The Mediation Process
Pre-mediation – If parties are represented by attorneys, the mediator typically contacts the attorneys prior to the mediation to prepare everyone for the mediation. In Christian Mediation [below] the mediator may work separately with each disputing party to prepare them for the mediation. Click here to see the typical agenda for our pre-mediation conference call with attorneys.

Scheduling the Mediation – The date and site are agreed upon mutually by the parties, their representatives, and the mediator. The parties will also agree ahead of time regarding who will be present at the mediation.

There are usually six steps to the mediation process:

• Mediator opening statement to everyone involved in the mediation.
• Parties' opening statements: Each disputant, and their attorney, provides an overview of the dispute from their perspective.
• List of issues that need to be resolved in the mediation.
• Joint session: Mediator facilitates discussion of issues among all participants.
• Private sessions ("caucus") where mediator meets separately with each side.
• Written agreement detailing parties' resolution.

Christian Mediation
When professing Christians are caught in a conflict, the Bible says they should try first to resolve their dispute between themselves (Matthew 18:15). When that is unsuccessful, another option is for them to try Christian mediation.

Mediation offers you an opportunity to meet together with a concerned Christian to identify and deal with the differences that divide you, in a manner that is pleasing to God. The mediator can help you apply biblical principles to improve your relationship with God and with each other. The mediator is not a counselor; mediation is not a substitute for therapy. The mediator is not a judge, and cannot tell you what to do. The mediator, even if s/he is a lawyer, will not provide you with legal advice. Instead, the mediator assists you in reaching agreements, as well as in reconciling relationships, to whatever degree is appropriate.

Christian mediation incorporates biblical principles into the mediation process. Sessions typically open with prayer. Parties are asked to complete “homework” before and during the mediation process, such as studying assigned Bible passages, or reading portions of The Peacemaker, by Ken Sande, or Path of a Peacemaker by Brian Noble. Throughout the mediation process, parties are invited to consider how they can glorify God even in the midst of their conflict, by applying His principles to their lives and to the dispute at hand. The result can be life-changing. Participants in Christian mediation usually deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, and their appreciation for Scripture, and are often able to discover sin in their own lives that has contributed to the conflict, confess their sin to the other party and receive forgiveness, forgive the other party for their confessed sin, and reconcile their relationship, as well as resolve the substantive issues at hand.

I conduct Christian mediations in accordance with the principles and procedures of the Institute for Christian Conciliation, formerly a division of Peacemaker Ministries, including its Rules of Procedure for Christian Conciliation. As a Certified Christian Conciliator, I have pledged to conduct myself according to the Standard of Conduct for Christian Conciliators. Anyone who has a concern about my conduct, that they do not believe they can bring directly to me (Matthew 18:15), should contact the ICC. 
For more information on Christian mediation, please read my article, "Creative Uses of Mediation," by clicking here: Christian mediation, .
To hear me describe Christian mediation, listen to the interview I did with my friend and colleague Zena Zumeta for BlogTalkRadio in February 2015.

Types of Cases Mediated
Here are some of the types of disputes that I have mediated:

• Employment: employee/employer, disputes between employees, civil rights claims
• Partnerships: dissolution, re-structuring, family businesses
• Estates: disputes among siblings, or between step-parent and step-children
• Business contracts: construction, sales, services
• Property disputes: commercial and residential
• Domestic relations: divorce, custody disputes, child support
• Family: parent/teen, guardianship, inter-generational conflict
• Congregational conflict: pastor/board, church staff
• Victim-offender: embezzlement, shoplifting

My clients have included small and large businesses, churches, academic institutions, non-profit organizations and individuals.