Conflict and relationships - how do you respond?

Does unity mean no conflict? Being in Christian community means navigating a range of different relationships – and all the highs and lows that come with this. This workshop will explore the idea that when unity is misunderstood to mean a togetherness characterised by thinking the same and being comfortable in relationships, that our tolerance for difference and conflict is reduced. We will consider what is predictable and sometimes even helpful about conflict in relationships, as well as observing the way tension can be contagious and spill out in the triangling that can follow in relationships. We will think about how such observations can raise important questions about seeing our own relationship habits, and how we can see these as opportunities to grow in our own emotional and spiritual maturity. 

Lauren Errington is the Executive Director of the Family Systems Institute, and an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and Clinical Family Therapist and Supervisor in private practice at the Family Systems Practice. She is particularly interested in Bowen Family Systems Theory and how it helps describe the challenges we face in life’s relationships – whether it be in our own families, workplaces or churches. Lauren attends Newtown & Erskineville Anglican Church where her husband is the minister, and loves cold weather, the outdoors, and birds.