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Changes to Title IV in 2025

My first real exposure to Title IV came a few years ago as a member of a bishop’s staff. Through my experiences, I discovered gaps in the disciplinary canons and sought to help correct some of the problems and injustices through General Convention. I was elected a deputy to Convention in 2022 and again in 2024, and appointed at both to serve on the legislative committee associated with the disciplinary canons. It was important to me to be a constructive part of the conversation.

Intake Officers

Convention has been trying to address the responsibility of Intake Officers for a few years now. Since a canonical change in 2018, language concerning the role of Intake Officers has changed in an effort to keep them focused on the initial complaint. General Convention 2024 clarified their role even more. Henceforth, an Intake Officer will not be responsible for implementing the pastoral response; others who may not serve as Intake Officer are also noted (see A053). A timeline for completion of the intake stage has been set by A139.

Intake Officers do not investigate. Rather, as D025 notes, they are to seek enough information about a complaint to make a determination whether an accusation rises to the level of a Title IV offense if it were true. Period. During the intake stage, the Intake Officer is neither asked nor invited to render an opinion about whether an accusation is plausible or whether there is evidence to support the allegation.

It is the three-person Reference Panel’s responsibility to determine how to refer the matter in one of six ways: “(a) to conclude the matter with an appropriate pastoral response pursuant to Canon IV.8; (b) Conciliation pursuant to Canon IV.10; (c) investigation pursuant to Canon IV.11; (d) to the Conference Panel pursuant to Canon IV.12; or (e) referral for possible agreement with the Bishop Diocesan regarding terms of discipline pursuant to Canon IV.9.” (Note changes to Canon IV.6.8 in A058).

Restorative Covenant

The sixth option of referral by the Reference Panel is new to Canon IV.6 and introduces the possibility of a Restorative Covenant. This is, as one deputy put it, a game-changer for Title IV.

A Restorative Covenant provides an early opportunity in those cases in which little or no discipline is intended and both parties might benefit from a facilitated conversation that promotes the values of Title IV (Canon IV.1). In many situations prompting a formal notice of complaint, the Complainant is looking for an apology that accompanies accountability at the least or discipline at the most. In some cases, when it feels safe, having a facilitated conversation between the person who has been hurt and the person who has caused hurt can support healing and the restoration of a relationship (see A052).

This referral option is intended to provide the opportunity to resolve the issues of concern with a final consent by the Reference Panel. It is patterned after Conciliation (Canon IV.10) but involves a Covenant between the parties rather than an Accord. What’s the difference? A Covenant may or may not include discipline, and Canon IV.4.1(d) adds that the Member of the Clergy must abide by the requirements of any applicable Restorative Covenant entered into under Canon IV.8.6. An Accord involves discipline and requires a notice to be sent to a number of church entities; see Canon IV.14.12(a) for the list. Canon IV.4.1(d) also applies to an Accord.

Pastoral Response

What a Pastoral Response is and how it is to be used can be confusing. What was made clear in 2024, however, is that a Pastoral Response may conclude a matter under Title IV in lieu of or in conjunction with disciplinary action. A Pastoral Response may now also conclude a matter under Title IV through a Restorative Covenant (see A058).

A Matter of Justice

When you tell people about a complaint against someone and you learn it was false, it is only meet and right to make every effort to tell those same people that the case has been dismissed and to welcome the person back into the good graces of the community. It’s a matter of justice. A Notice of Dismissal is now required in disciplinary matters in which information has been disseminated to the Church and Church media (see D040).

Transparency

How we manage ourselves in any given situation will either increase or decrease the level of anxiety within it. We know that information reduces anxiety. And we know that when information is not forthcoming, a narrative will be created to fill the void. Resolution A142, amending Canon IV.6.7, addresses the need for greater transparency when the Intake Officer sends the Intake Report to the Reference Panel and Church Attorney for next steps. Until now, only the Member of the Clergy was sent a notice of that action. Now, the Intake Officer must also provide a copy of the notice to the Complainant and to any other person from whom the Intake Officer has received information concerning the alleged Offense.

Accountability

Experience tells me that many of the problems with Title IV have to do with an inefficient or negligent implementation and poor transparency of the canonical process. Further, the canons assume we will all behave like followers of Jesus and emulate his love and compassion. I think the church, at its best, hoped the current Title IV process would be saturated with the values espoused in Canon IV.1. Alas, we have not been all that good at keeping those values front and center. All of us, clergy and laity alike, need to care about these things and clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Col. 3).

Those who administer Title IV in their dioceses must model the best behavior and loving kindness toward all involved. It is also incumbent upon church leaders, lay and ordained, to educate themselves about Title IV. We cannot afford not to care or show compassion, even under the most difficult, hurtful, or inconvenient situations. People’s lives are at stake. Just ask those who have been involved in clergy disciplinary actions. They can remind you.

The importance for all people in the church to behave well with one another, and the serious fallout that results when we fail to behave well, have not been addressed here. My comments do not address the canonical changes concerning Title IV matters against bishops; much in that regard has already been said and written. What I hope I have shared here is a reflection on some of the more recent attempts to provide canonical remedies to Title IV. The human duty and gift to love as Christ loves us is left to the grace of God and, with God’s help, our response to that grace.

The Rev. Lynn Carter-Edmands is a priest in the Diocese of Southern Ohio and the acting executive director of Healthy Congregations, Inc. (healthycongregations.com). In retirement, she lives with her husband in Columbus, Ohio.

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