Managing Conflicts: A Practical Resource for Resolution and Reconciliation
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Managing Conflicts - Dr. Ken Birch
Kiamah
Acknowledgements
I owe a debt of gratitude to several people who contributed to the completion of this project. In addition to my thanks to David Oginde, I’m grateful to the directors of Global University’s East Africa Graduate Study Center and the fine church leaders who took my Conflict Management
course, which is part of Global’s Masters program. It was truly a case of the teacher learning as much as the students.
Special appreciation also goes to my good friends, Dennis Lindoff and Ron Michalski, who gave their advice and encouragement from the shores of western Canada. And finally I want to recognize the unconditional support of my dear wife, Shirley, who is my most valued partner in every avenue of ministry.
Dedication
To
SIMON PETER EMIAU
BONIFES ADOYO
RAHA MUZIBAO
RON MISIKO,
dear friends in ministry who have taught me so much about the challenges of leadership in African churches and who represent the hope of a bright future for God’s work on the continent.
Foreword
Dr. Ken Birch has once again come up with an invaluable resource to equip the church in Africa. His earlier book, From the ground: perspectives on Christian living in the real world, has been a great resource for pastors and church leaders. But Managing Conflicts is even more timely because it touches on where it itches most - conflicts.
The African continent has been engulfed in endless ethnic tensions and upheavals, something that has slowed down social cohesion and development, formenting humanitarian crisis.
Dr. Birch, a long standing missionary with a wide experience on the African affairs, a pastor, teacher and administrator, does not only provide the diagnosis of the African condition but also the cure. In view of the fact that the problem has a spiritual dimension, the solution offered must, of necessity, be biblical. According to 2 Cor. 5:18, God, through Christ, has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
In his writing, Dr. Birch is concerned about his inability to escape Western cultural perspectives and biases. Nevertheless, the principles he sets forth, being biblical, are applicable, not just to the African continent, but to the entire body of Christ.
Neither is Dr. Birch’s book confined to religious and ethnic issues. It addresses racial discrimination as well, thus providing a biblical antidote to about all causes of conflict.
Dr. Bonifes Adoyo
Bishop of Christ Is the Answer Ministries Chancellor of Pan African Christian University.
Preface
This book is written for pastors and church leaders who are frequently called upon to deal with conflicts among God’s people. It is not presented as an academic textbook for the classroom but rather as practical resource for use by leaders of local churches and national church organizations.
The challenge to put this material into a book came primarily from students in my classes at the East Africa Graduate Study Center of Global University in Nairobi. Most of the material written in the field of conflict management approaches the subject from a Western cultural perspective. My students have helped me to understand and develop an approach to the subject from an African perspective. But going to print with a resource for African church leaders was, I felt, a task for an African writer.
However, my friends and colleagues persevered and eventually convinced me to take on the project. I agreed with one condition: that I could find a strong African partner to work with me. I was honored when Rev. David Oginde, Senior Pastor of Nairobi Pentecostal Church (Central), agreed to be my consultant and advisor. David is one of the most respected Christian leaders in Kenya.
I need to say a word about the approach used in this work. First, there are many good books offering theories and strategies developed by other authors that should be studied by students who wish to go more deeply into the theoretical and academic issues of conflict management. I have taken the liberty to select options for understanding and addressing conflict which are (1) relevant to the African context and (2) practical for church leaders on the ground who face a host of conflict issues on a day to day basis.
Another stylistic decision was to not simply give a list of skills required for managing and resolving conflict. While my goal is to assist leaders in practical ministry settings, dealing with conflict is more complex than simply being able to consult a dictionary of common terms and quick-fix solutions. Therefore, I have embedded the essential skills for this work in discussions of major concepts and descriptions of real-life situations. The chapter on conflict mediation probably has the most concentration on the required skills.
I recognize the likelihood that I have over-simplified some of the content and left out worthy options which others may feel are essential. And then, of course, I have no illusion that I have been able to escape all of my Western cultural perspectives and biases. I am thankful for the excellent advice and input I have received from my colleague, Rev. David Oginde, on many important cultural matters. But, at the end of the day, any failure to contextualize this material is mine.
I have purposefully chosen the term reconciliation
to describe the work of conflict management and resolution within the context of the church because that, I believe, is what it is. Of course I am writing primarily for those who are called and gifted to lead the flock of God
(Acts 20:28). As with other fields, such as counseling, people can be trained to become professionals
in the work of conflict management and make a contribution up to a certain level.
But Christian pastors and leaders recognize the all-important spiritual dimension of people’s lives. For them God has provided a special equipping from the Holy Spirit, which enables them to bring healing and restoration to relationships beyond what is possible for those who work from a purely natural or humanistic framework. That’s why this ministry is so vital for the health of the church today and can serve as a witness to the secular world, that God has provided a better way to resolve disputes and hostilities than what we see everyday in secular societymotor
Dr. Ken Birch
Introduction
It’s a shocking but familiar sound in Africa these days, the crash of two metal machines colliding at an intersection. The explosive roar of a motor vehicle accident immediately dominates the thoughts and actions of people within hundreds of meters of the intersection.
A crowd gathers in an instant, almost as if they had been forewarned and waiting. Everyone looks to see if the occupants are injured, or worse. Some try to give assistance. Others begin to express emotional reactions, even to the point of hurling accusations at the one suspected of being responsible for the collision. Most just stand quietly with their thoughts, hoping that no one is seriously hurt, hoping that someone they know or love is not in one of the vehicles.
A traffic accident is a dramatic and violent illustration of a conflict. The word is derived from two latin roots meaning together
(‘con’) and to strike
(‘fligere’). The picture is simply of two objects or people trying to occupy the same space at the same time. It is a universal reality, one that we are all familiar with. The space in question may be physical, such as the accident site in my illustration. There are also emotional
issues that can cause conflict, such as the competition of two suitors who are interested in the same lady. And there are what we can call political
conflicts which arise not only in official elections but when two people are competing for a position in a company or organization. Ideological disagreements can also be seen in this category. These conflicts develop when two people or groups are promoting different plans or methods for achieving some goal.
Fortunately few emotional or political disputes become as violent and potentially destructive as an motor vehicle accident. But every conflict takes some toll on our lives and many leave lasting consequences, some