Reading here today about the phenomenon of the "unconference" and how it is the in-person equivalent of Web 2.0, I was struck with the image of what must have been a lively interaction between "speaker" and "audience" at the ancient church councils.
Of course there must have been politics, and certainly there is also a good deal of politics at an unconference as well. "No distinction between speaker and audience" is a tenet of the unconference. My denomination, a modern strand of Presbyterianism, should consider these principles for some of its meetings.
As threatening as this kind of democratization might be to our system of government, it could prove to be quite useful.