Table talk

Central Committee members from around the world get better acquainted through discussion around their tables in the meeting hall in Geneva.

Central committee members are doing a lot of chatting around their tables at this meeting, and it is with the moderator's approval. Part of the WCC's new consensus method of doing business involves more small-group discussion before speakers come to the microphones.

Rev. Gregor Henderson of the Uniting Church in Australia, who moderated the Wednesday morning session, also invited members to use this process to become better acquainted as the meetings began. "Part of being a Central Committee is building up our friendship," Henderson said, as well as increasing the knowledge of and trust in one another.

The table groups were asked to discuss the experiences and hopes that they bring to this meeting, and one good thing currently happening in their respective churches. Later in the day, the same groups talked over issues and testimonies presented from the podium.