The Reconciliation Institute is headquartered at Christ the King Episcopal Church, Santa Barbara, California, and is sponsored by that church and the Institute for Freedom and Democracy in Washington, DC. It is headed by The Reverend F. Brian Cox, IV, Rector of that church, and has a number of parishioners and other persons as officers and staff .
The Reconciliation Institute runs seminars teaching the importance of reconciliation and the actual conduct of reconciliation negotiations between estranged groups.
The Reconciliation Institute also facilitates reconciliation negotiations between estranged parties of various types, and its staff have done so in the Czech Republic, between Croats and Serbs, and between opposing tribes in Rwanda and Burundi. Closer to home, the Institute has facilitated reconciliation negotiations in the Santa Barbara community on local political topics.
Christ the King Church itself is engaged in reconciliation relationships with a Jewish congregation and an African-American congregation in Santa Barbara.
The Institute periodically conducts the Reconciliation Institute Basic Seminar, the outline of which is described below.
The Reconciliation Institute Basic Seminar is a three-day experience that seeks to impart a vision of reconciliation through the person of Jesus Christ to the leaders and people of a community or nation.
The Reconciliation Institute Basic Seminar has a five-fold purpose:
1.To impart a vision of reconciliation in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ so that it takes root in the heart. (inspirational)
2.To teach the principles and practice of reconciliation so that it provides an overview of the "big picture" and its component parts. (educational)
3.To facilitate the experience of reconciliation so that hearts and relationships are changed. (transformational)
4.To raise up instruments of reconciliation so that they make a difference within their own spheres of influence. (motivational)
5.To build networks of those committed to the task of reconciliation so that friendship and encouragement can be found around a common task. (relational)
The Reconciliation Institute Basic Seminar was designed and developed between 1992 and 1996 by The Reverend Brian Cox, Rector of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, California. The principles taught during the course of this seminar grew out of his experience fostering reconciliation in his own local community of Santa Barbara and in East Central Europe amongst political and religious leaders.
The seminar contains several unique features:
The seminar consists of a series of fourteen presentations given by members of the presenting team on different aspects of reconciliation. Each participant receives a teaching manual that includes outlines of the presentations together with supplementary materials.
The seminar includes small group participation that provides the opportunity for discussion, personal interaction or other activities after each presentation. During the seminar close relationships are formed through the community building process.
The seminar teaches the participants certain principles and skills related to the various facets of reconciliation. It provides the opportunity to apply these principles and skills in the small groups.
The seminar provides concrete spiritual opportunities to respond and appropriate God's great offer of reconciliation with God, self and others and to become an instrument of reconciliation.
For more information, contact:
The Rev. F. Brian Cox, IV
Christ the King Episcopal Church
5073 Hollister Avenue
P.O. Box 6188
Santa Barbara, CA 93160
phone (805)-964-9966
fax (805)-964-1406
email: BrianCox@rain.org
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