Ownership
Information that is retained in hard copy or electronic formats is the
property of the synod; it is not the property of the synodical bishop or the
synodical staff members to remove, retain personally, or destroy at will.
Synod staff members are the custodians of the documents they retain. Roster
files are not personnel files. The person whose name is on a
particular file does not own it and has no right to see what is in it.
The synod may choose to share, or not, anything in that file with the
person, but may also chose to keep the entire contents confidential.
They may do so on a comprehensive policy basis or on a case-by-case
basis.
Privacy
Only persons committed to privacy should have access to these documents on a
need-to-know basis.
Needs
Balancing different needs is important in any records retention policy:
There is the need to keep all relevant and important documents; there is
also the need not to accumulate irrelevant material. Any one of the
following may be required to substantiate past policies, practices, and
actions in many different settings: the individuals, the synodical or
churchwide offices, the congregations, or other employing entities.
Consistency
Bishops or members of the synodical staff are frequently called upon to use
good judgment in the retention and disposition of individual documents. A
pattern of consistency in the care of records is needful. Any records
retention policy has validity, once accepted as policy by the organization,
only as it is uniformly practiced. It should be neither selectively
implemented nor disregarded at the whim of the custodians of the records.
Policies must not be modified or disregarded solely because of possible
claims or litigation.
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