.

Since October 2021, the Provincial Office has had full control over the pace and release of information regarding these investigations.

Diocesan leadership has not made online statements regarding the allegations in order to avoid impeding the investigation or causing further harm to anyone involved.

In addition, it is not our practice to publicly disclose the confidential details of individual pastoral situations.

Bishop Stewart took a temporary, voluntary leave of absence which began in July 2021. He personally requested this leave in order to allow the Province to carry out an impartial and thorough investigation concerning his and the Diocese’s oversight of the allegations of sexual abuse by a lay leader of the former congregation, Christ Our Light of Big Rock, IL.

Bishop Stewart’s voluntary leave of absence was not disciplinary or punitive. The intent was to allow appropriate space for a third-party investigation into our Diocese’s response to allegations of sexual abuse within our congregations.

Bishop Stewart returned from his voluntary leave of absence after consulting with Archbishop Foley Beach in October 2022 (read Bishop Stewart’s letter here). The Province assigned a senior bishop, the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, to offer pastoral supervision to Bishop Stewart and the Diocese until April 2023. At the request of Bishop Stewart and with approval of the Bishop’s Council (now the Standing Committee), Bishop Martyn led a Clergy Discipline Task Force (2023-2024). Since then, he has continued to serve the Diocese as a consultant.

Please pray for all who are hurting and that God’s truth would be revealed in the ongoing process. Trust in the Lord of the Church to protect and guide us all through this challenging season. Please bring any questions or concerns to your clergy or pastoral leaders.