Navigating Community Conflict
By Alan Kelsaw | ISBN 9780645256925
When conflict erupts and disrupts your leadership, you can flounder. Or you can use the principles, strategies and resources outlined in this book to help you flourish, thus equipping you to lead faithfully, effectively and strategically as you navigate community conflict through to a successful completion.
Navigating Community Conflict explains how to be the Christian leader who confidently navigates conflict in a community, while consistently maintaining leadership focus, community cohesion and organisational purpose.
It does do by examining conflict dynamics, including heart desires and the powerful, multi-layered forces, which influence how leaders interpret and instinctively respond to conflict. Amongst other areas, it also considers the impact of conflict on the human body, along with how and why conflict blunts a leader’s capacity to make sound decisions.
The book gathers biblical research into a framework of eight empowering principles under the mnemonic HELM to shape and guide leadership responses during conflict. These principles translate into nearly 50 leadership strategies supported by over 25 practical resources.
Leading a conflicted community equipped with this information and according to these principles will keep leaders strong. It will protect the Christian leader from burnout and being lost to Christian ministry. Leading in this way will keep the community safe and healthy, protecting it from floundering or disintegrating. It will ensure that conflict does not overpower the organisational purpose. Most importantly, it will also witness to the power of the gospel to the community itself and others observing from outside.
About the author
Alan Kelshaw has practiced as a mediator, consultant and trainer, mostly in churches and the Christian not-for-profit sector, for over 20 years. He has also worked for many years as a lawyer. Alan holds degrees in law (LLB) from Sydney University and a Masters of Christian Studies degree (MCS) from Regent College, Vancouver. He has held various leadership roles in his local church, denomination and in several Christian ministries. Alan lives in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with his wife Carolyn. They have three adult children and seven grandchildren.