Category Archives: Authentic Relationships in the Church

How to Preserve Your Pastor (Parts 6 and 7): Sharing Ministry…with Friends

Posted on March 1, 2013 by

For the past several weeks I have been posting articles that interact with Dr. Thom Rainer’s research titled The Top Seven Regrets of Pastors based on his interviews of twenty-plus pastors who had been in Christian ministry for at least … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor | Leave a comment

One Reason Why Your Church is Losing Its Youth: Look at How (Gracelessly!) You Treat One Another

Posted on February 15, 2013 by

Just as I was posting Dave’s most recent article on “preserving your pastor,” my friend Melodee posted a link to this article on Facebook and I was struck by how much the two overlapped: Reaching Our Young People The article … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor | 1 Comment

“Helping entrenched people is what we do and who we are.” (Pastor Whipple of Kossuth Street Baptist Church)

Posted on December 10, 2012 by

Dave and I were blessed this morning to read the following article by Pastor Whipple of Kossuth Street Baptist Church in Lafayette, Indiana: Redeeming Church Conflicts I especially appreciated Pastor Whipple’s encouragement for his church members to be prepared to redeem conflict … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, Change in the Church, Excerpts from "Redeeming Church Conflicts", Reviews of "Redeeming Church Conflicts" | Leave a comment

“I Already Know That!”

Posted on July 10, 2012 by

In my years of serving as a Christian mediator, I have been privileged to assist extraordinarily gifted men and women of great faith and world-class formal educations. In one such situation, I was sitting between two (very angry) co-senior pastors … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Relationships in the Church, Causes of Church Conflict, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor | Leave a comment

The Greatest Danger to Your Pastor’s Spiritual Growth

Posted on July 2, 2012 by

I have always believed that the highest character trait of a Christian is humility. There are many statements in the Bible that support my position. Here are just a few: This is the one I esteem: he who is humble … Continue reading →

Posted in Abusive churches, Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, Causes of Church Conflict, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor | 3 Comments

Thoughts on Ken Sande’s (New!) “Relational Wisdom 360″

Posted on June 13, 2012 by

I had the opportunity to attend Ken Sande’s new “Relational Wisdom” (“RW”) seminar this past week. Ken was my former supervisor at Peacemaker Ministries and we have been close friends for nearly 20 years. Ken has the unique ability to … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Relationships in the Church, Causes of Church Conflict | 2 Comments

This Is Why We Take Vows (The continuing saga of Tara’s beloved, strong-willed preschooler …)

Posted on May 30, 2012 by

I think my church has the best nursery coordinator in the world. K.G. is organized, detail-oriented, AND gracious, loving and super good at relationships. I really admire her! AND, these days? I’m extremely grateful for her re: our littlest, wonderful, … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, HOPE in the midst of conflict | Leave a comment

Twenty Years Without an Apology

Posted on May 19, 2012 by

Earlier today, I was scanning through some old posts on my personal blog, trying to find a link to one of my favorite CCEF articles (Helping “Difficult” People in Your Church) and I came across this post from 2006. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor | Leave a comment

Two Elements of Redeeming Church Conflict: Intentionality and Contentment

Posted on February 17, 2012 by

Q. How can I maintain an “eternal perspective” given the harsh realities of this church conflict? A. It is one thing to give mental assent to the concept of living from an “eternal perspective,” and quite another to actually fit … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, HOPE in the midst of conflict | Leave a comment

Do You Always Have to Confess Before Confronting?

Posted on December 15, 2011 by

Q. Do you always have to personally confess before you confront someone in the church with their sin? If I don’t have anything to confess, but I know the other person won’t listen to me if I don’t confess something … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, Causes of Church Conflict, Confrontation | Leave a comment