Episode description

In this episode, I asked Dad what I thought would be a juicy question: Tell me some stories about how you handled conflict and criticism during your 22 ½ years with the Steele Avenue Church of Christ. To my surprise, Dad had very little to say about those things.

Did he block those stories out of his memory or forget about them because of his chemo treatments? No. As it turns out, conflict and criticism just did not happen much at the Steele Avenue Church of Christ in the 1980s and 1990s. When they did, they got settled and sorted out quickly and with very little fuss. Dad couldn’t take any credit for this because he said he had very little to do with handling conflict or criticism when they did arise. He credits the elders of the church for creating a culture, modeling behavior, and taking a firm but gentle lead when situations called for it. More than that, though, Dad said that church members themselves--even the ones who started conflicts--valued being together much more than they valued winning arguments against each other. For that reason, the Steele Avenue Church of Christ doubled in size and thrived during a period when most Church of Christ congregations were shrinking and struggling.

What lessons can church leaders and members today learn from that congregation's culture 30 - 40 years ago?

If you'd like to keep up with Dad's cancer treatments and health, please visit https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/travisirwin2.