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Throughout the Old and New Testaments, Scripture radiates the joy of owning our sin before God our Savior and experiencing his forgiveness. And experienced Christian conciliators know the relief and delight that comes when a person repents and confesses. We also know that nothing can delay successful conflict coaching or torpedo a mediation more than incomplete or lame confessions. This workshop overviews the biblical truths summarized in chapter 5 in my book, Pursuing Peace: A Christian Guide to Handling Our Conflicts, and applies them in practical ways to our conflict coaching and premediation settings.

Christ calls believers to live in unity with one another, especially in a local body of believers. However, many times our churches are filled with conflict because they are filled with people. Being a shepherd/pastor/leader can be challenging in this context. Hear from some pastors who are working to live out a lifestyle of reconciliation in their congregation.

Conflict is everywhere, but peace, especially among Christians is essential. How do we pursue peace and unity in our relationships without compromising our principles? The Path of a Peacemaker offers a conversational approach to biblical reconciliation— a simple, proven path to a lifestyle of peace. Discover new tools to guide you (and others) through an examination of your own personal story, identifying the origins of your hopes and fears. It invites you to understand and embrace God's approach to conflict, take responsibility for your own part in conflict, and connect with others in a spirit of humility as you learn to listen first, ask for forgiveness, and move forward, even if the conflict remains unresolved. Christian conciliators, pastors, counselors, and anyone dealing with conflict at home, work, church, or with friends will find The Path of a Peacemaker a vital tool.

The vision of Ambassadors of Reconciliation is that one day every Christian community will have in her midst trained reconcilers to teach reconciliation, coach people to reconcile, mediate people through conflict and provide godly adjudication decisions for those unable to resolve a dispute on their own. We call this a reconciliation ministry. Such a ministry requires recognizing and appointing gifted people as reconcilers and providing training for their work. It involves different roles and gifting of those involved. This workshop will explore how you may go about establishing such a ministry at your church or school.

Conflicts in churches can have underlying causes and effects including financial, emotional, and relational to name a few. How can church leaders and church staff build a systemic way to walk confidently through moments of reconciliation with more joy and purpose while reducing the pain of conflicts? How can they build relational systems of empathetic care and emotional intelligence? What does it look like to view and operate in such a Biblically based reality? What are the tools needed to build this into the fabric of the church? These tools will help to build robust relationships in the church where trust supersedes and where members joyfully turn toward one another in times of conflict and celebration.