What is mediation? Mediation is a facilitated process for dealing with interpersonal conflicts. It is conciliatory rather than adversarial in nature. Mediation is based on trust and encourages honest open communication and collaboration to reach an outcome which as far as possible meets the needs of both parties. Mediation involves a structured process of listening, offering and receiving apologies and forgiveness for hurts, clarifying the key issues, exploring the issues as thoroughly as possible, and reaching agreement on an outcome or a way forward. The progress is usually recorded in a documented agreement which both parties are asked to sign as an indication of trust and goodwill. The mediators are usually trained for this ministry. Participants often bring a support person along with them.
Mediation is a contemporary process which essentially meets the criteria for the second stage of a Matthew 18 process.
Following are some outlines and documents which can be used in mediation.
1. A handout to give to people prior to mediation
2. A simple outline of the process which can be given out