wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] WCC moving to consensus model of decision-making

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8970 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05558
Oct. 18, 2005

WCC has voted down majority rule 

Council's assembly delegates will use 
a new, more colorful decision-making process

by Friedrich Degenhardt
Ecumenical News International  

GENEVA - Delegates to the 9th World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly in
Porto Alegre, Brazil, will make their decisions by consensus rather than
old-style parliamentary majority votes.

	February's gathering will be the first assembly in which the world
largest worldwide alliance of churches will use the new method approved last
February by the WCC's central committee, its main governing body.

	This year, delegates will signal their opinions by wielding blue and
orange cards and work toward consensus in deciding the direction the council
will take over the next eight years.
 
	Proponents of the new method expect it to bring a renewal of dialogue
within the churches and a profound change in the working style of the
organization. Critics are afraid that controversial questions will be avoided
for fear of endangering the consensus.	
  
	"On the contrary, I hope that more controversial issues will be
heard," said Eden Grace, a WCC central committee member from the Religious
Society of Friends (Quakers) in the United States, "No one needs to fear to
be trapped in a vote any longer." 
  
	"The consensus model is about a spirit of open listening," added
Grace, whose faith community has 300 years of experience with the consensus
approach. "We don't just accumulate more messages in favor than against; we
work towards a common mind, seeking the mind of Christ."  
  
	Other members said that the change is more than a mere procedural
change - it's about building a culture in which all participants have a place
and a voice.  
  
	"Debating in the parliamentary style creates an atmosphere of 'for or
against' rather than supporting cooperative listening and thinking," said
Anne Glynn-Mackoul, a U.S. lawyer and central committee member from the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East, USA. "In the past, there
has been a pattern of Orthodox minority papers." 
	
	Grace and Glynn-Mackoul were members of the Special Commission on
Orthodox Participation in the WCC, established by the council during its
assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1998, to address Orthodox concerns about
council operations. One purpose of the change in the council's
decision-making model is to enable the Orthodox voice to be heard.  
  
	A super-majority of 85 percent of delegates will be able to call for
a formal vote, as a last resort.

	Consensus is not the same as unanimity, advocates of the new system
claim. A minority view can be overruled, as long as it has been heard fully
and fairly.   
  
	"We will all need a lot of training," says the Rev. D'Arcy Wood, a
former president of the Uniting Church in Australia, which moved to the
consensus model 10 years ago. "This is not a light switch that just needs to
be turned on."	
  
	A manual for consensus procedures will help delegates get accustomed
to the new ways. Training sessions will be offered for committee moderators
and other assembly leaders.

	The most noticeable change for the delegates will be the orange and
blue indicator cards. The consensus manual states: "When delegates follow a
hearing with 'warmth towards an idea or acceptance of it,' they can signal
this to the moderator with an orange card. A blue card shows 'coolness or
disapproval' Both cards crossed in front of the chest while a speaker is
still at the microphone, silently indicate to the moderator that prolonging
debate is not seen as helpful."

	D'Arcy Wood said the Australian experience gives him confidence that
the new procedure will be a success. "Our model is more free-flowing and
flexible," he said. "More people are included in the 'wording' of decisions.
This leads to much higher levels of satisfaction, and more ownership of
decisions."  
  
Friedrich Degenhardt is a journalist and a theologian from the North Elbian
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany working for the media relations office
of the World Council of Churches in Geneva.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, please send an email to
pcusanews-subscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org or
pcusanews-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org

To contact the owner of the list, please send an email to
pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org