Mediation...

At Restoration we understand that it is not just families that struggle with conflicts and relationships. We have know of a number of organisations that have experienced internal conflict that has diminished them. Christian organisations and those with a Christian ethos and even Churches are not immune from conflict.

In the past we have helped a number of such organisations through change and crisis. We have a great deal of experience of helping people heal relationships and overcome conflict. We have tried and tested ideas and techniques to help organisations work towards unity.

We feel strongly that it is vital to resolve conflict within organisations and churches when it arises. We believe that underlying most poor relationships, whether personal or professional, are misunderstandings or communications that have not been received or delivered effectively.

We personally have found ourselves in conflict situations in the church, which have not been easily resolved. We learnt a lot through the painful situations we found ourselves in and believe that the Lord has highlighted these areas in order to use us, as trained facilitators in communication skills, to bring about reconciliation and good relationships within the Church and Christian organisations.

It is possible to ‘spiritualise’ conflict in church, in a way that wouldn’t occur in secular organisations. The result of this is a subtle and destructive veneer of so-called reconciliation, lacking in genuineness. Wearing Sunday morning smiles can become as slick as any other defence. It can seem all the more painful if there is conflict within church, as there is so much at stake – most of us who know Christ as our Saviour are passionately committed to church.

The shock of realising that Christians ‘fall out’ can take some getting over – some people don’t. We regularly experience such fallouts in our work with individuals and we know people whose lives have been significantly affected. Genuine reconciliation takes commitment. Genuine accountability costs. In conflict situations, sifting through to find our responsibility takes humility; accepting our powerlessness over others can mean learning to be long-suffering.

In conflict, it is sometimes hard to see the wood for the trees. Seeking advice from members of the same church or friends is not always helpful. Our strength, we believe, is in the impartiality we bring as external facilitators to your organisation. We have no investment in any of the relationships. We believe the healthiest churches and healthiest organisations are those that are willing to be transparent.

We believe that our position as external mediators gives members of organisations and churches a place to be transparent, without compromising their positions – we are not the Bishop of a Diocese, the Managing Director of the organisation or the Chair of the Trustees.

Secular organisations often invest in consultants to help resolve conflict and management issues - our role is aligned to that of management consultant in the business world, who ‘troubleshoot’ for organisations experiencing difficulties. We believe that Christian organisations should seek for excellence in relationships.

If you think that your organisation would benefit please feel free to contact us.