Churches in Ghana have been urged to take advantage of the three pillars of mediation to aid in the resolution of church disputes to prevent them from escalating.
That, according to Labour and ADR expert, Mr Austin Gamey, would help to effectively address the rampant internal disputes that continue to plague churches around the country.
The church, Mr Gamey said, is one of the primary stations where conflict must be settled, stressing that the church has to settle disputes and prevent them from ever reaching the courts.
In an interview with ADR Daily in Tema, Mr Gamey said “the resolution of conflicts is the duty of the church as such disputes must never leave the four wall of the church.”
“It is to the benefit of every church that certain strategies are put in place to help the church resolve conflicts that may arise within the church and externally.
“There are three strategies or pillars that every church must adopt, they are Self Mediation, Leadership/Managerial Mediation and Executive Mediation,” he added.
Speaking on the pillars of mediation, he explained that “it was in the period of Moses that the three pillars of mediation were formed.”
“When the people came to Moses for aid in resolving their disputes, it was at that point that Moses utilised Executive Mediation to handle the disputes. And when the disputes were too much for him, he selected leaders from each tribe and trained them in leadership and managerial mediation to resolve the disputes.
“And Moses, in turn, taught the people the skills of self-mediation so that they would know how to speak with each other and relate with each to prevent the rise of conflicts,” he added.
According to Mr Gamey, there are various benefits to a good conflicts management system in the church.
“With these three pillars in place, there would be no conflicts, there would be brotherly love, peace, meekness, there would be no strife, no envy, and there would be heaven on earth,” he added.
Mr Gamey wished that church members would be trained in self-mediation, the various leaders in the church would be trained in leadership/managerial mediation, and top leaders or the board of the church be trained in executive mediation.
“It is my prayer that the Christian Council will set up a department that specialises in the resolution of all church-related conflicts and all conflicts that arise within the church. And that they base their strategies on these three pillars,” he added.
By: Lizzy-Ann Kwagbedzi/adrdaily.com
