Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations
In Promise and Peril (Alban, 2009), David Brubaker tackles the conundrum churches face: Change usually leads to conflict, but change is required to make progress.…
Browsing: Conflict
Articles
Communication Strategies for Addressing Conflict
Whenever I work with churches that are experiencing serious conflict, especially those that have reached the point of impasse, communication issues commonly emerge. Regularly, parishioners…
Eight Strategies for Managing Conflict
In her book Getting to Amen: Eight Strategies for Managing Conflict in the African American Church, Lora-Ellen McKinney summarizes key strategies for managing conflict in…
Speaking the Truth in Love to a Longtime Member
During my third year as pastor of the Austin Church in north-central Pennsylvania, I faced a leadership crisis that threatened the effectiveness of my ministry…
Leading in a Wounded Church
One of the most important challenges of the church in our times is the specialized ministry necessary in a congregation after trust has been broken.…
Congregational Leadership in Difficult Times
What would your congregation’s worship service look like next Sunday if your sanctuary burned to the ground tomorrow, if a beloved pastor announced that he…
10 Tips for Handling Criticism in Ministry
Margaret Marcuson says that criticism and complaints are an issue in almost every area of ministry. She outlines ten strategies for handling complaints and criticism…
When Church People Swarm
Margaret Marcuson says that when anxiety is high, church people often function reactively rather than thoughtfully, and band together like locusts. As a young seminarian,…
Leaders Stay Connected
Margaret Marcuson discusses the tension between individuality and togetherness for church leaders using the metaphor of a string quartet. Leaders straddle the tension between togetherness…
Working with a Volunteer Treasurer
A pastor in her first year at a congregation tells of a lesson learned the hard way in working with a volunteer treasurer. Last fall…
Orchestrating Conflict
A pastor talks about practicing leadership theory learned from reading Leadership on the Line by Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky, who advocate the role…