‘Finer Points’ offers peacemaking tools

Interested in learning more about peacemaking on an interpersonal level? Check out “Finer Points,” a blog on the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center website: https://lmpeacecenter.org/finerpoints.

Restorative Conversations workshop planned

Coming in 2023: Lombard Mennonite Peace Center will be offering a new one-day workshop called “Restorative Conversations: Storytelling, Healing and Community Building.” This workshop will introduce church leaders to the key concepts of circle processes and ways in which circles can be used within their congregations. Restorative conversations are useful when working through difficult or polarizing topics, processing shared painful experiences, building…

LMPC to offer ‘Restorative Conversations’

Coming in 2023: Lombard Mennonite Peace Center will be offering a new one-day workshop called “Restorative Conversations: Storytelling, Healing and Community Building.” This one-day workshop will introduce church leaders to the key concepts of circle processes and ways in which circles can be used within their congregations. Restorative conversations are useful when working through difficult or polarizing topics, processing shared painful experiences,…

Workshop to focus on conflict transformation

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center is offering a one-day workshop, “Conflict Transformation Skills for Churches.” This training event will be held in person in September and online in November. “Conflict Transformation Skills for Churches” will be offered in person on Sept. 24 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition, the same training will be…

Mediation training set for Aug. 1-5

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center will hold a Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders (MTSI) Aug. 1-5 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The fee for five full days of instruction and a printed copy of the MSTI manual is $750. Please see the 2022 MSTI-Brochure for details.

Workshop to address congregational anxiety

How do you prevent anxiety from becoming a toxic force in your congregation? “Healthy Congregations,” a workshop presented by Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, can help your church stay focused on its true mission by teaching its leaders how to prevent or minimize destructive conflict. This online workshop will be held Dec. 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. A…

Workshop looks at pastor-congregation relations

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center is offering an online workshop, “Facilitating Healthy Pastor-Congregation Relations” on Tuesday, Oct. 5, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. Held on the Zoom videoconferencing platform, this workshop will offer strategies for church leaders who want to help their congregation function in healthier ways. Attention will be given both to structural changes and emotional processes. See…

Peace center offers mediation training refresher

A note from Lombard Mennonite Peace Center: For those who have already taken our Mediation Skills Training Institute (MSTI), we are pleased to offer a new one-day event: the MSTI Refresher Course. Sessions are available on Tuesday, May 11, and Saturday, June 12. The fee is $99, and the event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. The full five-day…

Conflict transformation is workshop topic

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center (LMPC) is offering an online workshop, “Conflict Transformation Skills for Churches,” on Feb. 13 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. Although a normal part of life, conflict is usually seen as something negative. Participants in this workshop will acquire the knowledge and skills to transform conflict into a force for positive change and spiritual growth.…

Peace Center plans online workshops

Update: Please note that the date for Healthy Congregations has been changed to Jan. 30. Lombard Mennonite Peace Center (LMPC) is offering two of its workshops, Conflict Transformation Skills for Churches and Healthy Congregations, online during January. Both workshops will take place on Zoom. Conflict Transformation Skills for Churches will take place Jan. 16 from 8 a.m. ET to 3:30 p.m.…

Peace center offers mediation skills training

The last session of Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders for this year will be Nov. 16-20, 2020. This five-day training offered by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center helps participants deal more effectively with interpersonal, congregational, and other forms of group conflict. It will be held online via Zoom. For more information, contact the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center at Admin@LMPeaceCenter.org or…

Peace center offers mediation skills training

Registration is now open for both sessions of Lombard Mennonite Peace Center’s Mediation Skills Training Institute scheduled for this fall: Oct. 5-9 and Nov. 16-20. This workshop helps clergy and other church leaders deal more effectively with interpersonal, congregational, and other forms of group conflict. Registrants will attend remotely via Zoom. A $200 discount is available to those who register by the discount…

Peace center moves its courses to Zoom

For the rest of 2020 Lombard Mennonite Peace Center will hold all its scheduled training events remotely via Zoom rather than in person. Scheduled training events include Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders (Aug. 3-7), Conflict Transformation Skills for Churches (July 18), Healthy Congregations (July 21), and Breaking Free: Finding Resilience in an Era of Collective Trauma (July 16…

Webinar’s focus to be ‘radical aloneness’

How can church leaders respond to the challenges of the current pandemic and the resultant “radical aloneness” that afflicts many of us? Lombard Mennonite Peace Center is planning a webinar exploring these questions, Social Distancing, Not Social Isolation, on Thursday, May 14, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Central Time. Participants will learn how church leaders can reach out to people…

Peace center seeks new executive director

The Lombard Mennonite Peace Center (LMPC) is searching for a new executive director. The current executive director, Rev. Richard Blackburn, is stepping back from that role at the end of 2019, having filled the role since 1983. He will continue to be available as needed to assist with the transition process, which will include providing leadership for LMPC’s major training events, until…

Early registration deadline nears for Mediation Skills Training Institute

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center is holding a five-day Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders Aug. 5-9 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. Participants will acquire 32 contact hours that they can apply towards continuing education credits. To register for this interdenominational training event, fill out and submit the registration form on…

Discount extended for Mediation Skills Institute

Utica United Methodist Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan, will host a Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders May 13-17. This training will be led by staff from the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center. The deadline to register for this training and still receive a $200 registration fee discount has been extended until tomorrow, April 26. For more information, see the…

LMPC offers Mediation Skills Training

Utica United Methodist Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan, will host a Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders May 13-17, 2019. This training is led by staff from the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center. Acquire contact hours for Continuing Education credits, enjoy fellowship with like-minded church leaders, and rejuvenate your ministry, all at the same time! Register by April 12 to…

Register now for Healthy Congregations Workshop

Berlin Mennonite Church will host a Healthy Congregations Workshop April 4-5. Workshop participants will learn how they can influence the health of their congregations, and how to detect and avoid unhealthy patterns of living together in community. Time is running out to receive the best registration price for this workshop. The registration fee includes a course manual and lunch. The…

Healthy Congregations Workshop

Berlin Mennonite Church will host a Healthy Congregations Workshop April 5-6. Bill Blank, associate director of the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, will lead the workshop. This workshop is designed for pastors, church staff, lay leaders and congregation members. Participants will learn how they can influence the health of their congregations, and how to detect and avoid unhealthy patterns of living…

Mediation training to be held in Michigan

Peace center to offer one-day seminar

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center will hold a one-day seminar, “Leadership and Anxiety in the Church,” on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at First Mennonite Church in Richmond, Virginia. We live in an age of increased anxiety, which impacts church systems and leaders. Family systems theory offers a way of understanding congregational dynamics and anxiety. Please see the registration form for more details.

Mediation training to be offered

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center will be offering its Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders March 12-16 in Columbia, South Carolina. To receive the discounted registration rate, register by Feb. 9. See http://bit.ly/2018MediationTraining for details.

Peace center offers conflict transformation training

You are invited to attend the one-day workshop Conflict Transformation Skills for Churches on Oct. 21 in Indianapolis, Ind. This workshop will focus on the biblical basis for conflict transformation, styles of responding to conflict, communication skills necessary to resolve conflict peacefully, strategies to prevent destructive conflict in churches, and a model for working at congregational decision-making in a win-win…