Did you get your
gag order? I got mine
Commentary by Carmen Fowler, The Layman, January 20, 2010
In anticipation of attending my first Advisory Committee in Louisville this week, I let the powers-that-be know that I was coming. Seeking to be a good guest, I asked if there were any meeting protocols of which I should be aware.
In an e-mail dated Jan. 19 from Ron Kernaghan, co-moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, I learned that the protocol for observers (that includes press) at ACSWP meetings now includes:
“At the meeting you may have copies of the documents that ACSWP is discussing, and those copies will be given to you in the session where they are discussed. The purpose of giving you copies is to make it easier for you to follow the deliberations of the committee. These documents are the property of ACSWP and must be returned at the end of the session in which they are considered. Observers are given temporary access to documents before the committee on the understanding that they will not be quoted from or referred to in any outside literature, blogs or conversations until the committee has sent them on to the General Assembly or General Assembly Mission Council. Violation of that principle may result in the loss of the privilege of receiving such documents in the future.”
This “protocol” has been signed off on by the co-moderators and staff of ACSWP. They see no conflict between this protocol and the denomination’s open meetings policy, which states:
“The work of the church is strengthened when it is done in a spirit of openness and trust. Church members have a basic right to know about the work done and the decisions made by entities within the church. Church leaders have a basic responsibility to honor that right by conducting their business with a spirit of openness and vulnerability to public scrutiny. Therefore, open meetings shall be the norm for all such entities.”
Maybe even more disturbing, the ACSWP leadership and staff also see no conflict between their protocol and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution when they tell me that I cannot blog about nor even have a conversation about the content of their closely-guarded documents.
Makes you wonder what’s in those draft proposals, doesn’t it?
Makes you wonder what kind of advice they’ve cooked up on “our” social witness policy that they don’t want “us” to know about.
According to the statement, the “documents are the property of ACSWP.” I thought ACSWP was a PCUSA advisory committee. So, as a Presbyterian, are they not at some level “your” committee and “my” committee?
In case you were wondering if perchance I might be receiving “special treatment” as a member of the press, the denomination’s open meeting policy guarantees against such partiality. “The provisions of this policy shall apply to visitors and representatives of both church and public media, including print, electronic and photographic journalists. All the provisions of this policy are to be applied equitably to all persons and groups.”
Thankfully, Mr. Kernaghan sent a copy of this “protocol” to Mark Tammen, an attorney and director of the PCUSA’s Department of Constitutional Services, “to make sure that we (ACSWP leadership) have not overstated or misrepresented any of the procedures which the church’s open meeting policy has put in place.” That is the right process as dictated by the open meetings policy, itself which states, “The Office of the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly is responsible for resolving questions relating to the application and interpretation of the open meeting policy.” The meeting starts Thursday afternoon. I trust that Mr. Tammen will resolve this question before that time.
If you want to be certain you get to see and hear what they’re discussing on your dime, you might just have to join me in Louisville. The concern seems to be that the documents be returned to the committee and that word of their content not leave the room. Anyone who is present to read and hear, is then free to mull and ponder and inwardly dialogue, but is not free to discuss with another person, nor blog about, nor report on what they read or heard. So, if you want to know what ACSWP is saying, according to its protocol, you may have to be in the room to hear it for yourself.
The meeting convenes at 5 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 21, in the Bluegrass Room of the Courtyard by Marriott in Louisville. I’d like to say we could talk about the proceedings over dinner, but that remains to be seen.
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