The court also assigned minimal weight to the testimony of two prosecution witnesses, stating they “had not participated in diocesan leadership” and “possessed no firsthand knowledge” of Bishop Ruch’s conduct.
Speaking with The Living Church, both witnesses disputed this characterization. The first witness served for almost two years on the diocese’s standing committee and two of its subcommittees, and the second witness led in creating a deanery child protection policy, then served on a diocesan task force to create its first protective standards in the aftermath of the Rivera disclosure.
“The [court decision] states again and again that too much of the testimony on the prosecution side was secondhand, based on emotion or opinion rather than on firsthand experience,” the first witness told TLC. “First of all, that’s false, and second of all, it’s really offensive to see misrepresentations of one’s service in the official record.”
“The court’s description of the development of safeguarding in the [Upper Midwest] does not comport with my experience as a Pastor to Children and Families in the diocese for nearly two decades,” the second witness added.
Ruch’s defense witnesses included five bishops, who testified that Ruch acted “in accordance with safeguarding expectations” and did not exhibit “patterns of neglect or inattentiveness.”
A series of priests, deacons, and laypeople from the diocese also testified, persuading the court with respect to the charge that Ruch habitually promoted abusive ministers – some of whose backgrounds included solicitation of a prostitute and second-degree attempted murder, and some of whom reoffended – was not negligence but “difficult and imperfect work of assisting fallen men and women who sought vocational calling” that Ruch undertook with sincerity.
New for @Livng_Church: The ACNA court's ruling in the matter of Bp Stewart Ruch, its first ever acquittal, followed a decision to set aside two of three independent investigations and to admit additional evidence. https://t.co/YMgjiZQkOH
— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) December 19, 2025