¶721
of the 2004 Book of Discipline, "Restrictions on Closed Meetings", states
in part: "In the spirit of openness and accountability, all meetings of
councils, boards, agencies, commission and committees of the Church,
including subunit meetings and teleconferences, shall be open. Portions of
a meeting may be closed for consideration of specific subjects if such a
closed session is authorized by an affirmative public vote with at least
three-fourths of the voting members present...Great restraint should be
used in closing meetings; closed sessions should be used as seldom as
possible. Subjects that may be considered in closed session are limited to
real estate matters; negotiations, when general knowledge could be harmful
to the negotiation process; personnel matters; issues related to the
accreditation or approval of institutions; discussions relating to pending
or potential litigations or collective bargaining; communications with
attorneys or accountants; deployment of security personnel or devices and
negotiations involving confidential third-party information...A report on
the results of a closed session shall be made immediately upon its
conclusion or as soon thereafter as is practicable." One exception is the
staff-parish relations committee. The 2004 Book of Discipline says in ¶
259.2 e), "The committee shall meet in closed session, and information
shared in the committee shall be confidential." From The Book of
Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2004. Copyright © 2004 by The
United Methodist Publishing House.
