Should church business be discussed by e-mail?

[Guest Jana]

The Secretary of our church's Parish Council sends many e-mails regarding church business. My question two fold: Should business be conducted outside the confines of a Parish Council meeting, and if matters are discussed in e-mails, should the e-mails become part of the minutes?

(The back story here is that she won't discuss concerns she has during a meeting but rather fires off e-mails between our monthly meetings)

[Robert B Fish]

The Secretary of our church's Parish Council sends many e-mails regarding church business. My question two fold: Should business be conducted outside the confines of a Parish Council meeting, and if matters are discussed in e-mails, should the e-mails become part of the minutes?

(The back story here is that she won't discuss concerns she has during a meeting but rather fires off e-mails between our monthly meetings)

No rule in RONR prevents anyone, whether a member of the church council or not, from discussing church business outside the meeting. What IS prohibited is taking official action as a result of such discussions, e-mails, faxes, or phone calls outside of an official meeting.

Depending on what she said in her e-mails, she could be subject to disciplinary procedures, including removal from office. See FAQ#20.

-Bob

[David A Foulkes]

The Secretary of our church's Parish Council sends many e-mails regarding church business. My question two fold: Should business be conducted outside the confines of a Parish Council meeting, and if matters are discussed in e-mails, should the e-mails become part of the minutes?

(The back story here is that she won't discuss concerns she has during a meeting but rather fires off e-mails between our monthly meetings)

The ethics of this situation is not something you'll find answers to in RONR, although others may chime in later.

No, business cannot be conducted outside the context of a meeting, but sharing your thoughts and feelings through email, as long as it is not construed as meeting business, is not prohibited by RONR. So, as long as the secretary isn't "conducting business", no foul. But if she is......

Her emails should not be included in the minutes, since the minutes should (for the very most part) only be a record of what was done (and not what was said) at meetings. So if she is not incorporating her email correspondence into the minutes, no foul. But if she is.....

So where is the President in this? Why isn't the Board reigning her in? Where is the membership here? You've got a loose cannon, and this needs to be addressed. If it's time for a new secretary, take a look at FAQ #20, as well as Chapter XX in Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 10th Edition.

[tctheatc]

Seems to me it takes two (or more) to tango. It's hard to have a discussion (e-mail or otherwise) unless someone responds. If they're just blowing off steam, flapping gums, and yakking, ignore her/them. By definition, it's not business, because it's outside the meeting. Treat it as such. And treat her silence at meetings as consent.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

The Secretary of our church's Parish Council sends many e-mails regarding church business.

Q1. Should business be conducted outside the confines of a Parish Council meeting,

Q2. If matters are discussed in e-mails, should the e-mails become part of the minutes?

A1. Your question is not well put.

(a.) TO WRITE DOWN THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS AND REMINDERS

is not the same thing as

(b.) TO TRANSACT BUSINESS OF THE ORGANIZATION

There is no 'gag rule' in Robert's Rules of Order, by default.

Members are free to talk to members.

Members are free to e-mail each other.

All this talk and all this e-mail violates no rule in Robert's Rules of Order.

A2. No. Never.

• Minutes are "within-meeting" oriented. -- For that matter, minutes are meeting oriented.

• E-mails and telephone calls are "outside of meeting". There is no quorum, there is no convening, there is no adjournment. There just isn't a meeting ongoing.

You don't put outside behaviors and outside commentary into minutes of a meeting where none of this stuff occurred.

There is no such thing as minutes for non-meeting business.

No quorum. No voting. -- It isn't official, and it isn't binding.