Change and Conflict in Your Congregation (Even If You Hate Both)

How to Implement Conscious Choices, Manage Emotions and Build a Thriving Christian Community

By: Rev. Anita L. Bradshaw PhD

Narrated by: Devin Miller's voice replica

Change and conflict are often feared in churchesbut they don't need to be. When we learn to see these difficulties as normal, healthy parts of being a community, it is much easier to navigate them with a minimum of anxiety and bad behavior.

We are able to let go of our fears and face change and conflict as catalysts for moving forward in the mission of showing God's love and justice to the world. In fact, there is no way to move forward in mission without change and conflict.

This warmhearted guidebook will help your church navigate change and channel conflict into deeper understanding and a stronger sense of community.

Lay leaders, pastors and church staff will be empowered by creative, easy-to-implement strategies to:

• Establish appropriate congregational behavior and communication
• Practice non-anxious leadership in the midst of upheaval
• Foster productive community discussion and discernment
• Manage a community's tendency to polarize disagreements
• Encourage imaginative thinking and creative responses to difficult situations
• Replace a congregation’s discouraging self-image with an empowering vision for ministry

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