by Diane J. Strickland Some years ago I attended a worship service in which the organist played the music for one anthem while the choir opened their music and sang a completely different one. At first it sounded like the performance…
Read More
Embracing Conflict
Q: Ever since our congregation was divided over a conflict some years ago, I have this sense that we now avoid conflict at all costs. I’m sure that this impacts our own vitality as a congregation, but I’m not sure how…
Read MoreUnconventional Wisdom: Is Conflict a Bad Thing?
Conflict is not bad” has been a consistent teaching of the Alban Institute and many others in the conflict field for years. It’s a natural, inevitable consequence of having more than one idea in the room at the same time….
Read MoreIs Conflict a Good Thing?
“Conflict is not bad” has been a consistent teaching of Alban and many others in the conflict field for years. It’s a natural, inevitable consequence of having more than one idea in the room at the same time. The goal…
Read MoreMyth-Busting: Emotional Intelligence, Conflict Competence, and the Clergy
Bill sat across from his counselor and recounted the pain of the last eighteen months. After nine years at First Church, he had taken a well-deserved sabbatical to travel, reflect, study, and pray. On his first Sunday back at the…
Read MoreComing Together: Healing Division and Forming Union through Story
The first Methodist Society was formed in the log cabin home of Wheeling, West Virginia’s founder, Ebenezer Zane, in 1786. That initial gathering of the faithful became the first organized church in the area and the first Methodist appointment west…
Read MoreEnduring All Things, Even Each Other
Not long ago I was invited to preach at a denominational conference whose purpose was to encourage “civil discourse” in the church. The brochure for the event described its aims: While our times call for passion and conviction, they also…
Read MoreChanging Emotional Systems
by Peter L. Steinke I doubt Sir Isaac Newton ever expected his theories to be used to explain human behavior, but in my experience working with more than a hundred conflicted congregations, two Newtonian principles do indeed seem to apply. When…
Read MoreLeading into the Promised Land: Lessons Learned From Resilient Congregations
Much of the literature in the field of congregational conflict is focused on what causes conflict, how to prevent it, and what to do when a church is already in conflict, but little has been written about congregations who have…
Read More