What can you do when a relationship between fellow Christians is strained? While you can pray for them, you may also be in a position to bring them together to try to overcome the tensions. If your training with Bridge Builders has given you an appetite for practical peace-making, and you want to be equipped to mediate between individuals, then the Mediating Interpersonal Conflicts course is for you.

Building on what is learnt during the Bridge Builders’ foundation course, Transforming Church Conflict, this new, non-residential, five-day course offers a more thorough grounding in interpersonal mediation than Bridge Builders has provided before. The course will introduce you to a carefully-structured process that you practise step by step. Focusing on transforming conflicts among Christians, the skills that you learn can also be used wherever there is a role, formal or informal, for intervention by a third party.

Bridge Builders is the training and mediation service of the London Mennonite Centre (LMC), where the course is being held. We hope to have a breadth of denominations represented, as in previous courses. Participants will be able to join our network of Christians around Britain involved in church mediation work.

The course will include teaching, group work and guided practice. Active and practical in focus, the sessions will emphasise hands-on skills training and use role-plays based on the kinds of conflicts encountered in the church. Each day will include times of prayer and worship. The course is intensive; significant other commitments are best avoided during the week.

Presenters

Alastair McKay is director of Bridge Builders at the LMC, providing training, mediation and consultancy services to churches since 1996. Alastair is studying for a Doctorate of Ministry, and has contributed to the books Making Peace With Conflict (Herald Press, 1999) and How to Become a Creative Church Leader (Canterbury Press, 2008).

Colin Patterson is assistant director of Bridge Builders, and an Anglican priest. He has worked as a training officer for the Diocese of Durham, is an experienced adult educator and is author of the Grove booklet How to Learn Through Conflict.

Sharon Kniss is a trainer and mediator with Bridge Builders. She is a Mennonite from the United States, with a degree in Justice, Peace and Conflict Studies from Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia.

Venue
The course will be held at the London Mennonite Centre, 14 Shepherds Hill, London N6 5AQ. The LMC is five minutes walk from Highgate tube station in North London, just off the A1. Please note the 10:00am prompt start on the first day: you may want to stay in London the night before.

Meals and Accommodation
Lunch and refreshments will be provided each day. Participants will need to arrange their own accommodation, breakfast, and evening meal. Contact the London Mennonite Centre if you need help in finding accommodation.

Cost, Application and Cancellation
The fee is £500; a training manual is included. Please note that the course is only open to those who have previously completed either the foundation course, Transforming Church Conflict, or the earlier Skills Training for Mediation and Facilitation in the Church. A £100 discount is offered in June 2009 for those who have completed the Skills Training for Mediation and Facilitation in the Church. Precedence is given to applicants sponsored by their church or organisation, and who may use the training for its benefit, or to enhance their own ministry. If you are on a very low income, then please contact us to see whether a bursary may be available.

Spaces are limited to a maximum of 16, so do apply early, as our courses are regularly over-subscribed. To apply, download the brochure and application form. Print out the application and mail it, with a cheque for £100 made payable to Bridge Builders, to

Bridge Builders
London Mennonite Centre
14 Shepherds Hill
London N6 5AQ

The balance of the fee is due eight weeks before the start of the course. Once accepted, the £100 deposit is a non-refundable. The full fee is owed if a place is cancelled within eight weeks of the course start date (i.e. from 27 April 2009 onwards).

Tentative Programme Overview

Monday 22 June, 10:00am - 6:00pm
• Introductions • Foundation & Vision for Mediation • Jesus the Mediator • Overview of Interpersonal Mediation • Getting People to the Table

Tuesday 23 June, 9:00am - 6:00pm
Power and Mediation • Mediators’ Listening Skills • Introduction & Story-Telling • Identifying Common Ground & Issues • Mediation & Your Style Profile

Wednesday 24 June, 9:00am - 6:00pm
• Drawing Out Underlying Concerns • Problem-Solving & Healing Strategies • Teamwork in Mediation

Thursday 25 June, 9:00am - 6:00pm
• Problem-Solving & Healing continued • Reframing • Private Meetings • Making Agreements • What if…? • Putting it All Together

Friday 26 June, 9:00am - 4:30pm
• Ethical Dilemmas in Mediation • Completing the Tool Box • Adapting the Process • Guidance for New Mediators • Reflection, Conclusion & Review