Bishop Nominations, ACNA Updates & Safeguarding Meeting
On Wednesday, January 21st, members of our clergy and vestry offered a space on Zoom to update our congregation on:
1) Our Diocese’s current search for our new bishop and how our church’s members can participate
2) A summary of the abuse allegations that have been brought forth against 4 different ACNA bishops over the past year.
3) A review of the proactive measures that are being taken at the provincial (national church), diocesan (regional), and local congregational level (The Mission) to improve safeguarding measures and better ensure the safety of every member who calls our church home.
We concluded our time with a space of prayer for survivors of abuse in the church, a renewal of the church’s purity, and fruitfulness in the church’s mission. The session was recorded for those who were not able to make it. You can view or listen to the full session recording using the links below:
Bishop Nominations
Our diocese has published a diocesan profile that provides criteria for what we are seeking in our next bishop. Any male priest over the age of 35 in any diocese of the ACNA is eligible to be nominated as bishop. Any clergy person resident in the Diocese of the Great Lakes as well as any confirmed member of an ADGL church (like The Mission Cincinnati) can nominate a candidate for bishop. If you are a confirmed member of our congregation, you are invited to prayerfully participate in the process. Your nominations of faithful, wise, and Christ-like leaders help ensure our diocese can select among a variety of wonderful people. Links to the bishop search page as well as a direct link to the nomination form are below. Questions? Please contact Rev. Kristen Yates at kristen@missioncincinnati.org as she is serving on the bishop’s search committee.
Additional Notes on Safeguarding
1) Title IV Revisions - During the meeting, we shared that the ACNA has been in process of updating, strengthening, and improving Title IV, the provincial canon that governs clergy and bishop discipline in the ACNA. In January, the College of Bishops voted to hold a special Provincial Assembly this coming June 25th for the purpose of approving the Title IV revisions. You can read the full letter from the College of Bishops HERE. Also, beginning Feb. 1st, the ACNA will open a 6-week window for public comment on the proposed revisions. There will also be a public “Town Hall” where you can learn more about the Title IV revision process and ask questions scheduled for Wednesday February 11th from 2-3:30 PM EST on Zoom. The link to register for the town hall has not been published yet, but we will add it on this page when it is available. All current info on Title IV revision process can be found HERE.
2) ADGL Misconduct Prevention & Reporting Page - Our diocese has created a Misconduct Prevention & Reporting Page by which any complaints of abuse against any clergy person can be directly reported to the diocese if you do not feel safe going through the standard process (of reporting non-Rector complaints to the Rector, and complaints about rector to the Vestry Sr. Warden). Full Details on our diocesan response team including the contact to submit any complaints can be found HERE. The ResponseTeam@adgl.us email address is overseen by Rev. Canon Carrie Klukas, a priest in Columbus OH, resident at St. Andrew’s Church.
3) Forthcoming Governance & Safeguarding Page - Finally, we shared our intention to publish a new page to our website by no later than March 1st 2026 that will include a direct public link to our church’s Code of Regulations, as well as our Abuse Prevention Policies. We will clearly outline how you can report abuse in our congregation if the situation arises (details of this are available in the session recording above). We will also detail how our clergy and staff have been trained to respond effectively and pastorally to any allegations of abuse.
We are hopeful that all of this information increases your confidence that The Mission Cincinnati is a church that takes the safety of every single one of our members from 0-100+ years of age seriously. We will continue to do all we can to promote safety, purity, health, and fruitfulness within our congregation. Should you have any further or future questions about safeguarding at The Mission, please reach out to Fr. William at william@missioncincinnati.org.