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Peacemaking in the Church and Beyond

How conflict and leadership intersect.

Number of lessons: 17
Total length: 5 hours and 40 minutes
format: Video and Audio
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About This Class

How conflict and leadership intersect.

About the Professor

Rick Sessoms

Founder/CEO
Rick Sessoms

Lessons

  • 1. Introduction to Peacemaking in the Church and Beyond
    Learn about the crucial role of leadership in conflict resolution, explore the various types of conflicts in the church, and understand the importance of building a peacemaking culture to prevent and address conflicts effectively.
  • 2. The Gospel of Sin Management
    Examine how the church's growth in conflict regions, particularly Rwanda, reveals a need for a more comprehensive gospel that addresses systemic issues and reconciliation, highlighting the church's role as agents of God's reconciling work.
  • 3. Discussion of the Gospel
    You will gain insights into the gospel and its applicability to everyday life, as well as its impact on society, including bringing reconciliation and creating heaven on Earth. The discussion acknowledges the difficulties of living out the gospel in society and the tension between living in the world and living for the gospel.
  • 4. Sparks that Ignite Conflict
    Gain insight into the sparks that ignite conflict in the church, understand how conflicts can escalate, and discover the importance of developing peacemaking skills and fully embracing the gospel to foster unity and resolve conflicts.
  • 5. Conflict Culture in the Church
    You will learn about conflict culture in the church, which is an inherited culture for resolving conflict shaped by visible and invisible elements and assumptions and values that drive conditioned responses, and how recognizing and addressing it can lead to healthy conflict resolution.
  • 6. Discussion of Conflict Cultures
    This lesson explores how pastors and church leaders address people-pleasing cultures, examining the attitudes and actions of laissez-faire, controlling, and peacemaking leaders, and discussing the role of the church in promoting peacemaking, involving others, and establishing support systems.
  • 7. Crafting a Culture of Peace
    Learn to build a culture of peace through passion for the gospel, unified leadership, comprehensive peacemaking theology, and practical tools, emphasizing the transformative power of forgiveness and reconciliation.
  • 8. Unified Leadership (Part 1/2)
    You learn how unified, gospel-centered leadership can transform church crises into growth opportunities by focusing on strong relationships, clear communication, and shared goals, while addressing the dangers of disunity and competition within leadership teams.
  • 9. Unified Leadership (Part 2/2)
    You will gain insight into the importance of preparation and certain characteristics that need to be in place before conflict in order to build a united leadership team, using an analogy of running a marathon.
  • 10. Peacemaking Theology (Part 1/2)
    Learn the importance of a comprehensive peacemaking theology, the nature of conflict, and effective biblical responses, focusing on escape, attack, and conciliation strategies, illustrated through a wilderness leadership training example and practical applications for congregations.
  • 11. Peacemaking Theology (Part 2/2)
    Learn practical steps to overcome conflict by reflecting the glory of God, responding with humility and grace, prioritizing unity over self-interest, speaking the truth in love, and pursuing forgiveness and reconciliation.
  • 12. Responsible Listening (Part 1/3)
    By learning practical peacemaking tools and focusing on communication, you'll enhance your ability to resolve conflicts by mastering responsible listening and speaking, enabling you to better understand others and communicate your message more effectively.
  • 13. Responsible Listening (Part 2/3)
    Understand the critical role of listening in ministry and leadership, recognizing how assumptions and selective retention impact comprehension, and you learn to adopt responsible listening patterns to foster understanding and trust in communication.
  • 14. Responsible Listening (Part 3/3)
    Gain insights into the barriers to good listening, the 600 word gap between listening capacity and speaking rate, and the objectives of responsible listening to improve communication and build trust in relationships.
  • 15. Responsible Speaking
    Gain insight into responsible speaking by ensuring clarity, avoiding lengthy speeches, focusing on benefits, and offering solutions only when asked, using strategies like speaking briefly, providing limited information, checking for understanding, and acknowledging listener differences.
  • 16. The Informal Communication Network and Mediation
    Learn how to effectively manage the grapevine, an informal communication network, by feeding accurate information to key individuals, which can prevent conflicts and enhance communication in complex organizations like the church.
  • 17. Peacemaking Beyond the Church
    This lesson highlights the crucial role of peacemaking beyond the church, touching on the history of American evangelicalism, race relations, and the inspiring story of Koinonia Farm, which exemplifies the importance of fostering reconciliation in a divided world.

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