Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) — For six weeks each year, Betty Pries, Ph.D., a conflict management specialist based in Waterloo, Ontario, leads an online short course for AMBS as a sessional instructor.

In the course, Transforming Congregational Conflict and Communication, Pries and her students draw on biblical, theological, practical and spiritual sources in examining difficult experiences that pastors and lay leaders encounter while in ministry.

“We explore models to help us understand conflict more clearly and reflect on how we can meaningfully engage the conflicts in which we’re involved,” she says. “We also explore how Christian spirituality offers a unique foundation that deepens and strengthens the models found in conflict transformation theory.”

Pries, who notes that differences are a natural and necessary part of human life, says she enjoys meeting with people who are sorting out together “what it means to live faithfully amidst the complex reality of human relationships.”

“None of us is perfect at managing conflict,” she reflects. “This makes the course a wonderful meeting ground where each of us is on a learning journey.”

Pries’ course will be offered again April 15 – May 26, 2020.

To learn more about this course, go to  http://bit.ly/AMBSTransformingConflict.

To receive a $50 early registration discount for this course, register by March 25. See ambs.edu/shortcourses for more details.