Guidelines for Confidentiality
Synod affirmed the necessity for strict confidentiality on the
part of councils and consistories in all matters relating to
admonition and discipline by recommending the following
guidelines to the churches:
a. Every church should state its membership commitments very
clearly, including the expectation that all members are to
participate in and be subject to the admonition and discipline of
the church.
b. Officebearers should scrupulously observe confidentiality with
respect to persons who come under their counsel and
discipline.
c. Careful and confidential records should be kept whenever a
discipline case reaches the level of action by the elders and/or
announcements are made to the congregation.
d. Special care should be observed in the wording of public
announcements. The sin of the person should not be mentioned, but
only that he/she is unrepentant.
e. Established policies with respect to procedures and public
announcements should be consistently followed by the elders of
the church.
(Acts of Synod 1991, pp. 723, 769)