If church is like a family, it fights like one too! As in any family, conflict in the church family is natural and inevitable. But the way the church family handles its fights can make or break ministry. By using stories and examples of real problems at actual churches, Cosgrove and Hatfield have applied family-systems theory to help us identify the hidden structural boundaries in any group relationship. They show how the dynamics and 'family rules' operating in the informal family-like church system powerfully influence how church members relate to each other.

Charles H. Cosgrove is Associate Professor of New Testament at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary and lives in Brookfield, Illinois. He is the author of The Cross and the Spirit, and the editor of Faith and History.