This book is incredibly practical. It is a work and workbook woven together which is nice. Rather than having to buy two separate books the author was able to put the practical part together in his book.

There are parts that I really liked. I enjoyed his stance that conflict isn't sinful in itself and that some conflict can be good. I agree. I liked that he shared personal stories although I didn't necessarily find his stories very interesting, they were quite bland for a book about conflict.

The writing was good and it was an easy read.

The publisher provided an ARC through Netgalley. I have voluntarily decided to read and review, giving my personal opinions and thoughts

People don't like conflict. Some would choose either to fight it or to take flight. As long as there are people, it is only a matter of time before differences of opinion would turn into conflicts. If we could not avoid it, the next best thing that we could do is to prepare for it. According to author Michael Hare, conflicts are opportunities in disguise. Learn to ask for help when needed. Learn how to navigate conflict and to use them as opportunities for learning about people and the Church. This book shows us how to:

Understand the problem and avoid common mistakes
Create a functional model to analyze and resolve conflicts
Use various tools to evaluate and implement the conflict resolution model.


Note the title of this book. It is not "Why" or How to prevent conflicts, but to prepare oneself or one's Church on what to do when conflicts happen. Part One of the book covers the three common approaches many churches adopt whenever there is a conflict. The "Peace at any price" approach recognizes conflict as the worst possible condition, and they would do all they can to avoid it. The "firefighter" approach sees all conflicts as fires to be put out as quickly and as quietly as possible. The "spiritual problem" approach equates all conflicts as attacks by the devil. All of these three approaches regard all conflicts negatively and they all sought to extinguish all forms of conflict. Instead of such negative perspectives, Hare proposes a more positive model, that seeks to change the way we view conflict; to understand the various positions; and to find a constructive path forward. For even the most healthy of churches have conflicts from time to time. Instead of dismissing all conflicts, why not understand them so that we could work out the knots and kinks and prevent future occurrences. They could teach us wisdom and self-control; greater understanding and teamwork; and to develop relationships at deeper levels. We learn of relationships at five levels.


Structural: systemic environment that all groups live in;
Inter-Group: dynamics in between groups;
Intra-Group: group dynamics within the group;
Inter-Personal: relational dynamics in our interactions with others;
Intra-Personal: our reflexes, emotions, thoughts.


The key is to learn to present the conflicts as clearly and as inclusively as possible, without bias toward any one group. Subsequently, we need to identify what conflict relationship levels are they in. Finally, we work through the rationale and solutions if any. This model helps us identify root causes and move toward solutions. More complicated conflicts would involve complex relationships that overlaps with the different levels of group and personal dynamics. Hare uses the example of the Early Church in Acts to show us how conflicts could be identified, understood, and dealt with. In "Interpersonal Conflicts," we need to follow the Matthew 18 example of resolving interpersonal conflict. We need to work toward mediation in the spirit of mutual respect. For some of us, the more challenging part is our inner conflict, something that even the biblical giants had struggled with. This is an important filter because there are conflicts that arise out of personal demons. Many people erroneously assumed the problem is always others or outside of themselves. In any conflict understanding and resolution, we need to leave no stones unturned, including our own inner rocks of pride or slabs of stubbornness. We might even be dealing with multi-layered egotism. Hare also helps us make a distinction between forgiveness and forgetting. We may forgive but that does not necessarily means we have instant reconciliation. Apart from that, it would be helpful to know our respective conflict styles: Collaborating, Competing, accommodating, avoiding, and compromising. Regardless of which approach we prefer, good conflict resolution requires us not only to know which is most appropriate but when to utilize or use a combination of approaches. It might also call for creative uses of all of them.

My Thoughts
This is an immensely practical book that is steeped with understanding of what relationships entail. I like the positive outlook he has with regard to resolving conflicts, that such matters are not something to be quickly and quietly dismissed but intentionally worked through. By seeing them as opportunities to learn and to grow, we no longer need to be victimized by fear. Instead, we could turn what seems unhealthy into a healthy educational experience. Avoiding conflicts may increase the state of unforgiveness. Any such peace may work out initially but given the nature of sin, the moment we allow sin a foothold into our lives, things would likely become worse. Even if we could avoid one conflict, there is no preventing others in the future from happening. The better approach would be to have a system of conflict resolution in place. Train members on how to use them. Maintain a big picture of Church togetherness in mind. Remind one another that we are all on the same side. There is no such thing "them-versus-us" in a Church.

One of the biggest strengths in this book is the need to identify the nature of the conflict. Don't miss out the model of mapping out the conflicts in question. An important skill to cultivate is the ability to define what exactly the issues are before even venturing into solutions mode. Sometimes, we don't know how to deal with conflicts simply because we don't have the exact vocabulary to describe them. This book definitely gives us the language of conflict resolution. I highly recommend this book for church leaders and anyone who work with people.

Michael Hare has been a senior pastor for over two decades. With fifteen years experience as a church conflict consultant, and more recently as chaplain and ombudsman at Compassion International, he is well equipped not only to teach us the fundamentals of conflict management but also to show us that it is possible.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Moody Publishers and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

I remember being invited to speak at a big church in Torrance. When I got there, I realized I was only there for half the church, because there was a church split and the two halves were worshiping separately on the same property. Yeah, that was really awkward. But unfortunately, church splitting is as common as church planting. No wonder there are so many books out there on church conflict. Most of them are bad, only because it addresses only one or two factors of church conflict and doesn't apply to the myriad of different kinds of conflict in the church. Finally, there comes a book that has it all. The best book on church conflict, and it comes out tomorrow - April 2
You know how a math nerd likes a book of intricate math problems or a chess enthusiast likes a book of chess strategies, or a word nerd loves solving cross-word puzzles? This book is kind of like that, or all of those. In addition to great principles and strategies for solving church problems, this book is full of real life examples, or problems that need to be solved. It's like a ministry puzzle book for ministry nerds. Some of the problems, I smile, because I remember going through them, and solving them in similar ways. Other problems remind me that the playing field is huge, as intricate as the people involved. Unlike math, each problem is unique, based on history, culture, personalities, intergroup fighting, intragroup fighting, intrapersonal, etc, and there are multiple solutions.

Here's a small exerpt:
The board recommended a congregational meeting for resolving a controversial issue. It started out okay, but then several people started talking at the same time, then it came to yelling at each other. Others joined in, and it got pretty ugly. Within a month, the church split and about a third of the congregation went down the street and started a new church.

Sadly, this example is all too common, so there are actually many books that address church conflict. This book, in my opinion is the best one. It has great principles for solving any church conflict, including a workbook section to work on your specific issues at church. I recommend this book for anyone in fulltime church ministry. A necessary book for any senior pastor or executive pastor.

Overall I'd give this book 3.5 stars. I appreciated the use of examples and how different situations were practically taken care of. I also like his stance of conflict not being a sin in and of itself, but recognizes that often the response to conflict can be a sin. I think my biggest takeaway from this book is that conflict is not always a bad thing; if anything it is something that is showing areas of weakness that need to be addressed in order to strengthen your church!

I am not a Blogger but an average reader, I love to read good material. When I saw the title of your book along with the design I had to inquire and I was not disappointed. This book was well overdue, I cannot wait until it is publish. If you are giving out free copies I would love to have one.

This book has been a great help to me as I navigate challenges at my church. I have learnt that conflict can bring dishonour to God or show his love to the world. It has encouraged me to see how my inner conflict can have a root cause in church structure, which I have no influence over and I have to learn that I can probably never change. I have to know in my heart what are the non-negotiables for me, so that I can deal with conflict in a positive way.