Conflicts come up and they are always aggravating, especially when they come up in the least expected places, like church. What do we do when challenged with conflict? Might we not turn to the place with the very best of ways to address conflict, the Bible? And what does it say? Well, have you even tried to count the “one another” phrases? I counted at least 29. There is love one another, confess your sins to one another, rebuke one another, weep with one another, care for one another, rejoice with one another, serve one another, as a start. If one were to take just love one another and serve one another, one might forestall just about every conflict. Does not “love one another” mean that the other person comes first, no matter what it might cost us? Does not “serve one another” mean that one puts the other person’s needs ahead of one’s own? Has not God already taken care of everything for ourselves and can then use us for the good of the other? And is not this what being empowered by the Holy Spirit is all about? May God richly fill us so that we may serve and love those in our church — especially — and those others God brings into our lives.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds (James 1:2).

Rev. Gary Piepkorn
Senior Pastoral Counselor

2023–2025 Group Development Committee
Julie Hatesohl,
Cinda Poppe,
Jennifer Gierke, Chairman
Arlene Naasz, Vice President of Organizational Resources