Mr. Sanger goes to Canterbury

theology and praxis

This week, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger published a blog post explaining his reasons for joining the Anglican Church in North America. He seems to be sincerely weighing the theological issues that are important to him, but one particular section of his piece stood out to me.

But, you might ask, do you not admit that the ACNA has issues? Yes, I admit it. It is currently struggling with a trial regarding how one of its bishops handled instances of child abuse by a lay catechist; to make matters worse, it has taken the bishops several years to deal with the case, which has been subject to some serious procedural problems. This seems like a heavy lift for a new institution, but, in light of my research and conversations, I am cautiously optimistic that the bishops will settle things well in the long run. Suffice it to say that I have made my own views of child abuse known:¹⁵ it is one of the most horrific crimes, and it must meet with very stern justice. Naturally, I will be watching the outcome of the trial closely. Another issue is the failure of the bishops to set a consistent policy against women’s ordination. They admit that the current policy, which allows the decision to be made at the diocese level, is ultimately unsatisfactory; they seem to admit that they must take a stand. But they have not yet done so.

When I introduce students to primary sources, I often encourage them to notice what they see and what they don’t see.

So here’s what I see in Sanger’s paragraph. He lists two issues with the ACNA: child sex abuse and women’s ordination. Lumping these two things together suggests that he sees them as equally important. Sanger says that child abuse is a horrific crime, but it’s clear that he doesn’t understand the extent to which the ACNA enables child sexual abuse. Here’s just one high-profile case that made The Washington Post—there are plenty more just a Google search away.

I checked our ACNAtoo records, and we’re currently tracking over 120 cases of abuse and mishandling from across the Province. Those cases involve 240 known victims, which means the actual number is much, much higher. Do you still think women’s ordination is equal to the problem of abuse in the ACNA, Mr. Sanger?

When I read Sanger’s piece, I also see glaring gaps. The biggest omission involves Bp. Julian Dobbs and the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, the diocese Sanger plans to join next month. ADLW is a notorious hotbed of Christian Nationalism because Bp. Dobbs is a well-known Nazi sympathizer.

Bp. Julian Dobbs was a frequent visitor on Seb Gorka’s show in 2019 and 2020.

Sanger’s blog post is primarily focused on theological categories, which is fine. But it’s a pretty big blind spot to think that a heresy like Christian Nationalism isn’t a symptom of larger theological problems.

When I left the ACNA after 17 years, I wrote to my priest and my vestry, giving my reasons for leaving. Here is what I said in August 2021, before I was aware of any abuse cases outside my own diocese of the Upper Midwest:

This is not just the mishandling of the Mark Rivera case, although that is egregious enough. It is Rand York covering up sexual abuse that wounds his own family. It is Val Macintyre endangering women and children by insisting they stay with abusive husbands. It is Brett Crull manipulating and lying to his college friends who are now his parishioners. It is Nate Beasley mishandling sexual abuse by Joel Girard at Cornerstone UIC and inappropriate conduct with Zach Stallard at Cornerstone Bridgeport. It is Keith Hartsell sitting down Rez teens and making teenage girls apologize to their molesters. It is Aaron Damiani getting rid of church planting residents when they start asking too many questions.

I doubt Larry Sanger will read this, but if he does, here’s what I’d say: Right theology is essential, but praxis is how people learn that theology.

When you’re choosing a church, you cannot simply look at “real presence” or paedobaptism, though of course these concepts will influence the church’s practice. The church’s practice also informs its theology. If children are abused in your pews and your clergy cover it up, that will shape how people understand the theology being preached. Imagine a child listening to your priest's sermon about God as Father after the priest ignored the child's report that their own father had molested them. Worse, imagine that your priest is the molester.

I don’t have to imagine this. I work with the survivors: the children molested by their clergy parents, the women sexually harassed and assaulted by their leaders. The abuse keeps happening because lay people believe that their priest or bishop couldn’t be an abuser if they hold the right theology.

I disagree with the ACNA on many theological issues. However, even if I agreed with every single one, I would still think that the bishops are hypocrites at best—and more likely to be predators than not. Mr. Sanger might like to ask Bp. Dobbs about the allegations brought against him.

The ACNA is on fire. Whether Mr. Sanger continues down the Canterbury Trail is his decision, but he’s joining a denomination that probably won’t be around in 5 years.

I’ll look forward to updating the Wikipedia entry when that happens.