A woman in Brighton MI has settled a dispute with her church regarding breast-feeding at church. I wrote about this shortly after the incident occurred last year, hoping the parties would resolve this by acknowledging one another’s interests, in accordance with Philippians 2:3-4. Instead, it sounds like they resolved it the typical American way, by filing a lawsuit and settling for money.

The mother/plaintiff wasn’t looking for money; the news article says she donated it to non-profits that support breast-feeding. It sounds like the church finally offered an apology that the mother accepted, in contrast with the church’s initial apology last year, which apparently only further upset the mother. She said she didn’t want to sue, and “everything changed” when they agreed on an apology.

It’s sad that this woman believed her only option was to hire a lawyer and sue her church. Instead of contradicting I Corinthians 6:1-7 (“How dare you sue one another?”), she and the church could have looked to one of several biblical peacemaking ministries to assist them, such as Peacemaker Ministries, ICC Peace, or Ambassadors of Reconciliation. These organizations have trained Christian mediators in Michigan (including me) who would’ve been happy to help.