Small Wars
Hope for messed up churches (and everyone in them)!

Small Wars is a training program for Peacemakers working with faith community conflict. Small Wars was commissioned by the Association for Conflict Resolution and is a non-sectarian approach to faith community conflict interventions.
 
Internal conflict destroys more congregations than war.

Small Wars - Restoring Peace in Conflicted Faith Communities.

Small Wars was developed at the request of the Association for Conflict Resolution to meet a need for trained Peacemakers to work with conflicts in faith communities. Small Wars is a 16-hour, two-day intensive workshop designed to give conflict resolution practitioners an advanced set of skills to enable them to work effectively as Peacemakers with groups of 20 to 200 and up. The techniques and processes have been thoroughly field tested.


Small Wars is trans-disciplinary, drawing from drawing from multiple disciplines and theoretical models. All of these are brought together into a seamless, practical and effective process that is far more than the sum of its parts in its power to break the chains of irreconcilable differences and bring former combatants back into meaningful relationships.


The workshop itself is highly interactive, utilizing the experience of the participants, story, guided practice, videos, and simulations. The participants go through the process (The Crucible) while they are learning to apply it, making the experience intense and personal. Each participant receives a 100+ page detailed manual for later use.


I developed Small Wars as the culmination of my more than four decades of experience in mediating conflicts within a wide variety of organizations and specializing in faith community conflicts since 1998. I have mediated everything from multi-million-dollar litigated cases to divorces and presented workshops at national conferences of the American Bar Association, Association for Conflict Resolution, and the American Association of Christian Counselors. My work in forgiveness and reconciliation practice and theory has been quoted in law texts, peer-reviewed journals here and in Europe, conflict management texts, law reviews, and other publications around the world. I am also the author of the award-winning book, The Road Home: A Guided Journey to Church Forgiveness and Reconciliation (Cascade Books, 2013) and co-au8thor of the groundbreaking book, Let Us Prey: The Plague of Narcissist Pastors and What We Can Do About It. 


Small Wars was originally developed as a training program for the Association for Conflict Resolution and is now available to train Peacemakers in your area! We are seeking co-sponsors throughout The United States and Canada for Small Wars workshops. If you are interested in bringing this unique opportunity to mediators, religious leaders, and all others affected by the phenomenon of conflict in faith communities, please contact Darrell Puls at Darrell@darrellpuls.com or Darrell@conflicttopeace.com.


Target Audience: Mediators and non-mediators who desire to work with conflicts within faith communities across the belief spectrum. This includes mediators, counselors, therapists, ministers, faith community members and leaders, and so on.


Workbook – Each participant receives a detailed, sequential 104-page workbook for the workshop and future reference. It includes narrative, checklists, various charts, and an extensive reference list. Its title is SMALL WARS: A Guide to Resolving Faith Community Conflicts. Its purpose is to restore hope and harmony where it most belongs – in Faith Communities.


Experience Requirements: While being trained in mediation is a huge help, it is not mandatory as the methods described and practiced here, except for questioning strategies, are not methods generally used in interpersonal mediations. They are easily learned by anyone.


Length: 14 hours (two full days).


Content: Explores the psychology of group conflict as expressed through actions, conflict escalation modeling, and the human effects of prolonged congregational conflict.  Covers specific techniques of information gathering, pattern analysis, and application of findings. Takes the participants through a simulated intervention process with a primary focus on the personal effects of the conflict and their desire for healing and reconciliation as a whole faith community again. 


Methodology: Highly interactive and uses the participant’s experiences and knowledge to create strategies for their own faith communities. I use some PowerPoint (no “death by PowerPoint”), videos, and real-life scenarios throughout. The goal is to give them new tools as well as new ways to use the knowledge they already have.


Ideal number of participants: 20-40, but it could be more. 


Participant Cost: Set by the sponsoring organizations. 


Workbook – Each participant receives a detailed, sequential 104-page workbook for the workshop and future reference. It includes narrative, checklists, various charts, and an extensive reference list. Its title is: SMALL WARS: A guide to resolving conflicts in houses of worship from initial contact through forgiveness and reconciliation. The stated purpose is: To restore hope and harmony where it most belongs – in Houses of Worship. The List of Contents is attached.
Experience Requirements: While being trained in mediation is a huge help, it is not mandatory as the methods described and practiced here, except for questioning strategies, are not methods generally used in interpersonal mediations. They are easily learned by anyone.
Length: 6-7 hours (one full day).
Content: Explores the psychology of group conflict as expressed through actions, a conflict escalation model, and the human effects of prolonged congregational conflict.  Covers specific techniques of information gathering, pattern analysis, and application of findings. Takes the participants through a settlement negotiation process, but focuses more on the effects of the conflict and their desire to be a whole faith community again than it does on the “identified patient” of specific issues. It then provides a clear, sequential process for guiding the entire congregation through the settlement, peace, and reconciliation process.
Background information: This workshop and everything in it is the result of my extensive training and 40 years’ experience, and of deconstructing hundreds of clinical studies on conflict psychology, forgiveness, revenge, and reconciliation; texts and articles on conflict management, group psychology, game theory, and best practices in facilitation. NOTE: This model has been thoroughly field-tested and is vetted by recognized experts in the field.
Methodology: Highly interactive and uses the participant’s experiences and knowledge to create strategies for their own faith communities. I use some PowerPoint (no “death by PowerPoint”), videos, and real-life scenarios throughout. The goal is to give them new tools as well as new ways to use the knowledge they already have.
Ideal number of participants: 40, but it could be more. I recently had 350 in Nashville, TN.
Participant Cost: I suggest at least $100 per person. 


Target Audience: Mediators and non-mediators who desire to work with conflicts within faith communities across the belief spectrum. This includes mediators, counselors, therapists, ministers, faith community members and leaders, and so on.
Workbook – Each participant receives a detailed, sequential 104-page workbook for the workshop and future reference. It includes narrative, checklists, various charts, and an extensive reference list. Its title is: SMALL WARS: A guide to resolving conflicts in houses of worship from initial contact through forgiveness and reconciliation. The stated purpose is: To restore hope and harmony where it most belongs – in Houses of Worship. The List of Contents is attached.
Experience Requirements: While being trained in mediation is a huge help, it is not mandatory as the methods described and practiced here, except for questioning strategies, are not methods generally used in interpersonal mediations. They are easily learned by anyone.
Length: 6-7 hours (one full day).
Content: Explores the psychology of group conflict as expressed through actions, a conflict escalation model, and the human effects of prolonged congregational conflict.  Covers specific techniques of information gathering, pattern analysis, and application of findings. Takes the participants through a settlement negotiation process, but focuses more on the effects of the conflict and their desire to be a whole faith community again than it does on the “identified patient” of specific issues. It then provides a clear, sequential process for guiding the entire congregation through the settlement, peace, and reconciliation process.
Background information: This workshop and everything in it is the result of my extensive training and 40 years’ experience, and of deconstructing hundreds of clinical studies on conflict psychology, forgiveness, revenge, and reconciliation; texts and articles on conflict management, group psychology, game theory, and best practices in facilitation. NOTE: This model has been thoroughly field-tested and is vetted by recognized experts in the field.
Methodology: Highly interactive and uses the participant’s experiences and knowledge to create strategies for their own faith communities. I use some PowerPoint (no “death by PowerPoint”), videos, and real-life scenarios throughout. The goal is to give them new tools as well as new ways to use the knowledge they already have.
Ideal number of participants: 40, but it could be more. I recently had 350 in Nashville, TN.
Participant Cost: I suggest at least $100 per person.