Conflict Resolution Strategies among the Clergy

Abstract

Conflict resolution as a field of study is relatively young. The church of Christ as an institution has an ecclesiastical mandate to lead Christians in resolving their conflicts in godly ways without engaging in adversarial ways that leave disputants ripped apart. The data revealed that an overwhelming majority of the participants were part of conflict resolution process that was family-related. The findings also, indicated that participants' experience included resolving church leadership-related, and restoration of peace in the larger community. All participants shared numerous approaches they normally use in their conflict resolution practices. These mainly included; case background, mediation, prayer, referral, use of pastoral, counseling skills, keen listening, consulting widely, seeing disputants separately, and integration of disciplines among others. In addition, the data revealed that all participants had conflict resolution experience and used a wide range of approaches. Although all participants were part of successful conflict resolution processes, they also reported that not all conflict resolution processes succeeded.