Conflict is normal and inevitable – but Christian leaders often feel ill-prepared to handle conflict in the church. Transforming Church Conflict: A Foundation Course for Senior Church Leaders is a training course for those in positions of oversight in the church. The five-day course is focussed on conflict in church settings, and is run by the Bridge Builders team whose training work has been acclaimed by many church leaders. As a senior leader, you will want to attend this training course if you are looking to:

• Develop new skills for handling and transforming conflict
• Assess conflict in churches and discern appropriate interventions
• Give time to personal growth as part of a worshipping community
• Be part of a movement that is changing the culture of the church
• Put the church’s energy to more creative use, avoiding destructive conflict

Held residentially, the course builds on Bridge Builders’ experience of leading similar training since 1996. The course aims to raise self-awareness, to deepen understanding of conflict and to teach methods for transforming conflict. Spaces are limited and early booking is recommended. Course participants will be invited to join our Bridge Builders’ Network, of Christian leaders around the UK involved in transforming church conflict.

The course includes teaching, group work and guided practice. Active and practical in focus, the sessions provide hands-on skills training and use various role-plays based on the kinds of conflicts encountered in the church. Each day includes times of prayer and worship. The course is intensive and includes some evening sessions; we strongly recommend avoiding any other commitments during the week.

Presenters

Alastair McKay is director of Bridge Builders at the London Mennonite Centre, providing training, mediation and consultancy services to churches since 1996. Alastair has an MA in Conflict Transformation, 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.

Who is the course for?
The course is designed for senior church leaders, such as Bishops, Archdeacons and others in the senior staff team (Anglican and Roman Catholic), Regional Ministers (Baptist), District Chairs (Methodist), Divisional Commanders (Salvation Army), Moderators (URC), or equivalents in other denominations. If in any doubt, then please contact Alastair at bridgebuilders@menno.org.uk.

Meals and Accommodation
The course is fully residential, with accommodation from Sunday night to Thursday night, and with meals provided each day from Sunday evening until Friday lunch time, of breakfast, lunch and evening meal, in single room accommodation at Whirlow Grange Conference Centre, Eccleshall Road South, Sheffield S11 9PZ (see www.whirlowgrange.co.uk).

Cost, Application and Cancellation

SPECIAL EARLY BIRD RATE: £100 discount on total cost of course if booking by 31 July 2009

The cost for the course is £825. A training manual and a style profile are included in the fee.

Spaces are limited to a maximum of 24, so do apply early, as our courses are regularly over-subscribed well in advance.

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 ten weeks before the start of the course (i.e. by 4 January 2010). The full fee is owed if a place is cancelled within eight weeks of the course start date (i.e. from 18 January 2010 onwards).

Course Timings

Sunday 14 March: arrival from 5:00pm for dinner at 6:30pm

Monday 15 March to Thursday 18 March:
Either 9:00am-6:00pm, or 9:00am-1:00pm, 3:30-6:00pm, 7:30-9:00pm

Friday 19 March: 9:00am-2:00pm

Course Objectives

By the end of the course we expect that you will have:

• Developed greater awareness about your own communication style and its impact on others
• Reflected on Biblical resources related to conflict
• Enhanced your skills for communicating effectively in times of conflict
• Experienced and practised skills for facilitating meetings
• Learnt ways of building consensus and working with resistance in groups
• Developed your ability to analyse conflict and to identify what intervention may be appropriate, such as mediation
• Considered ways to nurture a culture of creative engagement with conflict
• Reflected on the type of leadership needed in times of conflict
• Discovered ways that conflict can offer opportunities for growth