The Peacemaking Pastor: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Church Conflict

Peacemaking: The healing alternative to conflict in the church

Every pastor faces conflict in the church, and Alfred Poirier has this loving reminder: we can run, but we can't hide. Jesus set the example as the Incarnate Peacemaker, and Scripture clearly calls his servant-pastors to be ministers of reconciliation. So the issue is not whether to be a mediator but what kind of mediator to be.

Thoroughly exploring the theology of reconciliation, Poirier adds lessons from personal experience and lists practical steps for effective mediation. With this comprehensive guide, you can embrace peacemaking confidently as a way to glorify God through the overcoming power of the gospel. And, as Jesus promised all peacemakers, you will be blessed.

320 pages

"Pastors serve on the front lines of the spiritual war that engulfs this world. All too often their greatest battles take place within the church itself, where they are caught in the crossfire of personal, theological, or congregational conflicts. These endless skirmishes leave many pastors--and their families--so exhausted and wounded that they lose their joy for ministry or leave the pastorate altogether. This book provides a gospel-centered strategy for equipping pastors to be highly effective peacemakers who can lead their flocks safely through conflict while building a culture of peace in the church."

--Ken Sande, president, Peacemaker Ministries

"In solidly scriptural fashion a veteran pastor here explains how the local church through its leaders can become the community of peace and safety that it is called to be rather than the hotbed of hostilities that it too often is. This is a very salutary book on a very sensitive subject."

--J. I. Packer, board of governors' professor of theology, Regent College