Foundations in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation

Hybrid For Clergy For Laity For UMC Clergy

The Foundations in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation (FCTR), facilitated by scholars and practitioners in the fields of conflict transformation and reconciliation from Duke University and other institutions, provides a timely learning opportunity for pastors and other church leaders seeking theological and practical skills to foster reconciliation in their congregations and surrounding communities.

"In the end, reconciliation is a spiritual process, which requires more than just a legal framework. It has to happen in the hearts and minds of people."

Through this 13-month non-degree certificate program, participants will cultivate theological foundations and spiritual practices to equip them for a ministry that fosters conflict transformation and reconciliation amid division. Participants will learn to use practical tools such as deep listening, conflict coaching, and restorative circles, and gain knowledge to increase their self-awareness about implicit bias and other dispositions that tend to create barriers between individuals and communities.

The FCTR offers a hybrid program to accommodate personal, pastoral, and professional obligations. Four in-person retreats and nine online re-imagination sessions over 13 months provide space for applying the Word Made Flesh contextual theology methodology, circle and other restorative processes, along with peer-mentoring and collaboration.

This program uses a cohort model through which participants discover the potential for conflict transformation and reconciliation as they journey in deeper spiritual growth and authentic group engagement. Dr. Nina Balmaceda and Leslie Gilbert lead the FCTR cohorts, in collaboration with guest expert instructors.

We are currently accepting applications for the May 2025 cohort.

Cultivate theological foundations and spiritual practices to equip yourself for a ministry that fosters conflict transformation and reconciliation amid division.

Participants in this certificate program will learn how to:

Communicate through authentic and transparent conversation on difficult issues
Host and reimagine covenants and liturgies that foster transformation and reconciliation in the church and the community
Apply the restorative approach to conflict transformation as distinct from conflict resolution
Navigate liminal spaces
Grow in deep listening
Engage in coaching others and facilitate restorative circles for conflict transformation

The FCTR is primarily designed to serve pastors and church leadership teams. Aspiring participants who are Methodist pastors church leadership from congregations in North Carolina to qualify for free tuition. Preference is given to teams over individual. Each team will be required to:

Attend four in-person retreats.
Attend at least eight of nine live 90-minute sessions on Zoom. The exact dates will be determined by cohort and program members.
Complete five short asynchronous assignments and exercises.

Pastors and other Christian leaders interested in participating, who are based outside of North Carolina or who are not Methodist, please contact Leslie Gilbert at lgilbert@div.duke.edu.

CFR will cover the tuition costs for pastors and church leaders of United Methodist congregations, African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal, Union American Methodist Episcopal and First African Union Methodist Protestant Churches in North Carolina. The program will provide meals and lodging for participants who have to travel more than two hours to attend the in-person retreats. The cost of transportation, parking, and some of the learning materials must be paid by the participants or their congregations.

Pastors and other Christian leaders interested in participating, who are based outside of North Carolina or who are not Methodist, please contact Leslie Gilbert at lgilbert@div.duke.edu.

Applications for the fourth cohort are open. Preference will be given to teams of two to three participants (clergy and church leaders) serving in the same congregation.

Our Staff

Dr. Vilma “Nina” Balmaceda

Program Director

Born and raised in Lima, Peru, Dr. Balmaceda is a scholar-practitioner whose work focuses on interdisciplinary education and civic leadership development for conflict transformation, justpeace and reconciliation. She is the associate director of the Center for Reconciliation and an administrative faculty at Duke Divinity School. Dr. Balmaceda also serves as president and CEO of Peace and Hope International (PHI), a faith-based peacebuilding nonprofit dedicated to preventing and confronting violence and other forms of injustice in Latin America. She is a former human rights lawyer, with a Ph.D. in political science and M.A. degrees in international peace studies, and government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame.

Leslie Gilbert

Program Coordinator

Les Gilbert was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio. He holds a bachelor's degree in organizational management. For over 30 years, while based in New York City and Fairfield County, CT., he has provided creative and technical leadership in a wide range of communications and marketing services for leading institutions around the world.

Contact Leslie Gilbert with any questions about the certificate.

"This has been transformative, and this is the work I’d like to pursue in the second half of my career. I’d like to study it further."
“I’m a reconciliation convert. We are so quick to try and resolve that people don’t really get to talk out what’s going on as the issue. We want to have the kumbaya moment. When you can stay in it a little longer, there’s healing. Don’t take the cast off too soon.”
“The sooner and the earlier in life people can have this experience, the better. Not only should it be in the seminaries, it needs to be part of church leadership, our conference. Any program that has leadership should have some module or something that deals with conflict, and it needs to be done in a hopeful and realistic way.”
“There’s never been a time that we needed this more. We need this in the workplace, our family, our country. We are beyond an inflection point. If we don’t have programs like this, it’s kind of scary to think about in terms of consequences.”

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