 General Assembly to be asked to ban press from task force debates By Craig M. Kibler The Layman Online Wednesday, May 28, 2003
The Committee on Theological Issues and Institutions voted 32-13 in approving an overture that would make the task force exempt from the church's open-meeting policy. The amended overture, from the Presbytery of San Gabriel, would add a sentence to the open-meeting policy of the Manual of the General Assembly: "8. The General Assembly Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the PC(USA) shall be exempt from this open-meeting policy solely for the purpose of exchanging views on sensitive theological issues in cases where it is determined by two-thirds vote of the members of the task force present in a duly called and constituted meeting." The presbytery's rationale says the change "would allow members [of the task force] to be free with each other to consider possible new approaches to difficult and complicated matters." Meeting without reporters present "is essential for wrestling with the major and vital issues facing the church," the rationale adds. "Premature spreading as fact those matters that are still undecided would only hamper the results the whole church is expecting from this special group. When conclusions have been reached, they should be widely reported, of course, for full discussion, consideration, and review." Some support measure Bill Hopper, the overture advocate from the Presbytery of San Gabriel, told committee members May 27 that this overture would be "the most dramatic action you take" during the General Assembly. "It is almost impossible to discuss theology," he said, and "throw ideas out if you know the press is there." Both Freda Gardner, moderator of the 211th General Assembly (1999), and Jack Rogers, moderator of the 213th General Assembly (2001), spoke in favor of the overture. Gardner, Rogers and Syngman Rhee, moderator of the 212th General Assembly (2000), were directed by the 213th General Assembly to appoint the 20 members of the task force. Gardner, in arguing to ban the press from the task force's meetings, began by quoting that, "The task of an educator is to create a space where truth can be known." She criticized the presence of others at those debates, saying that "outsiders often disrupt and obliterate that space." "In order to discover the truth that God would have us know," Gardner said, the task force "needs space. Space is an absence of fear" where people can "wonder aloud with others." Rogers agreed, saying that the task force needs "at least some time without being under immediate public scrutiny. What is at stake here has to do with entities of the General Assembly." He then told committee members that they have been able to do their work because the material they were discussing had been prepared by such entities out of the glare of such scrutiny. "The task force is a very different kind of entity," he said. "It's in the preparatory stage." Furthermore, Rogers said, the denomination's open meetings policy already "provides exceptions" for such issues as personnel and litigation. The overture, he said, "asks for a parallel to that." Banning the press from the meetings will enable the task force "to develop materials that will later be deliberated" in public. Providing an exception to the open meetings policy, he said, will let the members of the task force "do all they can do to bring us something that may lead to new possibilities." Earlier testimony Similar arguments were made a day earlier. Paul Hooker, the executive/stated clerk of St. Augustine Presbytery in Florida, described his success in using closed meetings with sessions. The approach, he said, can be helpful in getting people to freely discuss issues as they work toward resolving problems in their churches. Gary Demarest, a retired California pastor and co-moderator of the task force, also spoke in favor of the overture. He said that the overture could provide "a space to play with ideas," and he believed that the task force could be more effective with that opportunity. At their first meeting in December 2001, members of the task force expressed discomfort that the press was monitoring their discussions. But Demarest defended the open-meetings requirement. "We're high visibility," he said. "I don't think that we want in any way to direct the media, exclude the media or control the media." Armed with their laptops, representatives of Presbyterian news media – including The Layman – have reported extensively on the deliberations of the task force. But the reports have had little to do with debate about the real issues facing the task force because, after one and one-half years of meetings, they haven't surfaced. Wary about press coverage, the 20 members of the task force have focused on their own harmony and shunned candid discussion of the hot-button issues they are supposed to debate. The 213th General Assembly called on the task force to address Christology, the authority and interpretation of Scripture, the denomination's ordination standards and how power is divided up in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Proposal criticized If the task force is permitted to meet behind closed doors, reporters will not be privy to the theological reasons members of the panel use to eventually decide how to address divisive issues in the church. The perspectives of the individual members could help Presbyterians assess whether the task force's final report represents views that are compatible with their own understanding of the Reformed faith. That was the tack taken by opponents of the overture. A pastor from California argued that the "denomination is struggling with issues of trust. This will be exacerbated" if the overture is approved, he said. A pastor from New York said that open meetings "test not just the free press or free speech, but the task force itself. How can the task force demand accountability of the church but not of itself?" The issue, he said, is about power. Closing the meetings to the press would give the task force a "disproportionate power" that would have "chilling effects." What is needed, he concluded, is "oversight" of the task force. Rebecca McElroy, the vice moderator of the 212th General Assembly and a director of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, said that "it would be good for all of us to see what they do as they work out the theological issues in public. This grants all of us exposure to their process, their pain. We'll all be blessed by that." Another speaker said that it was all about "trust. The best way to accomplish that is through an open, honest exchange of thoughts. It would be a dangerous precedent to make an exception to the open meetings law." In its rationale for the overture, the Presbytery of San Gabriel cites a property issue that became public knowledge, noting that the deal was squelched because of that. However, the General Assembly Manual already says that property issues – as well as personnel matters and litigation – may be considered privately. Two agencies of the denomination prepared written responses to the San Gabriel overture:
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