LC/NA Business
The Business Sessions are your opportunity to shape the future and direction of Lutherans Concerned / North America. During Hearts on Fire, there are going to be six hours of business sessions that will be lively, informative and interactive. During these few hours, we will hear from our Executive Director, elect the Board of Directors for the next Biennium, and hear the priorities for the next two years.
To participate in the business sessions of Lutherans Concerned / North America, one must be a member. However, Lutherans Concerned / North America is granting one-year gift memberships to assembly registrants who are not already members of LC/NA. That means that if you come to Hearts on Fire, you will be able to participate in the business of LC/NA.
As we get closer, more of the business items to be considered will be posted to the assembly website. However, in the meantime, there are a few items about which you should know.
Deadline for Resolutions
Proposed resolutions in proper format (Whereas… Therefore be it resolved… careful and limited language) should be sent to the Secretary of LC/NA, secretary@lcna.org. In addition to emailed submissions, there will be a Resolutions Box at the assembly site into which submissions can be dropped. By whatever means, the deadline for submission is 7:00 pm PDT, Friday, July 4.
Consensus Decision-Making
Lutherans Concerned / North America operates by the consensus process for decision-making. Consensus is a process of reaching a decision with a minimum, or at least reasonable, amount of disagreement among individuals. Consensus decision-making is about the business of “listening to everyone’s ideas and taking all concerns into consideration in an attempt to find the most universally acceptable decision possible at a particular time.” Consensus decision-making requires that individuals participate as equals, seek out and accommodate differences of opinion, promote an atmosphere of open communication, tolerate temporary indecision and slow decision-making, and weigh alternatives to find win-win possibilities.
Consensus is NOT:
- Everybody agreeing unanimously
- A decision that represents everyone’s first choice
- Allowing a person to block the whole group from coming to a decision
Consensus IS:
- Everyone able to paraphrase the issue to demonstrate personal understanding
- Everyone having a chance to voice opinion on the issue
- Having enough people in favor of the decision to enable it to be carried out
- The willingness to try the decision, at least for a prescribed period of time, without those who doubt or disagree sabotaging it.
Group conditions that support consensus:
- Unity of purpose
- Equal access to power
- Autonomy of the group from external hierarchical structures
- Ample time
- A willingness in the group to attend to process, attitudes, and to learn to practice skills for meeting participation, facilitation and communication.
Consensus is not voting. Thus, consensus is indicated by prolonged silence. LC/NA celebrates having achieved consensus with the “wave” (waving of the hands in the air).