Gaspard, M. (2020). Communication in leadership conflict: A phenomenological approach to Protestant leader’s management of conflict. EdD, Northcentral University.
ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 28154095.
Leadership conflict is damaging and chaotic within families, workplaces, and relationships due to the diverse interests and personalities related to human genders, race, age, and culture. Furthermore, communication is considered essential for effective relationships. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research study was to investigate communication in leadership conflict in churches from the Protestant leaders’ perspectives. The study was performed within the religious frame- work because it provided a wide range of outcomes and addressed the concept that the leaders are influential; thus, through communication, they could bring others to common ground. The phenomenological design was selected since it dealt with lived experiences and observations without being impacted by any theory while understanding the research.
The researcher targeted 16 Protestant leaders. Five participants agreed to answer the proposed interview questions that came from the research questions. The results of the study confirmed that conflict is unpredictable and that communication is the tool to guarantee understandings between two different parties. Due to the various causes and types of conflict, researchers argued that efficient conflict management required diverse approaches. While the findings focus only on popular or transformational leadership styles, future researchers can extend the re- search for more accuracy.
Lampton, C. (2020). More listening = Less conflict. PhD, Union Institute and University. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 28765571.
Most people understand listening to be the same as hearing, that it is automatic, and they pay little conscious attention to it, which is why it is reported to be the most used yet least understood half of language. Compounding the situation, we use only about a third of our listening capacity, which has some researchers wondering how we can communicate at all with half a language. As the literature review found, this imbalance between speaking and listening has a long history, particularly in Western culture, and to date, no accepted unified definition, theory, or model exists. Poor listening skills and habits can initiate a waterfall of consequences, but destructive conflict might be the most impactful and damaging, which has become evident in society at nearly all levels around the globe. There are new departments and positions emerging in organizations to manage destructive conflict, especially as a fourth generation, Gen Z, enters the workplace. It is the relationship between listening and destructive conflict that was the hypothesis and focus of this study. The quasi-experiment employed mixed methodology and two devices, The Listening Gap© and The Listening Challenge©, along with a self-assessment instrument. While the quantitative results proved the null hypothesis, the qualitative results proved a rich resource to inform both the study reported here as well as future studies.
Moiso, A. C. (2020). Standing in the breach: A relational homiletic for conflicted times. PhD, Vanderbilt University. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 27736939.
Preachers who seek to address conflict or controversial issues from the pulpit often encounter homiletic models that encourage either taking a stand or keeping the peace, both of which prioritize transmission of a message over the relational effects of that message, and neither of which directly addresses the dynamics of conflict. Beginning with a definition of conflict as “differences that in proximity produce tension,” the dissertation draws insights from the field of conflict transformation, which emphasizes the unavoidability of conflict, the importance of prioritizing human interconnectedness in conflict, and the constructive potential of conflict for social change. Conflict transformation is then put into conversation with Christian theologians to develop a “theology for conflict” to undergird a relational homiletic. This theology for conflict affirms difference and resulting tension as elements of creation; the tragic reality of the human condition and the differentiation of tragedy from sin and evil; the interdependence of human beings in relationships of compassionate obligation; and the conviction that relationality is both an expression and means of redemption. In a relational homiletic, the fundamental reality of human interrelatedness becomes the orienting principle, a normative ethical and theological framework, and a way of conceiving practice and method for preachers. The entire homiletic process is then focused on the kind of relationships we want to be indicative of Christian community and how preaching might develop those relationships across the whole of Christian life.
Pirtle, C. M. (2019). The discipleship principle of peacemaking: Exploring Christ-centered conflict mediation and reconciliation among Leaders at Elohim Christian Center, Garden City, GA. DMin, South University. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 28155504.
Having served in some facet of ministry from her mid-teens throughout adulthood, the author has witnessed the destructive ramifications of conflict within the church. The predominant assumption of this project is that there is a gap in the conflict resolution tools and peacemaking education programs, which limits their effectiveness in the culture of conflict in most local churches. This ministry project explores this assumption within the walls of one local church, with the intent of providing a resource to help bridge the gap at this church with implications for a broader contextual application.
Participants were part of a six-week intensive created by the author, known as The Peacemaker’s Boot Camp (PBC). The guiding Scripture for the PBC is “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matt. 5:9, NIV). The study utilized author generated surveys and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Indicator to assess participants’ level of knowledge concerning conflicts and conflict management and to determine their predisposition toward a particular conflict handling style. The biblically based training was designed to be pragmatically functional in the context of ministry and in community. Because Elohim Christian Center is now equipped with effective conflict resolution training and skills, the deleterious effects of unresolved conflict such as broken fellowship, church splits, and isolation can be better mitigated.
Slotta, C. A. (2020). Addressing conflict successfully: A conflict skills training program to equip pastors and congregational leaders. DMin, Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.
ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 27670544.
Although pastors and congregational leaders will encounter interpersonal conflict in the course of their lives and ministries, most receive little or no conflict engagement training prior to assuming their respective ministry roles. Whereas ill-equipped church leaders endure the negative consequences of poorly handled destructive conflict, those who develop relative mastery of biblical conflict engagement skills effectively leverage the positive potential of constructive conflict and advance God’s kingdom.
This project traces the motif of conflict through Scripture and then passes business-related, church-related, and scholarly literature through the filter of God’s Word to yield an educational and skills development training program to equip pastors and congregational leaders to more successfully address conflict. When church leaders possess the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to conflict engagement, they more readily choose to address, not avoid, interpersonal conflict when it arises.
The training program produced by this project’s research proved effective with statistical significance. Survey results received from leaders in two international church networks confirmed the inadequacy of current conflict engagement training within the church and offered anecdotal insights into common causes of conflict in the local church. An evaluation of the results of the training suggests that church leaders at all levels should ensure and, when practical, require their fellow ministers to develop biblical conflict engagement skills.