(RNS) — The long-awaited trial of Bishop Stewart Ruch, who faces allegations of mishandling sexual abuse allegations in the Upper Midwest Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, continues to face serious setbacks two weeks after it began.
On July 18, just days into the trial, the church prosecutor resigned, calling the proceedings “irreparably tainted,” causing the court to pause the trial until Aug. 11. A week later, the lawyer who served as the prosecutor’s assistant counsel followed with a letter accusing denominational leaders of withholding key information about the trial.
After convening Monday (July 28), two of the denomination’s governing bodies issued a joint statement voicing confidence in the court’s ability to carry out the trial.
“We affirm the integrity of the elected members of the Court and have full confidence in the Court as an independent body that is committed to act fairly and in accordance with our canonical processes,” the statement said.
The church trial is examining whether Ruch failed to put alleged abuse victims first in his response to allegations, and whether he knowingly welcomed individuals with histories of predatory behavior without alerting church members. It will also determine if he habitually neglected his duties as bishop and if he violated church bylaws. More than 10 clergy and other lay leaders in ACNA’s Upper Midwest Diocese, which Ruch leads, have been accused of misconduct.
On Friday evening, Rachel Thebeau, a lawyer who served as assistant counsel to the denomination’s prosecutor before resigning Friday herself, emailed her letter to several people in the denomination claiming the court’s integrity has been “fatally undermined.”
Thebeau’s letter, which was obtained by RNS, says that on June 23, ACNA Chief Operating Officer Deborah Tepley gave a member of the seven-person court access to digital files related to the Upper Midwest Diocese that were owned by Thebeau, without Thebeau’s knowledge. According to Thebeau, the decision to share the files was made with the approval of the chief legal officer of the denomination, Bill Nelson, but was not disclosed to the parties in the trial, “nor apparently, to the other members of the Court,” wrote Thebeau, who said she didn’t learn of this development until days into the trial.
In her letter, Thebeau writes that during the trial proceedings on July 18, the court member who had access to some of the digital files repeatedly referred to documents and files that were outside the court record. “He proceeded to infer in his questions that the previous ACNA leadership had engaged in investigatory bias against Bishop Ruch,” she wrote.
She added that ahead of the trial, Ruch and his team had questioned the motives of previous denominational leaders and attempted to make the investigative process itself part of the case. In 2023, RNS reported on a power struggle that erupted between Ruch and then-Archbishop Foley Beach after Ruch attempted to block an investigation into his behavior.
According to Thebeau and former prosecutor C. Alan Runyan, the court decided in April that the case should be decided based exclusively on evidence pertaining to the charges against Ruch and would not address the investigation.
“(T) he Court ruled that the investigative process was not relevant to whether the facts alleged in the Presentments are true and therefore was not discoverable (meaning it could not even be asked about),” wrote Thebeau. “Yet here was a member of the Court engaging in a discussion of just that in contravention of the Court’s own order.”
Thebeau went on to assert that the court member who had been granted access to her files had also been “tasked with moderating the proceedings.” She alleges that Runyan, the then-prosecutor, objected three times to the “whole subject matter being raised” but that the “court member in question” sustained, overruled and ignored his objections, respectively.
Days after Runyan resigned, Archbishop Steve Wood, who heads the denomination, announced that a new prosecutor had been appointed — though abuse survivor advocates have raised concerns that the new prosecutor may have a conflict of interest. The court itself also issued a rare public statement on Wednesday that contradicted accounts given by Thebeau and Runyan, saying “the questions posed by every member of this Court to the witness in question were appropriate and fell squarely within our responsibilities.”
In her letter this week, Thebeau said that on July 21, after news of Runyan’s resignation had been publicized, she was invited by ACNA officers to “consider (her) termination.” She submitted her resignation on Friday. Her letter calls for the video and transcript of the trial proceedings to be released.
Archbishop Steve Wood. (Photo courtesy of ACNA)
“(T)here is no way a new prosecutor will understand in a timely fashion the nuances, details, and context that make up this case,” Thebeau wrote. “Thus, if this process moves forward according to the Court’s timeline, the Province will not be competently represented.”
But in response to Thebeau’s letter, Wood took the noteworthy step on Monday of convening the denomination’s bishops and ACNA’s Executive Committee — an elected, 12-person body of both clergy and laypeople that functions as the denomination’s board. On Tuesday, the archbishop published a letter calling Thebeau’s allegations “serious but misguided.”
“While it is tempting to refute and rebut inaccuracies and misinformation, we do not feel it is appropriate to litigate these complex matters in public while a case is still open before the Court,” wrote Wood.
His letter also linked to a joint statement from the bishops and Executive Committee. The two bodies wrote that they met to review available documentation related to Thebeau’s claims, though they also noted that some evidence was only available to members of the court.
“We remain confident in the Court’s ability to bring these matters to just resolution,” the statement said. “Further, we find no evidence to suggest that the Archbishop or members of his staff acted in any way that violates or compromises the proceedings that are active before the court.”
Thebeau served as ACNA deputy communications director under Beach, the previous denominational leader. She was also a member of the Provincial Response Team, a group appointed in August 2021 to oversee a third-party investigation into the Upper Midwest Diocese’s handling of abuse allegations. In January 2022, three members of that team — though not Thebeau — resigned, saying the team “downplayed or ignored” abuse survivors’ needs.
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