Event Overview
Many congregants experience conflict as something to avoid. They see it as a sign that unity has been broken, or even as proof that evil has taken hold of the fellowship. So disagreements go underground, hurts harden into factions, and leaders are left managing fallout instead of shaping culture. Yet conflict is not an intruder in the life of a community. It is a basic feature of human relationships.
Where people gather with conviction, conflict will come. This workshop invites congregational leaders, both clergy and lay, to stop asking how to keep conflict away and to start asking how to be ready for it. Together we will look at how a congregation’s culture shapes its response to tension, and we will build plans and practices that turn conflict into a tool for stronger relationships.
Participants will learn:
- Name the beliefs about conflict at work in their own congregation and how those beliefs shape behavior
- Reframe conflict as an expected part of community life rather than a sign of failure.
- Identify early signals of conflict and the cultural patterns that make it worse or help resolve it.
- Leave with a draft action plan for processes and practices that use conflict to strengthen relationships.
About the Instructor:
For four decades, Dr. Kilen Gray has stood at the intersection of pastoral authority, clinical expertise, K-12 and higher education administration, and executive leadership — building congregations, leading institutions, and restoring the lives of those most organizations turn away from.
He now brings that rare convergence to pastors, executives, school administrators, and faith-based leaders who need more than a coach. They need someone who has actually sat where they sit. Read more about Dr. Gray here.