Reference Panel
Option To Dismiss Or Refer
Upon receipt of the Intake Officer’s Report, the Reference Panel must decide whether to dismiss the matter or refer it for further action assuming the facts alleged to be true. A decision to dismiss is actually a determination that no further action will be taken.
Of course, a pastoral response is required in every case, regardless. If the Panel determines to take no action other than a pastoral response, it is required to notify the Complainant and the clergyperson who is the subject of the complaint about the termination and the basis for the termination. There is no Appeal from a Reference Panel determination to take no action other than pastoral response.
Participants
As a member of the Reference Panel, the Intake Officer will participate in the discussions and vote on how the Reference Panel will respond to the Intake Report. For the benefit of other members of the Reference Panel, the Intake Officer should be prepared to add information or respond to questions that may arise in the discussion of the Intake Report, and should also be prepared to offer advice or observations regarding the consequences of each referral option.
As a member of the Reference Panel, the Bishop is in a position to act on information from the Intake Report in deciding how the Reference Panel should respond to the report and referral opportunities. It is important that the option of referring the matter back to the Bishop for exploration of a possible Agreement for Discipline with the Bishop’s approval is understood. The Bishop should also be prepared to discuss with the Reference Panel the pastoral responses provided to date, or available to be provided, if the determination is to take no action other than a pastoral response. It is important to remember that the Bishop is one of three people on the Reference Panel, and that each person likely brings a different perspective to the conversation.
The President of the Disciplinary Board, as a member of the Reference Panel, fully participates in the evaluation of the Intake Report and the deliberations to determine how to refer or dismiss the matter. Once any decision other than a dismissal of the complaint by the Reference Panel or referral to Conciliation, to the Bishop for further negotiation, or for further investigation is reached, the President of the Reference Panel then selects the members of a Conference Panel and a Hearing Panel for the case from within the membership of the Disciplinary Board.
