One of the books listed as an option for required reading as part of the education phase for ACBC’s Reconciliation Specialization is Tara Barthel’s and David Edling’s, “Redeeming Church Conflicts: Turning Crisis into Compassion and Care.” Barthel and Edling both have experience as attorneys and worked together at Peacemaker Ministries. There are a number of ideas and illustrations in this book taken from Peacemaker resources. Ken Sande, founder of Peacemaker Ministries, wrote the forward.
Summary of Content
Before the first chapter begins, the authors are careful to lay out a model through which to view church conflict in two ways. First, a case study is introduced. This case study will be referenced throughout the book in order to see real examples of the principles being put into practice and how the church responded. Second, the account of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 is utilized to provide the biblical foundation of the book’s approach. The example of the church’s actions in Acts 15 is broken down into four categories: Perspective, Discernment, Leadership, and Biblical Response. These four categories become the four sections in the book (Four chapters per section).
The main idea of the first section is that when the
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