Looking to Jesus

1
Ministry of Peacemaking on the Canterbury trail
Bishop-elect Trevor Walters
2
A Theological framework

• Eden a place of harmonious relationships
• Community existed between God and Adam and Eve
• Adam and Eve have community with their offspring
• Mirrors relationships in heaven amongst Trinity

3
Mediations beginning

• Eve ate the apple in disobedience and broke the
  harmonious relationships
• Vertical Adam and Eve hid from God
• Horizontal Serpent I will put enmity
  between you and your offspring

4
Brokenness radiates out through Book of Genesis
5
God initiates Mediation

• God chooses Zadok and Aaron Priest and High
  Priest to minister as mediators through whom
  sacrifices were offered.
• The mediators were also signs that God was
  faithful to His Covenant promises with Israel

6
The New Covenant

• A new mediator who stands between God and his
  disobedient people.
• We are now all Priests called to offer the
  sacrifice of praise and
• To serve as reconcilers and peace makers

7
Beatitudes

• Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be
  called the children of God

8
Levels of healthy relationships

• A. Respect
• B. Trust
• C. Cooperation
• D. Forgiveness
• E. Communion

9
Objectives re Enmity(conflict)

• A. Stop the fighting
• B. Restore productivity
• C. Restore the Institutions vision
• D. Restore worship
• E. Restore relationship

10
Process of Mediation

• 1. Invite warring parties to meet
• 2. Name what the parties have in common.
• 3. Get the parties to name the problem from
  their own perspective.
• 4. Clarify and Paraphrase the positions

11
Process cont.

• 5. Caucus
• Indentify the strengths and weaknesses of their
  positions
• Invite them to propose an offer to settle.
• Clarify several times what you believe to be the
  offer. Seek permission as to what you can
  disclose.

12

• 6. Present the offer.
• Seek a response
• Do not soften the blow if it is not what is hoped
  for.
• 7. Explore options regarding a response.

13
Strategies to assist resolution

• 1. Bracketing
• Party A. Best to worst settlement 20,000
  150,000
• Party B. Best to worst settlements 1000-30,000
• Bracket 20,000-30,000 is where we work

14
Advantages of Bracketing

• Saves hours of shuttle diplomacy of offers
  inching up on one side and down on the other.
• Lets us know quickly whether a settlement might
  be in reach

15
Parish based application

• Church musicians feuding over how many Sundays
  they get per month.
• Person A asked what would be the minimum nos. of
  Sundays youd be prepared to play in a three
  month cycle. What about the most in three months
• Repeat with Person B.

16
Bracketing cont.

• Results
• Person A 5-10
• Person B 8-15
• Bracket overlap 8-10
• Variance now depends on your own vision and
  values for the music ministry. One is not
  confined to the bracket but you know the margins
  of tolerance

17
Quid pro Quo

• Something exchanged for something else that is
  different but equivalent in effort/ value/
  inconvenience/ time etc.
• What is the one thing you would like your partner
  to change.
• Does this exchange look fair just equitable
  acceptable.

18
Not acceptable

• What needs to be modified to get acceptance-
• Add in something else
• Add number of occurrences on one side.
• 1x back rub is worth x2 cooked meals

19
Compromise

• Takes half of one solution and half of another/
  one meets in the middle
• Disadvantages
• Half of a good solution married to half a bad
  soln.
• Lacks creativity and problem solving strategy

20
Compromise cont.

• Advantage
• Breaks deadlock if all else fails
• Appears to be fair!!!

21
Key learning

• 1. Do not take responsibility for the outcome.
  Outcome is in the hands of the two people versus
  you or another as judge.
• Your job is to remain impartial
• Work hard at actively listening
• Maintain trust and confidentiality
• Provide creative options
• Evaluate strengths and weakness of positions

22
Key learning 2

• Discern when a crisis is not a crisis
• Do not rescue
• Let the stress of the moment propel people into
  action.
• Put into perspective this challenge versus
  alternative worst case scenarios