THE THREE-TIER POLICY
Published, held, or sealed — and why.
Published in full. Anything that binds this church or describes its authority is public without asking. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Declaration of Faith, and the Decree of Erection are in this tier, because a body that governs people while keeping its own governing text private is not accountable, it is merely quiet. Canonical documents in this tier can be quoted against this church, which is the point of publishing them.
Held on file and released on request. Operational and disciplinary instruments are given to anyone with a reason to read them — grantmakers, journalists, prospective clergy, congregants, and auditors — on a request answered within two days. They are not posted openly because they change with resolutions and amendments, and a stale public copy is worse than a current supplied one. No fee, no form, no justification demanded beyond identifying yourself.
Sealed. Sacramental registers, clergy files, safeguarding files, and pastoral correspondence are closed. A person may obtain their own entry and nobody else’s. This is the tier people most often misread as secrecy, so the reasoning is set out below rather than assumed.
Every instrument, in every tier, is entered in the Document Register with its date and its amendments. The Register is itself held on file, which means the list of what exists can be inspected even where an individual file cannot.