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"Raise your chairs," was the Rev. Dr Walter Altmann's solution to the absence of indicator cards during opening actions of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee meeting in Geneva on August 30.
Orange and blue cards are now used in the WCC's consensus meeting procedures to indicate when members agree or disagree with proposals before them.
The Central Committee had just been briefed on how the consensus process worked, but the indicator cards were still to arrive.
Dr Altmann, Moderator of the WCC's new Central Committee, was forced to improvise when seeking consensus on a minor alteration to the meeting's agenda.
Those in favour could raise yellow papers. The only blue items close to hand were the members' chairs.
The spirit of a meeting and the good humour of the moderator are essential for the success of the consensus process.
According to the Rev. Gregor Henderson, one of the presenters of the morning's session on consensus, the process relies on the style of the moderator and that members remain aware of consensus' theological basis.
Central Committee, he said, was a community of faith, "brothers and sisters in Christ, strengthening koinonia in our shared life together seeking to discern God's will."
The WCC's shift to consensus decision-making was the result of a major policy decision of the Central Committee, intended to strengthen ecumenical dialogue and decision-making.
The shift was considered to have gone relatively smoothly at the WCC's Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in February, considering it was only the Council's second major experience with the model.
At a press conference later on August 30, Dr Altmann spoke more seriously about the important role of consensus in the life of the ecumenical movement.
Referring to tensions and divisions among churches over ethical issues, he said consensus was a strengthening process of mutual trust through which churches could enter into sincere, profound, respectful and spiritual dialogue.
With consensus, he said, churches could speak without fear, so no question should be taboo.