The Conflict Management Ministry (CM Ministry) is an established mechanism for conflict management within UUCC. The CM Ministry is an outgrowth of the Group Relations Workshop Committee (GRW) recommendation to provide an organizational approach for conflict management within UUCC.
This CM Ministry will provide trained volunteer facilitators as independent, impartial, informal, and confidential resources to assist UUCC Members and Friends, when they request assistance, should a conflict arise in connection with UUCC or individuals within the community. These facilitators will work with those who request help to explore and aid in the resolution of individual and systemic issues that affect members of the UUCC community.
The use of the CM Ministry is completely voluntary and is not a required step in any UUCC process, or by any UUCC policy. Below you will find the CM Ministry Charter and Frequently Asked Questions.
To request facilitation assistance, contact ManagingConflictTogether@uucolumbia.net. Please include in your email: 1) your name, 2) preferred contact method — a) telephone number and whether we may leave a voicemail at this number, b) mobile phone number for message/text, or c) email address.
Charter
FAQs
Conflict Mangement Program + Process FAQs
The Covenant of Right Relations (CRR) and the Conflict Management Ministry (CMM) are two separate programs that share the overarching goal of preventing or resolving conflict.
The CRR effort is to to develop a set of promises to each other about how we will communicate and behave in ways that do not cause hurt or harm to each other, as well as appropriate ways to respond if harm occurs. On the other hand, the CMM effort is to provide assistance through facilitation by a neutral party for instances where there is active conflict.
The two approaches act as a continuum–first avoid behaviors that cause harmful conflict, and second, provide a mechanisms that can help to manage conflicts if they do arise.
You can initiate or engage with the CMM program/process regarding any type of disagreement or conflict. The UUCC CMM facilitator will listen to your situation and assist you in defining your desired outcome and developing strategies on how to move toward your desired outcome.
The first step is to email the CMM program/process designated telephone number or email. One of the UUCC CMM facilitators will respond and conduct an initial intake conversation to obtain some basic information. After the initial intake conversation, one of the UUCC CMM facilitators will reach out to you for a full conversation about your concern/disagreement/conflict.
The UUCC CMM facilitators are all UUCC members who have experience in facilitation and have attended training provided by UUCC.
The UUCC CMM program/process is strictly confidential. The Our CMM facilitators will hold all communications in strict confidence and take all reasonable steps to safeguard both anonymity and confidentiality. The only exception to such confidentiality is where the facilitator determines that there appears to be imminent risk of serious harm.
The UUCC CMM program/process is completely voluntary. If you initiate/engage with our CMM program/process and you do not want to continue for any reason, you can stop at any time.
The UUCC CMM program/process is designed to be handled in person based on our experience that communication is more effective in person. For those members who are not comfortable meeting in person, we can arrange meetings on Zoom as appropriate.
The UUCC CMM program/process is voluntary. If the other person/people with whom you have a disagreement or conflict do not want to participate, we cannot force them to do so. Try not to make assumptions about another person’s interest or willingness to engage in the our CMM program/process. The CMM facilitator who is working with you can assist you in reaching out to the other person about engaging in the program/process. And, even if the other person does not want to engage with the CMM program/process, the facilitator can help you think through the issues and develop strategies to address your concerns.
We have a team of UUCC CMM facilitators. We will do our best to pair you and the other person with a UUCC CMM facilitator with whom you both feel comfortable.
No. The UUCC CMM program/process is completely voluntary. If you have disagreement or conflict with another UUCC member or staff member, there is no obligation or requirement to use this process to address the disagreement or conflict. We urge all UUCC members to address your disagreements or conflicts so that they do not grow and develop into a larger disagreement or conflict.
No, the UUCC CMM program/process is not mediation. Many people use the terms mediation and facilitation interchangeably and there are similarities between the facilitation process used by the our CMM facilitators and mediation. Mediation is generally applied to situations where parties in conflict find a solution to a specific issue in dispute. Facilitation generally involves assisting people who are engaged in achieving a common goal or task and/or helping to preserve positive relations.