| | | | | | | | | | | | PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR LEADING CONGREGATIONS |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Amid the conflicts and tensions that arise in congregations, we have more than enough opportunities to act on impulse. Too often, especially when we are upset, we lock into a reactive tug-of-war: "Yes, you did!" "No, I didn't!" Before long, we've said something that we wish we hadn't. Escalation seems inevitable, but instead of getting into a contest, we can simply-in the words of recent meme-"Keep Calm and Drop the Rope."
Dropping the rope is an excellent temporary strategy. It helps create some distance between the heat of a tense situation and ourselves. It can help our responses to be less "reptilian," and allow us to shift out of reactivity into responsiveness. Lowering the temperature in ourselves or in the situation that we are engaged in might be just the thing that is needed-temporarily.
The problem comes when dropping the rope becomes an escape route rather than a path to creative engagement or responsiveness. With our emotional system cooled down, the temporary relief is satisfying. But running away from tension can be just another automatic impulse. It's what we do after we drop the rope that matters.
Read more from Lawrence Peers » |
| | RELATED: FINDING THE OPTIMAL LEVEL OF CONFLICT |
"Many scholars and practitioners believe that any organization may have an optimal level of conflict. Some disagreement and conflict provides energy and generates ideas, but too much conflict becomes destructive. When an organization has too little conflict, it may need to be encouraged, and when an organization has too much conflict, it may need to be reduced. In the middle of this curve, however, lies an optimal level of conflict where most organizations seem to thrive."
Read more from David Brubaker » |
| | REGISTER NOW TO PARTICIPATE |
Navigating Rough Waters: Leading Soulfully through Times of Conflict & Crisis September 28 - October 1, 2020 | Chapel Hill, North Carolina
In life and work, conflict is inevitable, and no two conflicts are exactly the same. Sometimes, we experience conflict as generative and life-giving; it helps us dream and define who we are. Other times, conflict is soul-sapping and injurious, threatening to leave us smaller than when we started. As leaders and human beings, we do not have a choice about whether we will experience conflict, but we do have choices about how we navigate it, how we 'show up' during it, and how we steward our relationships in the wake of it.
You are invited to four days of retreat centered on you as a soulful leader in conflict situations. Our aim is not to offer tips and tricks to resolve present conflicts or to 'win' every time conflict comes. Rather, through solitary reflection, small group discussion, and community engagement, you will explore the ways you navigate conflict and crisis from the heart of who you are. You will be invited to examine your experiences of conflict, learn ways of entering into and perceiving conflicts, and identify how the core values of your life ground you during times of conflict and crisis.
The retreat will be lead by Sarah Moore Hescheles of Restoring Waters Consulting and Nathan Kirkpatrick from Alban at Duke Divinity School.
Learn more and register » |
Virtually every pastor has battle scars to show, and conflict seems almost part and parcel to the practice of ministry. But why? Is it our congregations and their particular cultures that create these scenarios? Or, is it the pastors themselves?
Read more from Barbara Blodgett » |
"Church fight" seem like two words that can't possibly go together, so we don't prepare for disagreement. Not surprisingly, we then don't handle it well when it comes and don't heal from it well when it's over.
Read more from Patricia Carol » |
Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide by Leah D. Schade
Preaching in the Purple Zone is a resource for helping the church understand the challenges facing parish pastors, while encouraging and equipping preachers to address the vital justice issues of our time.
This book provides practical instruction for navigating the hazards of prophetic preaching with tested strategies and prudent tactics grounded in biblical and theological foundations. Key to this endeavor is using a method of civil discourse called "deliberative dialogue" for finding common values among politically diverse parishioners. Unique to this book is instruction on using the sermon-dialogue-sermon process developed by the author that expands the pastor's level of engagement on justice issues with parishioners beyond the single sermon.
This book equips clergy to help their congregations respectfully engage in deliberation about "hot topics," find the values that bind them together, and respond faithfully to God's Word.
Learn more and order the book » |
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