Wall of Silence

This is the first in a series of episodes covering the details in the presentment of Bishop Stewart Ruch. This episode, featuring interviews with Audrey Luhmann and Megan Tucker, goes into the backstory of how the presentment came together and the evidence of the seven abuse cases contained in the presentment that occurred in the Diocese of the Upper Midwest under Ruch's leadership.

You can read a transcript of this episode ...

Acting as a halfway point for this season, episode 10 is a recap of the story the Wall of Silence has told so far as well as an overview of other ongoing abuse cases in the ACNA and broader Anglican world as the July 2025 presentment trial of Bishop Stewart Ruch is now quickly approaching. Along with this, Chris shares a personal reflection telling more of the background of what happened this past summer when the podcast was put on...

This brief bonus episode is a teaser to a full extended interview with Helen Keuning, containing all the segments that did not fit into the episode Helen's Story Part 2. The full extended interview is only available to Patreon backers or to those will to pay a one time fee. See the Wall of Silence Patreon page to become a backer or for how to listen to this bonus episode: patreon.com/WallofSilencePodcast

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In the second part of Helen Keuning's story, she shares what happened after she resigned from the Bishop's Council of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest and offers reflections about her experiences and what she's learned in the years since.

ACNAtoo member Abbi Nye published a thematically related article on her Substack this week, which you can read ⁠here⁠.

You can read a transcript of this episode here: https://www.acnatoo.org/epis...

Episode 8, begins the story of Helen Keuning, who served on the Bishop's Council of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest as the sexual abuse of Mark Rivera was made known by Cherin and Joanna Rudenborg. Her account goes into the details of how Bishop Stewart Ruch and the Council dealt with Rivera's abuse and the abuse survivors, how Ruch stepped away from ministry (and why he ultimately returned), and why Helen eventually decided she n...

In "Survivors are the mission" Kelley Goewey offers her account of why she decided to leave Church of the Resurrection in the wake learning how Mark Rivera's abuse was handled by Bishop Stewart Ruch and the Diocese of the Upper Midwest.

You can read Kelley's article "Loving the Abused With the Love of Christ" on the⁠ ACNAtoo website⁠.

You can watch the video Kelley refers to in this episode here.

Here is the second part and conclusion to Joanna Rudenborg's story where she continues to offer insights surrounding the psychological manipulation by Mark Rivera and how she came to realize she had been raped by him. This episode details the second rape and also contains her insights about serial abusers and how communities can begin to learn to recognize their behaviors.

Episode Transcript:

https://www.acnatoo.org/episod...

This short episode offers a brief explanation on why the podcast was paused for nearly three months and what is behind the decision to now resume it.

If you would like to support the work of the Wall of Silence podcast you may do so through our Patreon page at:

https://www.patreon.com/WallofSilencePodcast

You can find a transcript of this episode here:

https://www.acnatoo.org/episode-6

A disclaimer: the views and accoun...

This episode features the detailed account of Joanna Rudenborg, who was raped and sexually harassed by Mark Rivera, a lay pastor at Christ Our Light Anglican, a church in Big Rock, Illinois. Although much of her story is already available online in different forms (see the links below) here Joanna speaks in her own voice and offers insights about how this happened to her, and, to quote the episode, "the decisions she made, how...

Here are a few updates and days of commemoration related to the Wall of Silence.

5 years since Cherin's daughter disclosed Mark Rivera's sexual abuse to her mother.

600 days since the Husch Blackwell report was released and then taken down.

3 open letters from ACNA clergy and lay people.

Todd Atkinson has been deposed from ministry.

Open Letters:

ACNA Clergy

ACNA Laity

Anglican Diocese of South Carolina

All of the...

As a followup to Cherin's story detailing the abuse of Mark Rivera and the mishandling of that abuse by her church leaders and the Upper Midwest Diocese, this episode asks the question: what should have happened? What can we learn about the role of church leaders in the midst of abuse allegations and what are the dire consequences if they fail survivors in that process?

Full episode transcript.

Links referenced in thi...

Episode 3 details the story of Cherin and her daughter's sexual abuse by Mark Rivera and how her church leaders responded to it over the course of the next two years. Told in her own words by ACNAtoo members Audrey Luhmann and Abi Nye this episode highlights her personal accounts and correspondence along with a letter from Bishop Stewart Ruch to his diocese addressing the abuse and how he handled it.

As this episode offers...

The second episode of the Wall of Silence continues to set the stage for the podcast by first telling a parable, a kind of alternate version of the abuse case of Cherin Marie's daughter and Joanna Rudenborg in the Upper Midwest Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. From there we hear more accounts from survivors and anti-abuse advocates, some initial advice from theologian Stephen Backhouse, and a poem by Elie Wiesel...

Welcome to the Wall of Silence. In this first episode we introduce the sexual abuse case of lay pastor Mark Rivera. From there we begin to look outward to see how church leadership responded to it, from the local diocese to the national denomination, the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). As "the thesis," this episode is the explanation for why this podcast exists and whose story we are telling: the advocacy group A...