Press Release

To: Newsdesk From: Christine Doyle

Date: 26th February 2013 Tel: 024 7652 1226/07769 738180

Conference will help the Church tackle conflict

Delegates from Christian churches all over England, and beyond, will gather at Coventry Cathedral for the next three days to explore how conflict is handled across the church.

Over 200 delegates are gathering in the city to share ideas and best practice in terms of handling conflict whether it be over national issues or local tensions and power struggles.

The ‘Faith in Conflict’ conference will be held from today until Thursday in Coventry Cathedral, itself an iconic symbol of reconciliation. Keynote speakers will be Revd Dr Sam Wells, current incumbent at St Martin-in-the-Fields, whose work often focuses on bringing people together in the context of fear and faith, and Revd Dr Jo Bailey Wells, who currently works advising the Continuing Indaba process within the Anglican Communion.

Canon Director David Porter, Canon for Peace and Reconciliation and, last week confirmed as the ’s Director for Reconciliation, says “The Church is not called to avoid conflict but to face it faithfully and to turn it towards God’s purposes of healing and forgiveness. I’m delighted that Faith in Conflict is taking place in Coventry, a city inspired by the Christian vision of transformation of conflict through reconciliation and the refusal to allow destructive forces to have the last word.”

The Most Reverend , Archbishop of Canterbury was part of the planning group for this conference for the past few years and will be in Coventry to lead the final session. The conference has been organised by a group of professionals looking to assist the church. The group includes top commercial and community mediators, and is supported by Bridge Builders, the country’s leading provider of training for church leaders in handling conflict, Peaceworks, the leading mediation, reconciliation and training agency on the South Coast, as well as the Reconciliation Ministry Team at Coventry Cathedral, which has many years’ experience in serving groups working through conflict.

The Cathedral will be closed to the public during the conference and will reopen on Friday 1st March. Summaries and recordings of some of the plenary sessions will be uploaded to www.coventrycathedral.org.uk.

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS For further information contact Canon David Porter, Canon Director for Reconciliation Ministry, Coventry Cathedral on 0795 442 6134

The planning group for the conference involves: Andrew Acland (mediator, facilitator & trainer), William Fittall (Secretary General of the General Synod and Archbishops’ Council), Anthony Hannay (CEDR accredited mediator and retired solicitor), Bill Marsh (mediator, and director of Conflict Management International), Alastair McKay (executive director of Bridge Builders), David Porter (Canon Director for Reconciliation Ministry, Coventry Cathedral), Ruth Scott (priest, writer, broadcaster & mediator), Chris Seaton (director of Peaceworks), David Richbell (mediator & trainer of mediators), Stephen Ruttle (QC, mediator and director of a community mediation charity), Justin Welby (Bishop of Durham), David Williams (Coventry Cathedral’s co-ordinator for Faith in Conflict), and Jo Williams (Baptist minister with a conflict transformation portfolio.)

Coventry was chosen for the event because the Coventry Cross of Nails is recognised around the world as a symbol of peace and reconciliation. Formed with three medieval nails from the destroyed St Michael’s Cathedral, it embodied its ministry of hope and friendship with Germany in the years after 1945. With the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral in 1962, the Cross of Nails, the original now embedded in the high altar cross, became the focal point of a growing ministry of reconciliation.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury was previously Canon and Co- Director for Reconciliation Ministry at Coventry Cathedral, responsible for overseeing the work of the Community of the Cross of Nails.