Antagonists in the Church: How to Identify and Deal with Destructive Conflict

“This book really opened my eyes! It showed me that typical conflict management tools and techniques don’t work with antagonists—it takes a totally different approach to deal with them.”

Rev. Lynn Upchurch | Charlotte, North Carolina

“Whatever questions or problems you have in dealing with an antagonist, Antagonists in the Church will give you the answers.”

Rev. Doug MaGinn | Fairfield Glade, Tennessee

“Dr. Haugk broke new ground in the field of conflict by acknowledging the existence of antagonism and giving sage advice on how to counter it. Antagonists in the Church is a lifeline for church leaders.”

Rev. Alston Johnson | Shreveport, Louisiana

“Antagonists in the Church is not only a great how-to book—it’s also a great why-to book.”

Rev. Noni Porter | Sun Lakes, Arizona

“If you ever have an antagonist in your church—and I pray you don’t—this book will tell you what you absolutely need to do.”

Rev. Robert Price | El Dorado Hills, California

“I’ve been doing conflict mediation and transformation work with congregations for most of my ministerial life. With Antagonists in the Church, I’m able to offer churches an established method for handling extreme kinds of conflict.”

Dr. Gordon Myers | Rocky River, Ohio

“A fantastic book—both as a preventive learning tool in peaceful times and as a strong defense when facing an attack.”

Sarah Barber | Blue Springs, Missouri

“The techniques and skills in this book can be used anywhere. It’s a real treasure!”

Victor Matthews | Novelty, Ohio

“Antagonism needs to be handled with as much wisdom as you can possibly muster. Antagonists in the Church gives you that wisdom.”

Laura Denham | Houston, Texas

“Antagonists in the Church is a powerful tool to help the church become healthier, more joyful, and more loving. I’ve given a number of copies of this book as a gift to other leaders in my church.”

Donna Grovesteen | Bloomington, Illinois

“The words ‘Silent people kill churches’ really struck me as I read this book. In the past, I wouldn’t have said anyting. Now I will.”

Jeni Smoot | Colorado Springs, Colorado

“Antagonists in the Church is a great book for reading and discussing with a group. When everybody is on the same page, you get a broader perspective and strength in numbers.”

Barb Holzhauer | Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Antagonistic individuals require a firm response. Because of this, one of the subjects discussed in this book is the need to confront the antagonist. This does include what people often call tough love, but it’s tempered with care and hope. The steps you take in dealing with antagonists are indeed done out of love—love for the antagonist and for the entire congregation.

They do. One pastor wrote us: “A friend from seminary gave me a copy of Antagonists in the Church because he knew I was under attack. It spoke exactly to what I was experiencing and gave me practical advice and hope that I could make it through.”

Passing along a copy of this book is a great way to help when a friend or colleague is suffering from an antagonist’s attacks.

Yes—in fact, that’s the best time to use this book! When church staff and lay leaders become fully aware of how damaging antagonists can be, they use this book—especially the chapters on prevention—to create an environment where antagonism is much less likely to occur in the first place.

Before Antagonists in the Church, people simply didn’t talk about antagonism. Books and articles on conflict resolution didn’t address the reality that with some people, reaching a peaceful solution was impossible. As a pastor and clinical psychologist, Kenneth Haugk heard countless stories from pastors, lay leaders, denomination officials, seminarians, and their spouses who saw firsthand how antagonists grievously wounded individuals, marriages, families, and congregations. Recognizing a real need, he researched the subject extensively, conducted workshops on church antagonism, and interviewed many pastors and lay leaders to develop Antagonists in the Church—which brought the painful subject of antagonists out into the open.

No. Kenneth Haugk recognizes that different situations call for different approaches, so he provides a wide variety of practical methods for dealing with antagonists, as well as ideas for handling people whose behavior is severely antagonistic, somewhat antagonistic, or somewhere in between. You can adapt the ideas in the book to fit your own style and strengths—and your particular situation.