Exploring peacebuilding

The church is in a state of transition in which our capacity to deal positively with difference will be highly significant.  We are developing a Peacebuilding Network and are offering training to people who want to explore the possibility of working with parishes who find themselves having to confront uncomfortable differences or disagreement which threaten the harmony of the congregation or community.

The programme will be comprised of five training sessions.  Sessions will be based on John Paul Lederach’s book 'Reconcile: Conflict Transformation for Ordinary Christians' and centre on biblical ideas about seeing conflict positively and exploring appreciative, invitational and dialogic approaches to working constructively with difference.

Session dates will be:

• 10^th May: 6:00pm – 8:00pm on Zoom
• 17^th May: 6:00pm – 8:00pm on Zoom
• 24^th May: 6:00pm – 8:00pm on Zoom
• 7^th June: 6:00pm – 8:00pm on Zoom
• 19^th June: Morning workshop at Flourish House, Wells,  10:00 am-1:00pm

The programme is open to anyone who is interested and is free of charge.  It is essential you attend all sessions.  At the end of the training, participants may apply to become part of the Working with Difference Network if they feel called to do so and will be offered a discernment conversation as part of this process.

The training will be led by Simon Keyes, who will also head up the network. Since reading Zoology at Oxford, Simon’s career has been largely pursued in NGOs concerned with developing new initiatives in the areas of homelessness, mental health and crime prevention. He worked with World Community for Christian Meditation, organising “The Way of Peace 2000” interfaith initiative with HH The Dalai Lama in Northern Ireland. He was Director of St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace between 2004 and 2014 and was appointed Professor of Reconciliation and Peacebuilding at the University of Winchester in 2015 where he now teaches an online distance learning MA programme in Reconciliation to students round the world. His current areas of interest are in the notion of successful disagreement, the nature of dialogue and community reconciliation. He has worked with a number of parishes in the Bath & Wells diocese on issues of disagreement and as a trainer for clergy and readers.

Register for this training event on our booking form.

Please note, spaces are limited to 15 participants.  Additional names will form a waiting list.

If you are interested in the Peacebuilding Network but can’t make the dates of this set of sessions, please email Josie Halla, and we can register your interest for future events.