So, You’ve Experienced a Church Split

The workshop will explore Biblical ways of handling church conflict that often leads to a church split, or at the very least, people leaving. We will also look at what are some preventive measures a church can take to lessen the potential of conflict that leads to people leaving. Often during times of conflict, many biblical principles of Kingdom living are ignored; we will look at some of them, seeking to find ways to follow them in the heat of the moment.

Peter Doerksen

My wife and I have been passionate about serving in the local church since before we were married. In our mid-20s we were elected as a deacon couple in the Warman Gospel Church, an EMMC church. During our time there the church experienced serious conflict and we got our first experience of what it was like to be in leadership while people were leaving. This experience, though painful, was valuable as we entered the pastoral ministry in 1986. I took more than a couple of courses on conflict; I desired to gain wisdom and knowledge on how to work through conflict in healthy / functional ways before it escalates beyond repair. Over the past 20 years or so, I have participated with our EMC Conference’s mediation team as our Conference Pastors have walked with churches experiencing conflict.