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! (I was given 2 months to read it, but it's been really busy.)
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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.
I would like to thank Moody Publishers for an advance copy of the book.