Category Archives: Conflicts involving church leaders

In Church Conflict (as in War), The Malice of the Wicked is Reinforced by the Weakness of the Virtuous

Posted on January 16, 2019 by David V. Edling

Over the holidays, I began reading Winston Churchill’s Memoirs of the Second World War (the abridged version not knowing if I would live long enough to read his entire six volume set!).  In one of the opening paragraphs Churchill writes … Continue reading →

Posted in Abusive churches, Causes of Church Conflict, Conflicts involving church leaders, Confrontation, Excerpts from "Redeeming Church Conflicts", Postmodern Relativism and Church Conflict | Comments Off on In Church Conflict (as in War), The Malice of the Wicked is Reinforced by the Weakness of the Virtuous

Twenty Years Without an Apology

Posted on November 2, 2018 by Tara Barthel

I heard from a friend this week (after she had made an apology to a pastor and asked his forgiveness) that the pastor was gracious, forgiving, and VERY surprised/grateful. Why surprised? Why grateful? Because, you see, as he explained: He had served in … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor, Strengthening the Church | Comments Off on Twenty Years Without an Apology

Child Abuse in the Church: Justice Can Be Grace

Posted on October 10, 2018 by Tara Barthel

Since I linked over to it in today’s post on my personal blog, I thought I would share this post with you too: Child Abuse in the Church: Justice Can Be Grace Not only is this an extraordinarily important topic … Continue reading →

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How to Fire Your Pastor (Part 3 of 3)

Posted on February 7, 2018 by David V. Edling

Q. Sometimes, even in a mature church, a time comes when a servant-shepherd pastor must be let go. In this situation, how should the pastor and his family, and the other church leaders and members respond so that they can … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical peacemaking in the church, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor, Excerpts from "Redeeming Church Conflicts", How to Fire Your Pastor | Comments Off on How to Fire Your Pastor (Part 3 of 3)

How to Fire Your Pastor (Part 2 of 3)

Posted on February 7, 2018 by David V. Edling

If you’ve read last week’s blog, “How to Fire Your Pastor — Part 1,” then you know that its content only applies when the pastor is best characterized as a “hired-hand” (see John 10:12-13). In contrast, today’s post addresses the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical peacemaking in the church, Causes of Church Conflict, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor, Confrontation, How to Fire Your Pastor | Comments Off on How to Fire Your Pastor (Part 2 of 3)

How to Fire Your Pastor (Part 1 of 3)

Posted on February 7, 2018 by David V. Edling

Q. Getting rid of a pastor can cause a lot of conflict. What should be happening for both the pastor and other church leaders and members when everyone is figuring out if the pastor should be let go? How should … Continue reading →

Posted in Causes of Church Conflict, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor, Confrontation, How to Fire Your Pastor | 4 Comments

“I Already Know That!”

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Dave Edling & Tara Barthel

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

Battered Pastors with Weary Souls

Posted on May 20, 2017 by Tara Barthel

Rev. Dr. Alfred Poirier’s doctoral dissertation at Westminster Seminary was overseen by Rev. Dr. David Powlison and published by Baker as The Peacemaking Pastor. In it, Pastor Poirier speaks candidly about his exhaustion and frustration related to ongoing struggles with conflict … Continue reading →

Posted in Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor, HOPE in the midst of conflict, RedeemingLINKS | Leave a comment

When Change Seems Unlikely in Church Conflicts

Posted on May 10, 2017 by David V. Edling

Tara has suggested to me that we present a short series of stories of hope—positive experiences we have had when working with churches in conflict. The aim of such a series, of course, would be to reveal God’s faithfulness to … Continue reading →

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Leader Conflicts: Opportunities to Model Holiness

Posted on May 5, 2017 by David V. Edling

Q. My question is about conflicts between leaders. For example: (1) Some of the elders want to use a different English translation of the Bible in worship than what we have been using and others don’t; (2) Some of the … Continue reading →

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