To put it another way, relational wisdom (RW) is a six-part theological system that combines the gospel, the wisdom-principles of God’s Word and our God-given capacity for “emotional intelligence” into a discipleship paradigm for building and preserving Christ-like relationships. Each of the following disciplines fits within this paradigm (dig deeper here).

To learn how you can improve your ability to integrate these skills, see Pre-Conference Integration Training.

One of the most exciting things about this conference is that “we’re putting the band back together.” No, this doesn’t mean we’re making a new version of The Blues Brothers. It means that we’ve invited outstanding trainers and long-time friends from a variety of highly respected ministries to participate in our workshops, plenary sessions and advanced training.

At this point, our roster includes Claude Allen, Bruce Burgess, Paul Cornwell, Patti Damiani, Jeff Forrey, David Kelly, Ted Kober, Kristen Maloney, David Mason, David Mikulsky, Brian Noble, Allison Pickering, Dennis Reiter, Corlette and Ken Sande, Rick Stein, Daniel Teater and Chip Zimmer.

We thank God for the outstanding wisdom and experience that these trainers will bring to our conference, and we rejoice in the fact that we are “of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Phil. 2:2) to exalt Christ and strengthen his church through the ministry of gospel-based peacemaking.

Once the roster and topics have been finalized, we will publish detailed speaker bios and workshop descriptions.

RW360’s new conciliator training and certification program will provide a unique combination of training and application features.

First, this program will use the “4 G’s” paradigm (as set forth in Ken Sande’s book, The Peacemaker) as the primary organizing structure for the conciliation process.

Second, this program will incorporate the relational wisdom (RW) paradigm, which is a God-centered, biblically-based and gospel-driven form of “emotional intelligence.” In addition to enhancing conflict coaching and mediation skills, RW principles may be taught and applied through “RW skills coaching” (similar to life coaching) before conflict arises or after a conciliation process to help individuals accelerate the development of key relational skills and reduce the frequency of conflict in the future.

RW skills coaching has the additional benefit of giving conciliators the opportunity to stay proficient in applying relational principles even if they do not have frequent conflict coaching or mediation cases.

Finally, since our relational wisdom resources are available in both faith-based and values-based (secular) paradigms that have been approved for continuing education credit in a variety of professions, Certified RW Conciliators will have opportunities to use their skills not only in churches and ministries but also in secular businesses, schools and other non-Christian settings, which can raise their community visibility and create more opportunities for teaching and conciliating.

In the light of these benefits, RW360 believes it can make a valuable contribution to the field of biblical peacemaking and Christian conciliation by developing a new generation of training resources that fully integrate the principles of relational wisdom, “4 G’s” peacemaking, RW skills coaching, conflict coaching and mediation.

RW360 sees great value in each of our sister ministries’ training programs, which is why we affirm their ministries and have invited many of their senior trainers to teach at this conference.

Furthermore, because RW360’s new integrated conciliator training program is based on the same 4 G’s paradigm that served as the foundation for the conciliator training and certification program developed by Peacemaker Ministries during Ken Sande’s tenure as president, RW360 will grant full credit for the courses and experience completed through Peacemaker Ministries’ conciliator training and certification program.

If you have completed Peacemaker Ministries’ entire conciliator training and certification program and were approved as a Certified Christian Conciliator, you will be exempt from completing RW360’s standard coaching and mediation courses and practicums (saving approximately $1,500). To be approved as a Certified RW Conciliator™, however, you will be required to:

• Complete RW360’s Discovering Relational Wisdom 3.0 online course ($49, 8-10 hours) and Relational Peacemaking online course ($49, 8-10 hours, scheduled for release in April, 2021).
• Complete 6 hours of practical integration training that focuses on integrating relational wisdom, biblical peacemaking and Christian conciliation (to be offered online for $200 or live at our 2021 Annual Conference for $150).
• Acquire 14 hours of practical conciliation experience in which you integrate and apply the principles of relational wisdom, peacemaking and Christian conciliation (to be reviewed by an RW360 Conciliation Mentor for $100).
• Maintain your conciliation skills by acquiring 10 hours of approved continuing education (available online or at RW360’s annual conference) and 24 hours of practical conciliation experience (including at least one mediation case) annually.
• Commit to following RW360’s Conciliator Grievance Policy to resolve complaints based on possible deviations from the Standard of Conduct for Christian Conciliators.

If you have completed some but not all of the conciliator training provided by Peacemaker Ministries’ or any similar training provided by one of our other sister ministries, you may apply for exemption from corresponding segments of RW360’s Conciliator Training and Certification Program. These requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis depending on the extent of your previous training and experience.

If you do not expect to meet the annual experience requirements needed to maintain certification as a Certified RW Conciliator, we encourage you to use your teaching, coaching and conciliation gifts as a volunteer on a Peace Sower Team™ in your church or organization, or as a  Certified RW Instructor™ or Certified RW Coach™ (more details here).

For further information on any of RW360’s training and certification programs, or on our 2021 Annual Conference in general, please email our Director Training, Jeff Sande, at jeff@rw360.org.

The early bird registration fee for the main conference is $299 for an individual and $549 for a married couple. These prices are in effect until March 15th, at which time they will increase to $349 and $650. Prices will increase in similar amounts in May and June.

The early bird registration fee for the pre-conference training is $150 for an individual and $275 for a married couple. These prices are in effect until March 15th, at which time they will increase to $175 and $300. Prices will increase in similar amounts in May and June.

Current trends in Montana’s COVID guidelines for large gatherings indicate that we should be able to host a gathering of up to 400 people in September. If local authorities reinstate capacity limits and require us to reduce attendance prior to the event, however, we will begin notifying those who registered most recently and work backwards to earlier registrants. Impacted registrants may receive audio tapes of all conference presentations, request a full refund or convert their registration payment into a donation. With these possible limitations in mind, we encourage you to register early to secure your place at the conference, being reassured by the fact that conference registrations and hotel reservations may be cancelled for any reason up to two days before the conference.