Between January and May 2021, Cherin spent “hours of emotionally exhaustive labor” corresponding with church leaders — including Bishop Stewart Ruch of the Upper Midwest Diocese — advocating for processes that would allow other survivors to come forward “so the whole church could heal from and learn from this,” she told RNS. But after the diocese chose Grand River Solutions to lead an investigation into the allegations against Rivera, Cherin said she personally spoke with the firm to ask about its approach. She left the conversation feeling that it would not be safe for her daughter to be part of their investigative process, Cherin told RNS.
“It was only after exhausting all of my resources for a second time trying to get church leaders to listen and to care and to take appropriate action, that I even started considering what accountability through other channels might look like,” Cherin said.
Though Christ Our Light Anglican is now defunct — online records show that it dissolved in July 2021 — Tchividjian told RNS this doesn’t prevent the church from being part of the case. The lawsuit also names several other Anglican entities as respondents in discovery, including the Diocese of the Upper Midwest, Church of the Resurrection (the diocesan headquarters where Rivera previously attended and volunteered), the Greenhouse Movement (the church planting organization that oversaw Christ Our Light Anglican) and the denomination itself.
“We believe that the evidence will establish that each of these entities played a role in creating the environment and providing the opportunities for Mark Rivera to sexually victimize our client’s child,” Tchividjian said in an email.
As Cherin seeks to hold the church responsible, she says the most important thing is ensuring something like this never happens again.
“My goal in this has always been to prevent other families from going through what we went through,” she said.
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This article originally appeared on ReligionNews.com.
 in Kane County, Illinois, against Christ Our Light Anglican Church. The lawsuit argues that because of the ACNA church's negligence, Cherin’s daughter has experienced mental anguish and emotional and physical pain.){kind=link}