Dynamic Christian Initiatives

Conflict - the unwanted visitor - No church wants to have conflict and strife within the congregation - but it happens.  Most often conflict follows change because most people do not like change.  Change forces people out of their comfort zone.

Dealing with change isn't really that difficult -

dealing with people's resistance to change is the real challenge.

Tradition is another major factor.  People become very attached to their traditions.  This is particularly true within congregations.  Members become comfortable with a particular approach to worship, fellowship, ministry and the church building itself.  People feel that what they know and have experienced is what church is and should be.  To some degree every Christian person who attends worship on a regular basis shares some of this feeling.  It is just natural.

DCI Ministry

Steps of Conflict Management

and Mediation

DCI Ministry will be with you every step of the way.

1. Begin with a listening conference.  It is important to listen to members and repeat visitors.  People need to be heard and respected.  Additionally it important to understand what people are thinking and feeling.

2.  Use what is learned in the listening conference to try and resolve those issues that are based on miscommunication and misunderstanding.

3. Identify all additional areas of conflict that have not been resolved.  What are the causes of these conflicts?  Is there a problem or is it that one or more members dislike a decision  or change that has been made or is pending?  Have additional times of listening and discussion with members who are still upset.

4. Begin an information and education process. There are many opinions and attitudes among members of a congregation. It is not possible to do exactly what everyone wants. Trying to make every member happy is a task that will end in total frustration. People with the best intentions often fight tenaciously for their opinion and feelings. Often they use phrases such as: "This is my church...", "I’ve been a member here all my life...", "We've never done it that way..." and there are many more. The vast majority of these members are very sincere and mean well but always acquiescing to their wants will only upset others or adversely impact important ministries of the church.  Always giving in to the loudest voices results in relative quiet but pushes the real conflict under the surface only to fester and erupt again in the future.

There is no place in the life of a congregation for whispering campaigns, clandestine meetings and disinformation. There must always be absolute honesty and candor.

 The key element of the education and information process is to focus on what  Jesus Christ called His Church to be and the commands, commission and priorities that he set forth.  Going back to the Bible and taking a careful look at what Christ's expectations for those who accept him as Lord and Savior.  When a congregation becomes intensely focused on responding to the Gospel's call to do Christ-centered, life-changing, disciple-making, need-meeting ministry many of the conflicts of the past are truly past. 

Surprisingly people are not always swayed by the lessons of the Gospels and somehow continue to attempt to exert their ownership of the church. This cannot be ignored. The spiritual leaders of the church must work with that person or persons until they are willing to return ownership to Christ.

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus..." Philippians 2:3-5

5. Get every member involved in hands-on ministry. In many congregations most of the ministry actually done by members is primarily for their own benefit - worship, fellowship etc. The majority of ministries that reach out to others are supported financially or by other donations, but there is little actual involvement. This frequently results in some members assuming the ministry of criticism. They take it upon themselves to tell those who are doing hands-on ministry what they are doing wrong and how it should have been done.  Sometimes they use their influence or position on the administrative board to overrule the work of committees or task forces. This is a source of conflict and sometimes causes other members to withdraw or even leave.

It is important that a congregation be individually and corporately involved in hands-on ministry - the actual act of doing other-centered, need-meeting ministry. Doing ministry that makes a difference in other people’s lives also has a significant impact on the lives of those doing ministry. Every member in ministry is the path to resolving conflict and avoiding future conflict.

DCI Ministry will be with you every step of the way.

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