From Emergesque (Stephen Shield): theological disagreement and the emerging church. Stephen is writing about conflict in the Emerging Church but what has to say has application to most conflicts:
For many years I've taught conflict resolution in my corporate environment and have done some conflict mediation as well. I've detailed my approach here, but the heart of my method is essentially what Dr. Johnson expressed above. Before I begin a moderation, I stress to the participants that what we are about to do will be very, very difficult. During the moderation, I have each participant listen to his or her opposite and then summarize the viewpoint of the other person. The sessions cannot continue until each person certifies that the other person has not only successfully summarized the position they do not hold, but that they have also successfully detailed the reasons for the position that they do not believe to the satisfaction of both parties. It has been my experience that this process sometimes brings out an unrealized complexity to an issue that the participants had previously believed was a simple binary proposition. Presuppositions are unearthed and creative solutions can be crafted.
This is what I long to see happen between the emerging church, emergent, and her critics. I believe that I see movements in these directions and the desire for these types of interactions to occur on both sides of the discussion.
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