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presbyterian.ca SUMMER 2018 Connection
LEADERSHIP
Consensus Decision Making at General Assembly
PRESBYTERIAN
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By the Rev. Ian Ross-McDonald, Life and Mission Agency
In chapter 12 of the book of Romans, Paul describes not only the new life in Christ but also the need to share this wisdom. Paul reminds leaders that wisdom is not a private possession or a personal achievement and that none are wise by themselves. Church communities and committees strive to act wisely by discerning the mind of Christ together. And we each have different talents, skills, gifts and roles to contribute to the exercise of ac- quiring this knowledge, just as “in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function.” Enlightenment is achieved through the harmonic unity of differences and different perspec- tives and experiences.
Inspired by a biblical understand- ing of wisdom and discernment, leadership in the Presbyterian sys- tem is less about what an individual does alone and more about what we do together. And it isn’t just what we decide but how we decide that mat- ters. How discernment and our polity are practiced and lived out reveals not only who and what we value, but that our practices and customs actually shape our communities and create the spirit, values and strengths behind them. Open and transparent systems contribute to institutional trust that can release energy better used for mission and ministry and to help form stronger, more effective communities.
The “Robert’s Rules of Order,” or parliamentary style of decision mak- ing used in many church commit- tees, can sometimes be practiced and experienced as an antagonistic winner-take-all process. Healthy communities benefit from collabora-
The use of consensus decision making during the 2018 General Assembly.
tive, respectful, encouraging and em- powering processes that draw from the input of the fullest possible range of stakeholders rather than relying on a few well-informed members or compelling speakers. As churches and the world experience how deeply and easily divided they can be and how complex decision making has become, we regularily need to revisit how we make decisions.
The Assembly Council decided to experiment with a style of consen- sus decision making for a portion of the General Assembly’s meeting this year. A number of the church’s com- mittees have learned about and ex- perimented with consensus making using two guides: The Church Guide for Making Decisions Together by
Julia Kuhn Wallace (a layperson who has served on the staff of the Unit- ed Methodist Church) and Terence Corkin (an ordained Minister of the Uniting Church in Australia). These insightful and practical resources offer tools to help committees and congregations explore a new way of making decisions that values and gives voice to all participants and leads to increased faith and health in organizations.
In the introduction to The Church Guide for Making Decisions Together the writers ask, “So what’s wrong with the way we make decisions?” In eight chapters, the book charts a step-by-step guide to a new way of making decisions. Drawing on tried and tested processes, it
MISSION
advocates for a consensus-building approach and demonstrates how this prayerful method can work while still respecting the denominational and legal requirements under which we all operate. There is also a Making Church Decisions website (makingchurchdecisions.com) with additional resources, such as “Six things I wish they taught me about church meetings.”
Some of us will struggle as we experiment with slightly different ap- proaches to working together and may feel that some new practices are not compatible with our traditions and procedures. Others will find new ways of discernment intuitive, free- ing and even familiar, because the model proposed in The Church Guide
for Making Decisions Together re- sembles the way most sessions and small courts already function. Some of us might bemoan that the changes are not radical enough or that they will amount to little more than rear- ranging the deck chairs on the Ti- tanic. Most will feel a little vulnerable as we attempt something new. But vulnerability is a small price to pay if it helps us come to better decisions in better ways and helps us avoid any system that contributes to a culture of defeat and triumph—because every time any one side wins in a contentious debate, all sides lose.
Dr. George Sabra Receives Mission Award
The recipient of the Dr. E. H. John- son Award for working on the cutting edge of mission is Dr. George Sa- bra, Professor of Systematic Theol- ogy and President of the Near East School of Theology (NEST) in Beirut, Lebanon. Dr. Sabra accepted his award at the 2018 General Assembly.
In the Middle East, Dr. Sabra is recognized as a theologian, teach- er, preacher and church leader. He brings clarity, openness, faithful- ness and a concern for the truth and for the future of theological education in the Near eastern re-
gion. NEST seeks to be a centre for interaction and formation of Evan- gelical thought, in order to fur ther the role of the Church in society. To that end, it engages in reflection, research and discussion concern- ing issues of peace, justice, human rights, inter-religious dialogue and the environment.
Dr. Sabra has promoted Muslim- Christian dialogue for many years, and spoken passionately on the rise and acceptance of political and reli- gious extremism as one of the more urgent matters before the church
today.
Dr. Sabra received his Bachelor of
Philosophy from the American Uni- versity in Beirut, a Master of Divin- ity from Princeton Theological Semi- nary, a Master of Arts in Medieval Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, and a Doctorate of Theol- ogy from the University of Tübingen, Germany.
Dr. George Sabra speaking to the 2018 General Assembly.