Leaders gain peacemaking strategies for polarized times
Published: March 4, 2024
By John Longhurst for bg真人
ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) 鈥� Political polarization, war, climate crisis, loneliness, economic instability. These are just a few of the challenges people face today, featured speaker Betty Pries, PhD, CMed, told those gathered Feb. 19鈥�22 at the Pastors & Leaders 2024 conference of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (bg真人) in Elkhart, Indiana.
The event, which focused on the theme 鈥淪trategies for Peacemaking,鈥� brought together 183 participants 鈥� 158 in person and 25 online 鈥� for times of worship, learning and inspiration.
鈥淭here is so much pain in the world, in addition to the personal pain we are carrying,鈥� said Pries, a mediator, trainer, facilitator and consultant in conflict transformation from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. She鈥檚 also the author of The Space Between Us: Conversations about Transforming Conflict (Herald, 2021).
Many churches are struggling with declining attendance and members鈥� political and theological differences, she noted. In this environment, pastors and leaders are being asked to help congregations navigate changes and overcome polarization 鈥� while also attending to their own internal spiritual needs.
To help congregations deal with these challenges, Pries offered a U-shaped model for thinking about change called 鈥渢he change curve.鈥�
鈥淐hange 鈥� whether we want it or not 鈥� always takes us down before we get to the other side,鈥� she said.
At the bottom of the change curve, congregations and leaders can feel overwhelmed, Pries said, adding that the natural inclination is to want to leave the bottom as quickly as possible. But it鈥檚 at the bottom, she said, 鈥渨here really important learning occurs.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to rush out of the bottom of the curve,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f we do that, we can miss what God is asking us to learn as a church. The bottom of the curve is also the landscape of transformation.鈥�
Practically, when it comes to decision-making, one way to ensure that churches don鈥檛 rush decisions is to follow what she called the 鈥渢hree times rule.鈥�
Before tackling a big change and assuming the matter is not urgent, pastors and leaders should first introduce congregants to a potential path forward, Pries said. After that, the congregation should be given a chance to talk about this path 鈥� without being asked to make a decision. Only as early as the third meeting should a decision be made.
This is because people need to take time to hear each other, she said, adding that a congregation 鈥渨ill feel violated if they are asked to vote the first time they hear something.鈥�
For Pries, moving up from the bottom of the change curve is like going up a staircase: 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 go from the bottom to the top in one jump. It鈥檚 a step-by-step process, and we need to help each other climb the steps.鈥�
At the same time, when a change is large, congregations don鈥檛 get through the bottom of the curve 鈥渨ithout significant pain and suffering,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a hard, hard journey. We need to bring people with us.鈥�
Pries also emphasized the necessity of tending to one鈥檚 own inner work as a peacemaker, sharing a quotation from William O鈥橞rien: 鈥淭he success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor.鈥� She encouraged her listeners to seek to be centered in their 鈥渄eeper self,鈥� which she described as 鈥渁 place of encounter with God鈥檚 presence鈥� characterized by goodness, generosity, grace and compassion. She also offered conversational models for working through interpersonal conflicts.
Preachers during the worship sessions were Nekeisha Alayna Alexis, MA, who serves as bg真人鈥檚 Intercultural Competence and Undoing Racism coordinator, and , MDiv, of Durham, North Carolina, a writer and ordained minister in Mennonite Church USA.
Highlighting parallels between the stories of the man healed at the pool of Bethesda in John 5:1-9 and the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-22, Alexis asked if pastors and leaders also 鈥渨ant to be made well鈥� when it comes to changing their views of racism and White supremacy. She described White supremacy as 鈥渢he web of institutions and structural relationships; policies and practices; attitudes and behaviors that uphold the basic racial argument that Whiteness is the standard.鈥�
Such change involves inner healing that gets 鈥渁t the root of things,鈥� she said. She proposed that Jesus may have empowered the man to stop tolerating the barriers of the condition he was in 鈥� an interpretation that could be liberating both to those who benefit from the global disease of White supremacy and those who experience violence and exclusion because of it.
Rather than focusing on the barriers to undoing racism, she invited her listeners to consider 鈥渉ow deep the desire for wellness 鈥� a life without racial hierarchies 鈥� really runs鈥� as well as 鈥渙ur need to be rescued from the false idea that doing the bare minimum 鈥� avoiding the most egregious and overt of harms 鈥� is enough.鈥� She asked them to imagine how they might feel if asked to sell each of their possessions, and to consider what aspects of the work of undoing racism are theirs to do.
In his sermon on John 20:19-29, Villegas noted that if anyone were to be justified in keeping a list of grudges against others, it would be Jesus; the religious authorities opposed him, Judas betrayed him, and his disciples denied knowing him.
鈥淗e had every reason to seek revenge, but after his resurrection, his first words were words of reassurance: 鈥楶eace be with you,鈥欌�� Villegas said, noting Jesus said that three times. Rather than returning to settle the score, Jesus showed his disciples he was there to make peace and to commission them to 鈥渆mbody the gospel of God鈥檚 peace,鈥� he said.
Villegas said that peace 鈥渉as everything to do with how we confront sin in ourselves and in our community,鈥� describing sin as 鈥渁 power of corruption that hurts us, dehumanizes us and alienates us from each other.鈥�
That鈥檚 why people need each other to help each other 鈥渟ee the truth of who we are, to notice the goodness of God鈥檚 life in us and to remember that we are beloved by God,鈥� Villegas said. He added that Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the lives of the disciples as a gathered community for them to live lives of peace for themselves, their neighbors, the church and the world.
Conference participants were invited to process their experiences together in small groups. They also could choose to attend a range of workshops on topics related to the peacemaking theme, with 20 in-person and seven virtual workshop options available.
Daily times of worship and singing were led by Allan Rudy-Froese, PhD, Associate Professor of Christian Proclamation at bg真人, and Alissa Bender, MDiv, a pastor and worship leader from Hamilton, Ontario, with members of the bg真人 learning community.
Pastors & Leaders 2025 will be held Feb. 17鈥�20. The annual conference is hosted by bg真人鈥檚 Church Leadership Center.
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John Longhurst is a freelance writer from Winnipeg.
Located in Elkhart, Indiana, on ancestral land of the Potawatomi and Miami peoples, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary is a learning community with an Anabaptist vision, offering theological education for learners both on campus and at a distance as well as a wide array of lifelong learning programs 鈥� all with the goal of educating followers of Jesus Christ to be leaders for God鈥檚 reconciling mission in the world. ambs.edu
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