Transforming Conflict: The Blessings of Congregational Turmoil

by Dr. Terasa G. Cooley

Conflict is endemic to congregational life. Because congregations exist to help us find meaning and purpose, we find it difficult to realize that not everyone shares our understanding or approach. Many of us have cultural backgrounds that teach us that conflict is bad or to be avoided. Conflict Transformation, on the other hand, treats conflict as an opportunity to learn and grow, both individually, and institutionally. Exploring new understandings of how our bodies and minds respond to conflict, Cooley offers concrete strategies for personal growth and healthy congregational functioning. Anticipating new conflicts that may arise from recent traumas of pandemic response and political division, Cooley offers a way to make painful conversations sources of healing. Drawing on over 30 years of experience as a parish minister and denominational official, Cooley weaves personal reflections with intellectual theory. Each chapter includes discussion questions that make it a valuable resource for group conversation and learning.

160 pages, Hardcover

Published June 15, 2022

Reviews

[Cathy]

This is a book about understanding the nature of congregational conflict and strategies for change. The author explores how congregational conflict can be transformational, how it manifests physiologically, and what it reveals to us about ourselves, including our inherent biases. Then the author explores how we can create a new culture of learning in a congregation, and she gives tools for change, including modeling how members of the congregation covenant to be in right relationship with one another prior to delving into a project. She includes in the appendix a very helpful and practical worksheet that members can use to work through their own feelings about conflict.

If you are interested in topics like addressing conflict, facing pain, quieting your "lizard brain," listening to multiple points of view and acknowledging that both of them are valid, and leading others through what seems like an impossible stalemate, then this is the book for you.

Although the author is a member of a denomination that is different from mine, I highly recommend this book to friends in my own denomination, the United Methodist Church, whose congregations are experiencing conflict and turmoil.

[Fiona Mac]

This was a very valuable book with a powerful message and im grateful to have it as a resource in my study of transformative justice. However, it stops short of exploring a decolonial analysis which i believe is critical to this work. The author mentions multiple times that the values and culture that create destructive conflicts are part of white supremacy, but it's important to acknowledge that transformative values of community, taking time, etc are present in indigenous cultures and they are a resource we should respect and learn from.

[Sylvia]

Excellent understanding of the inevitably of conflict and ways to reduce the anxiety and fear that conflict brings.

[Lyn Cox]

Thoughtful, practical, theologically sound yet grounded in real experience, this book will help congregational leaders to lead their communities in maturational growth and adaptive change.