Healthy Disclosure: Solving Communication Quandaries in Congregations (Book)
Kibbie Simmons Ruth, Karen McClintock, Authors.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2007.

Consultants Kibbie Simmons Ruth and Karen McClintock discuss the importance of clear and responsible communication in congregational and community life. Their message is addressed to clergy and lay leaders who function as powerful influences—for good or ill—on learned patterns of communication.

The first four chapters of Healthy Disclosure catalog "communication horrors," ranging from the sloppy to the devious to the pathological. These are communication dysfunctions that corrode trust, and with it a congregation's capacity for faithful development. While some of the dysfunctions take the form of inappropriate and excessive disclosures, many of them take the form of inappropriate secret-keeping. Congregations often keep secrets about money, donors, personnel, and former members; clergy often keep secrets about addictions, burnout, sexuality, and family issues. Both kinds of secret-keeping can lead to distrust, anxiety, depression, and congregational decline.

Ruth and McClintock examine the role of leadership in committing and curing communication dysfunctions. To help leaders make changes, the authors distinguish between levels of information disclosure (private, confidential, limited-access, open, and public) and address key points about each level. They discuss who has the right to know what kinds of information at each level and when information needs to be revealed. And (without claiming to serve as legal advisors) they address critical legal implications for managing communication about boundary transgressions.

A church in crisis could usefully read this book for help. However, like most crisis management texts, it is far better read before crisis occurs.

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