The Peacemaker Church is a discipleship and church transformation strategy for developing a "culture of peace" in the local church. A culture of peace is an environment in which members are encouraged and equipped to use biblical peacemaking to strengthen relationships, resolve conflict, enhance outreach, and give witness to Jesus Christ.
 A culture of peace has six primary characteristics, as reflected in the following diagram. Beginning with a passion for the gospel of Christ, these six characteristics build on and reinforce one another in a dynamic, cyclical manner:
-
Members have a vision for demonstrating the power of the gospel and preserving relationships through biblical peacemaking. 1
-
Church leadership thoroughly equips the congregation for peacemaking through consistent modeling and diligent teaching. 2
-
Community is continually being built as members treat one another with genuine compassion and respect. 3
-
Members are skilled at seeking reconciliation and resolving conflict biblically. 4
-
Members naturally look to the church for assistance and accountability in resolving difficult conflicts. 5
-
Peace and unity in the church overflow in a positive witness to the outside world that draws others to Christ (and the cycle continues). 6
These characteristics do not appear overnight, but with diligent teaching and modeling, any church that loves the gospel of Christ can develop this kind of culture.
Your Church Already Has a Peacemaking Culture
|
These new materials have three core components:
• Inspiring – Model sermons and background teaching for your pastor to set a vision for what a culture of peace looks like in your church.
• Teaching – An eight-week small group study to enable your entire church to learn the basic principles of personal peacemaking together.
• Embedding – The resources needed to establish a Peacemaker Team and make peacemaking an ongoing and vital part of your church’s life.
|
|
|
Every church has a peacemaking culture of some kind. This culture is a combination of the congregation's attitudes, customs, and practices for resolving conflict. A peacemaking culture is rarely developed in a deliberate way. It is neither discussed nor voted on. It is not recorded in the minutes or bylaws. Instead, it usually grows over time as a set of unwritten rules and expectations that is passed on from one generation to the next.
These rules and expectations typically develop over decades. They are often subtle and unspoken, yet they can exert an inexorable influence over a congregation. All too often, they stifle healthy discussion, promote factions, trigger battles for control, undermine outreach, destroy pastors' careers, and even split congregations. These rules, expectations, and patterns are deeply ingrained in congregational life. As a result, it usually takes a deliberate, long-term effort to transform a church's peacemaking culture.
Leading a Cultural Transformation
The pastor always plays a key role in developing a culture of peace. His preaching and personal example set the stage for the way people relate to one another. He is also the best person to inspire and train his leadership team to model biblical peacemaking in their lives. Once the righ people are trained, he can delegate to them much of the day-to-day educational and reconciliation work needed to build and maintain a culture of peace.
A church can experience numerous benefits as it builds a culture of peace: their people will be blessed with stronger relationships and more enduring marriages; the church can be spared from distracting conflict and division; and church leaders can be removed from the "complaint loop" and spend less time as a lightning rod for others' grievances. These changes can free up substantial time and resources that can be devoted to kingdom ministry.
The key to realizing these benefits is to make peacemaking a specific part of your overall discipleship strategy. You can do this by leading your church through five phases of deliberate growth and change:
First Phase - Exploring: One or more leaders seriously study peacemaking.
Second Phase - Recruiting: Pastor wins and trains other leaders.
Third Phase - Teaching: Leaders educate the entire congregation.
Fourth Phase - Discipling: Congregation models and practices peacemaking.
Fifth Phase - Multiplying: Church inspires and equips other churches.
Many of the elements of a culture of peace are summarized in a document entitled "Relational Commitments." These Commitments play a key role in promoting peacemaking, preserving relationships, and reducing a church's exposure to legal liability.
As you embrace and live out the Relational Commitments, the people in your church will be better prepared to do peacemaking at home, in church, and in the workplace. Most importantly, equipping your people for peacemaking will help them develop the kind of relationships and witness that can draw others to Christ.
Key Links
Scripture References
1 1 Tim. 1:15; Matt. 16:18-19; 2 Cor. 5:18; Eph. 3:10-11; Heb. 10:24-25, 13:17
2 John 13:15; Rom. 15:14; 1 Cor. 11:1; Eph. 4:11-13; James 3:1; 1 Tim. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16, 4:2; 1 Pet. 5:2-3
3 Acts 2:42-47, 6:1-7; Rom. 12:15; Gal. 6:2; James 1:27, 5:13-16; Phil. 2:1-5; Prov. 19:11, 26:20; James 4:11-12
4 Matt. 5:9, 16, 23-24, 43-48, 7:3-4; Luke 6:35-36; 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:12-14; 1 Pet. 2:12
5 Gal. 6:1-2; Matt. 18:12-20; Rom. 15:14; 1 Cor. 5:1-5, 6:1-8; James 5:19-20
6 John 13:34-35, 17:20-23; Acts 2:42-47; Eph. 4:2-3; 1 Pet. 2:12, 3:15-16
| 
