Luhr: Policy needs to be grounded in openness
By Paula R. Kincaid, The Layman Online, October 19, 1999
LOUISVILLE – “This is an issue that I think we really need to address with our heads as well as our hearts,” said Gary Luhr, associate director of communications for the Presbyterian Church (USA), at a recent meeting of the Advisory Committee on the News.
Luhr was referring to the committee’s work on the Media and Visitor Policy for Non-Business Gatherings, which it has proposed for adoption by the General Assembly Council’s executive committee. If the executive committee approves the policy, it will go before the full Council for approval, then to the General Assembly.
If adopted by the General Assembly, the proposed policy would govern media and visitor access to non-business gatherings, including retreats and conferences, of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The current Open Meeting Policy would continue to govern denominational business meetings.
Luhr gave his thoughts on the issue as way to “finish setting the stage for the discussion here.”
Conduct is not policy
“What we’re doing here today is not about changing conduct,” said Luhr. “Conduct is not the same as policy. We’re dealing with policy today.”
“If somebody doesn’t like what The [Presbyterian] Layman or The [Presbyterian] Outlook or the Presbyterian News Service writes about the General Assembly Council, or the Board of Pensions, or Presbyterian Women, or anybody else, nothing we can do here today can change that,” he said.
Luhr called any proposed policy “broad in its application. It’s broader than any individual. It’s broader than any of the organizations. It’s broader than any specific events or situations.”
As the committee thinks through its recommendations, Luhr said the committee needs to be aware of the “full implications of those recommendations in the broadest possible context.”
‘A principle of openness’
Calling for a policy grounded in a principle of openness, Luhr said he hopes, and happens to believe, that the committee can accommodate two separate, but equally valid positions.
The first position is that “The church is a member-supported organization and as such should conduct its meetings in the open for purposes of accountability to its members.”
The second position states that “The church is not like other organizations and part of being the church – part of the church being the church – means providing a safe environment for people to explore issues of faith and life.”
“It’s those unique qualities of the church that give rise to these two equally valid positions,” he said.
Luhr warned the committee “we may not please everyone with what we recommend.”
His hope, he said, is that “if we err, we err on the side of openness. If, as many people believe, trust is a problem and an issue in the church, we don’t engender trust by doing things in the darkness.”
Luhr had one more thing for the committee to consider.
“The church and its entities need to be responsible. They need to be accountable. They need to act in ways that are worthy of people’s trust,” he said. “But, more important than that, they need to always be the body of Christ.”