Bethany UMC Reconciliation Ministry
2 Corinthians 5:18 states that we are called to a ministry of reconciliation.
To help its members to be ministers of reconciliation, Bethany's Ad Board approved the following procedure to use.
Our ministry of reconciliation is based upon the biblical mandate by Jesus per Matthew 18:15-17 to resolve conflict and obtain reconciliation. In these verses Jesus states:
If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
This biblical mandate should be applied at Bethany in the following eight sequential steps:
- Member discusses an issue face to face with
the person [usually the pastor, but could be any staff member]. If the issue
is not resolved then it moves to step #2.
- Member and SPRC member discuss the issue with the person. If the issue is not resolved then it moves to step #3.
- Member and person meet with SPRC to discuss issue. If the issue is not resolved then it moves to step #4.
- Member and person meet with Ad Board to discuss issue. If the issue is not resolved then it moves to step #5.
- Member and person meet with District Superintendent to discuss issue. If the issue is not resolved then it moves to step #6.
- Member and person meet with Charge Conference to discuss issue. If the issue is not resolved then it moves to step #7.
- Member and person meet with Church Conference to discuss issue. If the issue is not resolved then it moves to step #8.
- Member and person meet with Bishop to discuss issue.
Please keep in mind that talking to one member of SPRC does NOT constitute talking to SPRC, and a person needs to wait for a written response before they proceed to the next level of reconciliation.
Not only is the aforementioned approach biblical, but it also works remark-ably well. Most conflict can be resolved and reconciliation obtained in the first few steps of the process. This is not surprising, since our Lord Jesus Christ would not recommend something that was unworkable.
