Bridge Builders

Disagreement and conflict in the church are inevitable. However, it is our response to conflict that is critical. Most Christians want to find better ways to engage with one other in the midst of conflict, and to learn how to handle conflict constructively. Bridge Builders offers a variety of services, including:

Bridge Builders Services

• Training and Teaching
• Consultancy and Coaching
• Group Facilitation and Process Design
• Mediation

More Information

• Bridge Builders' Network
• Wider Resources
• Mission Statement
• The Costs
• Staff
• Contact Details
• Annual Reports

Training and Teaching

Bridge Builders runs practical workshops and courses, ranging from one-off sessions to week-long courses and extended programmes. Our training concentrates on equipping Christians to understand conflict better and to function more effectively in the midst of it. We also train Christians to mediate and to offer consultancy in a church setting. For details of specific events, see our list of upcoming events.

In addition, Bridge Builders staff and associates are available to preach and teach in different settings including worship services, conferences and retreats.

Mediation

We offer the services of trained mediators when disputes arise between fellow Christians, of whatever denomination. Our mediators work in a range of situations: with individuals, with leadership teams, with whole congregations or other large groups. In our experience, mediation often opens a way forward for Christians who are struggling to work co-operatively together. The key is to help them address their grievances, build their own agreements for the future, and find an opening for God’s work of reconciliation.

Consultancy and Coaching

Bridge Builders offers church leaders a consultancy service, which ranges from a brief telephone conversation to more intensive coaching – for example, giving support in planning strategies and managing oneself in situations of conflict. We advise denominational leaders and officials on handling specific cases, and on wider issues, such as dialogue processes.

Group Facilitation and Process Design

Bridge Builders' staff facilitate potentially difficult meetings,and design effective processes for making decisions or processing the past. We specialise in facilitating dialogue in congregational and other large-group settings.

Bridge Builders' Network

Bridge Builders co-ordinates an ecumenical network of people who have completed a mediation skills training course. The network has regular meetings around the country for further training and mutual support. Members of the network may co-mediate with Bridge Builders staff, or take on cases working with one another; and some, who have received additional training, offer one-day training workshops using Bridge Builders’ materials.

Wider Resources

Bridge Builders is able to draw on the wider resources of LMC, which include Metanoia Book Service, a 6,000-book specialist library, a prayer hut and hospitality to guests.

Vision and Mission

Bridge Builders has a vision of local churches and their leaders, throughout Great Britain and beyond, functioning in healthy ways with a Biblically-grounded culture of peacemaking, and reaching out to offer this life to the world. A service of the London Mennonite Centre (LMC), Bridge Builders provides training, mediation, consultancy, and related services for all Christian churches and denominations in Britain.

Bridge Builders aims to ground its work in the life and teaching of Jesus and believes that peacemaking and seeking reconciliation are intrinsic aspects of following Jesus faithfully. The vision for Bridge Builders grows out of the historical Mennonite commitment to the way of peace and non-retaliation against enemies as central elements of the Christian gospel.

The Costs

Details of the current rates for all Bridge Builders’ services are available on request.

The Staff
Bridge Builders is headed by a Director, Alastair McKay, who co-founded Bridge Builders in January 1996, and has an MA in Conflict Transformation. Additional staffing comes from a full-time Assistant Director, Colin Patterson, an Anglican priest who is based in Durham, and from a full-time Trainer & Mediator, Sharon Kniss, who has a BA in Justice, Peace, and Conflict Studies.

In addition, Bridge Builders works with a number of associates from around the country and from different denominations.

Contact Details

For further information, contact:

Alastair McKay
Director of Bridge Builders
London Mennonite Centre
14 Shepherds Hill
London N6 5AQ
T 0845 4500 214 / 020 8340 8775
F 020 8341 6807
alastair.mckay(at)menno.org.uk

Colin Patterson
Assistant Director of Bridge Builders
Bridge Builders’ Northern Office
24 Monks’ Crescent
Durham DH1 1HD
T 0845 2410 393 / 0191 383 1031
F 0191 383 1031
colin.patterson(at)menno.org.uk

You can also use our online contact form to send us a message.

Annual Reports

Each year Bridge Builders releases a report detailing their activities from the year. You can download these reports in Adobe .pdf format here:

2005 -2006 Building a Contrast-Society

2004 Journeying Towards Reconciliation

2003 Promoting a culture of Peace

2002 Seeking to Become a Peace Church

2001 Making Peace with Conflict in the Church

BB Team 10th Anniversary

• 10th Anniversary celebrations

• Mennonite Mission Network article on 10th Anniversary, 2006
  

  Bridge Builders' Network

  •Membership Information  • Network Days
  
  

  Membership

  Bridge Builders’ Network is designed for all those who have attended one of our mediation and facilitation skills training courses. The purpose of the Network is to provide an opportunity to refresh and enhance members' skills, to offer encouragement through meeting others with a shared commitment, and to connect people around the country who can provide a local resource. Everyone who has been through one of Bridge Builders’ standard five-day training courses can attend Network Days, but there are benefits for membership subscribers.

  Membership Benefits

  • Attendance at all Network Days at a fee of £20. Non-members of the Network face a fee of £50. Membership thus reduces fees by £90 per year if attending three Days each year. Among other things, Network Days offer training in developing your mediation and facilitation skills further.

  • The possibility of co-mediating with Bridge Builders staff or other Bridge Builders’ Network members on a mediation case in your area.
  • The potential for having mediation cases referred on to you by Bridge Builders.
  • Regular e-mail updates and newsletters with information on events and related matters of interest.
  • An annual report on Bridge Builders.

  Membership Opportunities

  Members are encouraged to offer the following:
  • Articles for the e-mail newsletter, perhaps covering case studies, issues in mediation and conflict transformation, theological perspectives etc.
  • Book reviews, either for the e-mail newsletter, or for presentation at Network Days.
  • Training input for Network Days.

  
  

  Bridge Builders' Network Days

  The series of Bridge Builders’ Network Days in 2008 is set out below. Please book with us now and note the dates in your diary. More detailed information on each day will be circulated by email only, nearer the event. Please ensure that we have your current e-mail address if you want to receive updates (and our new quarterly-ish e-newsletter). If you are not on email, please contact us for further information closer to the day.

  SPRING / SUMMER 2008

  12 June 2008 at the London Mennonite Centre, 9:45-4:15
  Gilmore-Fraleigh Style Inventory

  12 June 2008 at South Parade Baptist Church in Leeds, 9:30-4:15
  Facilitating Meetings

  19 June 2008 at Church of the Holy Family in Failsworth, Manchester, 9:30-4:15
  Gilmore-Fraleigh Style Inventory

  19 June 2008 at Anderson Baptist Church in Reading, 9:30-4:15
  Mediation process review
  
  

  AUTUMN 2008

  17 September at St Nicholas' Church in Durham, 9:30-4:15 [NB: Wednesday]
  Group Conflict casework

  18 September 2008 at the London Mennonite Centre, 9:45-4:15
  Group Conflict casework

  25 September at Abbey Baptist Church in Reading, 9:30-4:15
  Facilitating Meetings

  25 September 2008 at Inverkeithing Baptist Church in Inverkeithing, Scotland, 9:30-4:15
  Mediation process review

  2 October 2008 at Queen's Road Baptist Church in Coventry, 9:30-4:15
  Mediation process review
  
  

  Past Network Days in 2008:

  WINTER 2008

  10 January 2008 at the London Mennonite Centre, 9:45-4:15
  Worship in the midst of conflict

  16 January 2008 at St Nicholas' Church in Durham, 9:30-4:15 [NB: Wednesday]
  Dealing with Difficult Behaviour

  24 January 2008 at Queens Road Baptist Church in Coventry, 9:30-4:15
  Dealing with Difficult Behaviour
  
  

  Programmes

  The programme for each day will be determined closer to the event, in the light of feedback from Network participants.

  Cost and Cancellation

  The fee is £20 for members of the Network and £50 for non-members – to be paid at the time of booking. The fee covers lunch and refreshments and all materials. Cheques should be made payable to “Bridge Builders”. Cancellations are accepted up to 10 days before the day without penalty. The full fee is owed if cancelling within 10 days of the day.

  Registration

  To register for any of the days, please send a cheque and covering note to Sharon Kniss by post: there is no booking form. You may wish to check availability via email with Sharon or Phyllis at the London Mennonite Centre. Your booking will not be processed without payment, so please send payment promptly.

  PLEASE NOTE: There is limited availability at each venue, with places allocated on a first come, first served basis. You can sign up for any of the above dates now.