JustPeace: Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation

The mission of JustPeace Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation is to prepare and assist United Methodists to engage conflict constructively in ways that strive for justice, reconciliation, resource preservation and restoration of community in the Church and in the world. Recent studies have revealed that 26% of churches are highly conflicted and 1 out of every 50 churches is sued each year. We all bear the scars and pain of destructive conflict. We all know its cost to financial and human resources. When we use adversarial tactics to gain victory in a conflict and when we avoid or ignore conflict altogether, tension and emotions rise and become more strained until something breaks. The first thing to break is communication; the next is the relationship itself. We need to discover better ways to deal with conflict… How do we do this? By changing our attitudes to situations of conflict and difference, seeing them as opportunities for growth, learning and even God’s revelation. By changing our processes to those that genuinely engage us such as dialogue, discernment and mediation. By learning new skills or spiritual practices such as listening for understanding, speaking the truth in love, and using our imagination. Ours is a ministry of reconciliation, a ministry of JustPeace. http://justpeaceumc.org/