It is a phrase I find myself repeating often. “Every voice matters.” Now I know what you may be thinking right now. Does every voice matter? Well ok, that’s a fair question when we consider the loud, often violent and harmful voices that are on the main stage of politics right now.

For the sake of this particular musing however, let’s put those voices aside for a moment. And instead as we enter into a month of considering the practice of inclusion I invite you to join me in considering what it means to truly include other’s voices, especially as part of important decisions. Particularly in community.

We often talk about the majority rule part of the democratic process. And yet too often this type of decision making leaves out the quieter, less popular but no less important voices that are vital in helping a group come to a strong and inclusive decision.

Several years ago I began to study the process of consensus decision making in community and I am convinced that these tools are vital for us to live into a value of inclusion. In consensus decision making when a question is put before the group each person in the process is invited to share their opinions and then, and this is the most important part, each person is also asked to set their opinion aside as they listen deeply to the others. The object is not to try to convince others to “vote” for your opinion as is often the case in decision making conversations but to actually listen to the ideas of others and INCLUDE as much as possible of everyone’s thoughts into a proposal to move forward. In other words, in consensus decision making, rarely is it the majority opinion that becomes the end result but instead something that is a hybrid product of listening.

Over and over I have witnessed a group choosing to move forward with a decision that did not start as the most popular (ie. the one that would have been voted on if a vote had been taken). Although we did not take the time to move through an entire consensus process at our congregational meeting in January I loved watching how so many of you were deeply listening to others and then offering ideas that incorporated as many voices as possible. Our decision to focus on offering overflow to the Sanctuary was not the decision I thought we would come to prior to the meeting however as the conversation progressed it definitely rose up as one we could agree on as a next step. And it gave me ideas about how to try out different worship formats on our way to a final decision.

As we continue to move forward in our discussion about when and how to move to two services, please know that your voice matters. Please feel free to continue to share your ideas and talk with others about theirs. Together I trust we will find a way forward that empowers all and is a testament to the power of inclusion!