Managing Conflict Creatively: A Guide for Missionaries and Christian Workers

by Donald C. Palmer

Publisher:

William Carey Publishing

, 2020

Overview

What does the Bible say about conflict resolution? 

Nobody likes conflict, especially when both parties are “part of the same team.” Unresolved conflict can lead to missionary attrition, but healthy conflict-resolution can be a wonderful growth opportunity, leading to problem-solving and team-building.

In Managing Conflict Creatively, Dr. Palmer first introduces the dynamics of conflict and the common styles of conflict management. After providing a Biblical background, he then identifies types of conflict and how to develop conflict management skills, specifically in cross-cultural situations. Lose your fear of conflict as you walk through case studies, engage in discussion questions, and learn to:

• Identify the stages of conflict and steps of healthy problem solving
• Encourage healthy conflict resolution in its early stages
• Identify your personal conflict style and the characteristics of an effective moderator
• Overreact less amid conflict
• Consciously choose a conflict-resolution style tailored to each situation
• Disagree well and resolve conflicts and misunderstandings without harming your witness
• Manage conflict in positive ways that foster growth and collaboration

This manual is intended to serve as a teaching tool and a study guide for cross-cultural conflict management courses in Bible colleges, mission organizations, and churches. Thirty years after its original publication, this practical, Bible-centered approach to the dynamics of conflict and conflict management in cross-cultural situations remains relevant, both abroad and in today’s hybrid cities.

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Contents

Foreword

Author’s Preface

Publisher’s Preface

Section I: The Dynamics of Conflict

Definition of Conflict

The Inevitability of Conflict

The Underlying Causes of Conflict

The Issues Involved in Conflict

The Four Types of Conflict

The Potential in Conflict

Conclusion

Section II: Styles of Conflict Management

The Five Styles of Conflict Management

Important Principles Regarding Styles

Conclusion

Section III: The Bible and Conflict

Types of Conflict in the Bible

Seven Biblical Passages on Conflict

Conclusion

Section IV: Development of Conflict Management Skills

Learn the Stages in the Conflict Cycle

Manage Conflict in Its First Stages

Develop an Effective Conflict Management Strategy

The Qualities and Role of a Referee

Case Study #1

Section V: Cross-Cultural Factors

Styles of Leadership

The Negotiation Process

Time Orientation

Direct Versus Indirect Approach

Decision-Making Process

Planning

Ten Recommendations

Case Study #2

Case Study #3

References

Praise for Managing Conflict Creatively (30th Anniversary Edition)

Palmer’s book evidences abundant understandings of cross-cultural conflict problems. No neophyte in missions, the author has mastered conflict management literature and subjected it to the realities of the extensive personal struggles existing both at home and overseas. This is a rich compendium of Biblical guidelines, styles of conflict management and their development, and the emergent crosscultural factors that create a unique ethos in each content.

-Warren S. Benson, PhD, Former vice president of Professional Doctoral Programs and former professor of Christian Education, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Product Details

• Title: Managing Conflict Creatively: A Guide for Missionaries and Christian Workers
• Author: Donald C. Palmer
• Publisher: William Carey Publishing
• Print Publication Date: 2020
• Logos Release Date: 2023
• Pages: 126
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781645083474, 9781645083443, 1645083446, 1645083470
• Resource ID: LLS:9781645083474
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-05-21T03:17:35Z

About the Author

Donald C. Palmer served with Avant (previously called Gospel Missionary Union) for thirteen years as a missionary and a successful multi-generation church planter in Columbia. He also served on the GMU administrative staff for twenty-one years and as the general director for InFaith. He contributed to several publications and authored Explosion of People Evangelism.