STATEMENT OF POLICY

2m, 15d, 2003

Purposes

The website shall serve the following purposes:
To introduce Quakers in general, and the SCQM Meetings and Worship Groups in particular, to anyone who might come across our website,
To inform local communities, other Friends meetings, and the world at large, about events in the life of our Quarter,
To make available information about the Quarter that we ourselves can use.

Policies

Website Coordinator

The Quarter shall appoint a Website Coordinator(s), charged with developing and maintaining the website. The term of service shall be three years.
Only the Coordinator may actually place and remove material on the website. The Coordinator is permitted to publish any material he or she thinks serves the Purposes of the website, so long as the material is consistent with the other policies described below. In case of uncertainty about the appropriateness of material proposed for the website, the coordinator will consult with the SCQM Ministry and Counsel Committee and/or the Clerk of the Quarter as necessary.

Privacy

The website will not reveal contact information about any Member or Attender of a Monthly Meeting or Worship Group in this Quarter, or about anyone else, unless that Member or Attender explicitly requests that such information be published. By contact information, we mean any information that would allow a third party to contact someone by phone, mail address, email, or by any other means.
The website is permitted to publish names and photographs of any Member or Attender of a Monthly Meeting or Worship Group in this Quarter, as long as permission to do so is obtained from the individuals involved.

Quaker Practices and Beliefs

The website may contain statements about Quaker practices and beliefs, as long as any such statement reflects the viewpoint or practices of a significant number of Quakers, or is an important statement about Quakers, either from the past or in the present. Such statements do not necessarily have to represent the views of this Quarter, or even the views of any Member or Attender of a Monthly Meeting or Worship Group in this Quarter.
In cases where it might be mistakenly construed that a statement represents the considered opinion of this Quarter, when in fact it does not, an explicit notice that the statement does not necessarily reflect the views of the Quarter will be displayed near the statement. However, generally, for statements that are clearly attributed to some other organization, to an historical figure or to a specific individual writer, it can usually be assumed by context that the statement does not necessarily represent the views of this Quarter.
From time to time, the Quarter may formally agree to publish a statement that does reflect a viewpoint that has been considered and approved by the Quarter. Such statements will be marked as such.

Quarter Committees

Any Quarter Committee may use the website to publish materials related to its charge, as long as those materials are consistent with the Quarter's website policies.
The Website Coordinator is not expected to automatically place announcements of Committee activities on the website. Requests for such announcements should be made by the Committees involved, and given to the Coordinator in good time.

Individual Monthly Meeting or Worship Group in this Quarter

Any Monthly Meeting or Worship Group in this Quarter may submit material for publication. Such material should serve the purposes of the website and be consistent with this Statement.

Outside Organizations

The Coordinator is permitted to publish materials submitted by outside organizations with which the Quarter has a strong and comfortable relationship (e.g., any of the organizations to which PYM gives annual outreach contributions). Such material must, of course, be consistent with the Purposes and Policies outlined in this Statement.

Procedure for Submitting Material to the Website

Any material that a Quarter Committee, a Monthly Meeting or Worship Group in this Quarter, or an outside organization wishes to publish on the Quarter website should be submitted to the Coordinator, who will review it for appropriateness.
If there is any question about the appropriateness of proposed material that cannot be resolved by discussions between the submitter and the Coordinator, the material will be referred to the SCQM Ministry and Counsel Committee and/or the Clerk of the Quarter as necessary.

It is the responsibility of the submitter to inform the Coordinator when the submitter's materials should be changed or removed. Nevertheless, the Coordinator may remove submitted material at any time. The submitter is responsible for the accuracy of the material submitted.

Accessibility

Material should be formatted in ways that allow quick viewing by visitors with average computer skills who connect to the web with a telephone using commonly installed software.
However, material falling short of this goal can be published if the Coordinator believes some benefit outweighs the inconvenience this material may cause some visitors.

This policy statement was approved at a Plenary Session of the
Southern California Quarterly Meeting on 2m, 15d, 2003.