Closed meetings to be challenged The Layman Online Saturday, June 19, 1999 FORT WORTH, TX – The Presbyterian Layman will challenge any committee at the Fort Worth General Assembly that seeks to close one of its meetings to members of the press. In a written notice to Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly, Parker T. Williamson, executive editor of The Presbyterian Layman, stated that he had learned some committee leaders intended to declare a private session at their Sunday night meetings. "We hope that will not happen," said Williamson, "for that would be a clear violation of the General Assembly open meeting policy." In recent years, General Assembly committees have followed a pattern of closing their initial meetings to the public. Their stated rationale for doing so was that the first gathering of their committee was to be a time of "community building," and that the presence of observers might keep commissioners from being completely open with one another. Loophole closed in 1997 Prior to 1997, a committee could vote to close its meeting if commissioners believed that public discussions might "impede the work of the committee." But the 1997 General Assembly revised its open meeting policy, removing all reasons for closing meetings except when a committee was dealing with "property negotiation, personnel, civil and criminal litigation, or security." "General Assembly committees deal with none of these subjects," said Williamson. "Commissioners are here to enact church policies, and these matters should not be discussed behind closed doors." 'Openness and trust' The General Assembly open meeting policy 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." Williamson became concerned about possible violations of the open meeting policy when he read a letter written by Rev. Kathy Runyeon, moderator of the Church Orders and Ministry Committee, to her committee members. In her letter, Runyeon stated her intention to close her committee meeting on Sunday evening. Runyeon's committee has been assigned several overtures that seek to remove or seriously modify Presbyterian Church (USA) constitutional standards regarding the sexual behavior of ordained church leaders. |
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