I am a Unitarian Universalist, and like the Quakers consensus is at the core of my faith's practice. As the president of my congregation, I can attest that con

I am a Unitarian Universalist, and like the Quakers consensus is at the core of my faith's practice. As the president of my congregation, I can attest that consensus can be a difficult and time consuming process. During my time in leadership, I have had to navigate some very difficult and contentious issues. Facilitating an open consensus based process, led to everyone feeling their thoughts and feelings were honored. In the end consensus led to strongly unified decisions. I know that pure consensus doesn't work in all situations. But it is a powerful tool in the process of decision making. Even when the question is ultimately decided by a vote, including consensus can lead to much greater acceptance of the final decision.