wfn.org | Council of Bishops not required to open meetings, church judges say

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Nov. 2, 1999 News media contact: Joretta Purdue·(202)546-8722·Washington
10-21-71B{582}

NOTE:  This story may be used with UMNS #581, which lists all the decisions
made at the recent session of the Judicial Council.

EVANSTON, Ill. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Church's open meetings rule
does not apply to the Council of Bishops, according to a decision by the
denomination's highest court.

The Judicial Council, after oral hearings on the topic Oct. 28, looked at
the context of the rule, which says: "In the spirit of openness and
accountability, all meetings of councils, boards, agencies, commissions and
committees of the Church, including subunit meetings and teleconferences,
shall be open." The passage then outlines circumstances under which meetings
may be closed. 

In its decision, the Judicial Council noted that the rule appears in a
chapter on administrative order in the Book of Discipline, the
denomination's compilation of church law and procedures. Definitions of the
"agencies" for which the chapter was written do not include the Council of
Bishops, which is defined in an earlier chapter, the judiciary body said.

Other passages from the Discipline cited by the Judicial Council led the
court to conclude that the rule only covers councils created by the General
Conference, the denomination's highest lawmaking body. Neither the Council
of Bishops nor the Judicial Council was created by General Conference. Their
origins are in the church's constitution.

The official organizations of the annual conference are covered, the
Judicial Council ruled. The council pointed out that the defining paragraph
for the chapter deals with agencies and organizations at all levels of the
church that are constituted by General Conference.

The case came to the Judicial Council from United Methodist Communications,
which had forwarded a request for a declaratory decision on behalf of the
United Methodist Association of Communicators (UMAC).

Lonnie D. Brooks, a lay member of the Alaska Missionary Conference, and the
Rev. Alvin J. Horton, director of communications for the Virginia Annual
Conference and president of UMAC, both outlined why they thought the
legislation applies to the Council of Bishops.

The bishops are the church's "chief law enforcers" and the system "depends
on the bishops to be assiduously faithful in applying those laws to
themselves" because there is normally no one else to hold them accountable,
Brooks said. He also argued that "having an origin in the constitution does
not, in and of itself, confer on a body of the church a specific set of
powers, duties or privileges."

Horton noted that "lay empowerment requires access to information." He also
observed several other points, including:
·	Better information creates stronger church members.
·	The church needs to model openness.
·	Closed doors don't silence critics.
·	Open meetings should always be the norm.
·	The appearance of unity does not promote unity.

Bishop Robert C. Morgan, bishop of the Louisville Area and president of the
Council of Bishops, and Bishop Jack Tuell, a former attorney and a past
president of the Council of Bishops, spoke against applying the rule to the
Council of Bishops. 

Morgan stated that meetings of the Council of Bishops were open before the
enactment of the legislation being discussed in the hearings. He said that
in the 16 years he has been a bishop, "very few hours have been spent in
closed session," but that closed sessions were needed to deal with such
topics as trying to help an African bishop take refuge in the United States
from strife in his country and to work on the Episcopal Address, presented
at General Conference. Morgan also reported that no votes are taken in
closed sessions.

Tuell contended that there is ambiguity in the language of the Discipline
passage regarding closed meetings. Because of its placement in the
Discipline, the material refers to the general, or churchwide, agencies, he
said. 

"We are the servants of the United Methodist Church," he said, adding that
prayer, study and discussion together "are essential to our role as
servants." He also observed that having on hand representatives of both
left-wing and right-wing publications has a chilling effect on discussion of
sensitive issues.

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