Key Elements that Make Team Work
Teamwork makes the dream work!! This was the slogan on a t-shirt I owned and I made a joke about trying to sneak the expression into a staff meeting as many times as possible while wearing the shirt. By the third time, people were catching on so much that it started showing up in announcements […]
The Gifts and Skills Required to Lead Team
I won’t bore you with the arguments of why we should lead in team, from the trinity to Adam and Eve, Moses and the Israelites, David and his mighty men, Jesus and the apostles and Paul’s missionary teams…….you should be getting the point by now! You might agree it’s a good idea, you might even […]
Grievance Procedure Paper
Process for Dealing with *Grievances Against Leaders (and other figures of authority within YWAM) *Grievance – an official statement of complaint over something believed to be wrong, unjust or unfair. Begin with the concise overview, and for a more detailed explanation, click on each link provided or go directly to the full version from page 4. This document is mainly dealing with situations and conflicts where there is no evidence of criminal offence or activity. Where there is suspicion of serious criminal offence, we are obligated to contact the police. OVERVIEW STEPS TO TAKE IN DEALING WITH GRIEVANCES AGAINST LEADERS CONTEXT STEP 1 When someone has a grievance against another person, they should go and share their concern as Matthew 18 encourages. If your concerns are not heard, Matthew 18 advises taking a friend with you as a follow-up to help in the dialogue. This may be difficult because of differences in position and influence, but it should be attempted to keep the issue and situation as low key and relational as possible. We expect that most cases will be resolved here in step 1 and kept in the local situation. STEP 2 If a resolution hasn’t been successful in step 1, a simple mediation process is encouraged with an impartial mediator bringing together the two parties. The mediator or mediators should be people who are agreed upon by both sides, and could be elders, not necessarily in line leadership, who have some understanding of mediation. This will enable both parties to share 1 Version 21.02.24 European Field Circle Team working group. Revised as needed. their perspectives and seek to bring understanding and reconciliation. Guidelines for ongoing relationship, as well as learning and leadership development may be needed going forward. INVESTIGATION PROCESS STEP 3 In complex situations, a point person should be brought into the dialogue to ensure the process moves forward in a timely manner. The point person is someone who has been appointed by the base, nation, Area or Field to handle serious conflict or grievance issues. They should have a working knowledge of relevant national laws, as well as the formal steps to take. The point person should draw together a process team to decide on the next steps and to determine if there have been other similar complaints from more staff or leaders. STEP 4 The process team identifies and determines the severity of the complaints. STEP 5 If evidence emerges of serious suspected abuse in the full investigation process, formal steps must be taken and appropriate experts and authorities involved. An independent non-YWAM agency may also be consulted. We are subject to the laws of each individual country, and the process team should respond appropriately to all criminal activity. DECISION PROCESS STEP 6 The process team with reports now available, have three possible courses of action: 1. The ideal would be both sides meeting again with two people from the process team and the mediator(s). The purpose of this is to bring clarity of the facts, highlight misunderstandings, identify wrong- ‘attitudes, behaviour and communication’, encourage apologies, repentance where there is wrongdoing and reconciliation of relationships. 2. In cases of serious evidence of abuse (physical, verbal, sexual, coercive, spiritual), a complainant should not be forced to meet with an alleged abuser. Although Matthew […]
Principles of Conflict Mediation
How can you help friends, co-workers or family resolve their conflicts and disagreements? The stress and pain involved can become so strong that people cannot bring resolution on their own. They may have tried to go to the person directly themselves, (as Matthew 18:15 exhorts us in cases of one person sinning or doing wrong […]
Loving the Stranger – A Stranger Love
How can you love someone that you don’t even know? In many ways I find the idea of “loving the stranger” a rather bizarre concept. In other words, love precedes knowledge. Of course, love at first sight does happen, however normally knowledge and understanding precedes. The stranger must first be known, and cease being a stranger, […]
Reaching your neighbors and strangers on your doorstep in Europe
As soon as the conversation turns about the refugees, the tension increases. We Christians are not spared from such tensions. In the following article, I would like to give first a brief analysis and categorization of current developments (mostly out of Germany, the country I work currently). In a second part, I will then try […]
How to Make a Success of 2024
Back when I was a teenager in high school, I had a teacher who used to say, “If you aim at nothing you will probably get nothing.” He happened to be a believer and so he applied this philosophy to his spiritual growth, as well as to other areas of his life and work. That simple statement […]
Three Steps to Becoming Leaders of Integrity
Leadership has many pitfalls. One of the most common is disillusion and cynicism fed by a lack of integrity in leaders. As humans, we are attracted to follow leaders who exude confidence and charisma, are great communicators with clear vision, and appear to have resources, connections, and power. If I feel seen and known by […]
Leadership with Humor
I was getting on an airplane with Loren and Floyd McClung. Loren went through the door way first. He stepped inside and said to the hostess, “Hi, I’m medium.” Then he let Floyd (6’6) in and said to the hostess, “and this is large.” And then he let me in and said, “and this is […]
Lessons from Loren’s Life on Finishing Well
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our […]