Peacejam Memories
This week I made some presentations on South Africa and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to 8th graders at the nearby Waynesville Middle School. Most of them are heavily involved in the Peacejam Program, which encourages them to find ways to advance peace in the world. This Saturday, through their initiative, groups in the county are assembling over 35,000 meals to send to Haiti! Peacejam was founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureates like Desmond Tutu, so this was a chance for them to see video excerpts of Tutu’s work with the Truth Commission.
After I had introduced them to pictures from our trips to South Africa, showed them video clips about the Commission’s work with respect to apology and forgiveness, and explaining some of the connections between their history and ours, the instructor asked them when they were born. Around 1996 or 1997. “So this was happening when you were born.” “It is not part of their lived memory,” he said to me. I responded, “Yes, but it is the world they have inherited.”
Memory. Again. How do we remember, personally and collectively? Here was the struggle of the Commission and of Red Clay, Blood River. I didn’t have time to lead them into how my memory, in some slight way, might become part of their memory. Will it live in their memory? Will it shape their action? Will it help them find a role in our common story?
Teaching is passing on memory, whether of scientific discoveries made by earlier generations, or of the history, suffering, hopes, and achievements of long-gone predecessors on this planet. Loss of memory, as with the vicious ravaging of Alzheimer’s disease, robs us not only of our sense of identity and agency but even of our relationships beyond our immediate bodily senses. Our collective loss of memory, as with our forgetting of the lessons of the Great Depression, unlocked the floodgates of financial speculation that have ruined millions of lives today. Forgetfulness can kill.
The 8th graders impressed and encouraged me by their attentiveness to this piece of possible present memory, watching it like an asteroid entering the heavens. Now, their instructor said, we need to chew on this for the rest of the year. As they join our common memory I am aware of how important it is that we remember so that we can forgive and act anew. Thank you, ‘jammers!
PS. They actually packed 60,000 meals!
Movie Lifts Up Racial Struggle in North Carolina
(This article is reposted from the United Methodist News Service and written by Linda Bloom, a UMNS writer. It features quotes from Bishop Hope Morgan, the President of the JustPeace Board of Directors).
Filmmaker Jeb Stuart and historian Tim Tyson are both preacher’s kids, now in their 50s, who grew up in North Carolina at a time when attempts at racial integration still sparked tensions that could lead to violence and murder.
So when Stuart read “Blood Done Sign My Name,” Tyson’s evocative memoir focusing on the murder of an African-American Vietnam veteran in the writer’s hometown, the director felt an instant connection.
The connection extended from a young person’s perspective on the struggle for social justice and racial equality in the South down to the moral issues faced by their fathers, white pastors forced to take unpopular stands in their communities.
The result is the movie “Blood Done Sign My Name,” which opens on Feb. 19 in selected theaters nationwide. The film, whose title is taken from an old gospel song, had its official premiere on Feb. 10, opening the Pan-African Film and Arts Festival in Los Angeles.
At the centerpiece of both Tyson’s book and Stuart’s movie is the 1970 murder of Henry “Dickie” Marrow, an African-American Vietnam veteran, in the small town of Oxford, N.C. The refusal of an all-white jury to convict the men who eyewitnesses had identified as his killers generated anger but also led to the empowerment of Oxford’s black community. Tyson’s father, the Rev. Vernon Tyson, was pastor of the United Methodist congregation.
Although better known as a screenwriter for blockbuster action films such as “Die Hard” and “The Fugitive,” Stuart in his new movie has produced what both men believe transcends the typical Hollywood treatment of a civil rights story.
Instead of a narrative that pits the good white folks against the evil white folks, with black characters “being used as props,” this movie shows a movement against injustice emerging out of the African-American community, Tyson pointed out. That diverse community reacts in different ways but has the same goal: “to push down the rotten old social structure of Jim Crow,” he said.
Arriving in Oxford
As the film opens, Vernon Tyson (Ricky Schroder) has moved with his family to Oxford, N.C., where he has been assigned to lead the United Methodist church there.
The movie locations were shot in Shelby, N.C., and images of the church there evoke a sense of déjà vu for anyone with Methodist roots. On the first day of filmmaking, Tyson said he and his father sat in the first pew, off camera, and watched about 200 actors performing in 1970-vintage clothing. “I just kept forgetting we weren’t actually in church,” he recalled. “It felt like every church we’d ever served.”
As the plot unfolds, the pastor gets his first real taste of the town’s racial divide when an uproar occurs after he invites an eminent African-American minister to preach to the congregation on a Sunday. The elder Tyson cites the denomination’s Book of Discipline when he refuses to rescind the invitation.
Stuart asked his father, the Rev. James G. Stuart — now retired and living in Gastonia, N.C. — about the difficulty of pushing a congregation toward integration at the risk of losing a job. “He lowered whatever he was reading at the time and looked at me and said, ‘It was the most stressful part of my career.’”
The story moves beyond the Tyson family and the church’s all-white congregation to the other residents of Oxford, most notably Ben Chavis (Nate Parker), a young teacher – and future civil rights leader– who has returned to his hometown.
After Marrow, his cousin, is attacked and killed, an all-white jury acquits the white storeowner and his sons who are charged with the crime. Oxford’s African-American community is outraged. Reactions range from rioting and the vandalizing of public monuments to the organization of a 50-mile freedom march and economic boycott.
“Jeb did a brilliant job cutting to the heart of the matter,” Tyson said about Stuart’s adaptation of his book. “The movie is not a memoir but more of an ensemble story about these families…in a community that is being torn apart by this murder.”
Faith-based audiences
Stuart hopes the movie’s story will resonate with faith-based audiences.
For United Methodist Bishop Hope Morgan Ward of Mississippi, “Blood Done Sign My Name” is both a Methodist story and a family story. She grew up on a farm in eastern North Carolina and her sister, Perri Morgan, is married to Tyson.
“The events of our lives mark us and form us. Tim’s telling of his family story invites us into our stories where we meet God still at work within and among us,” the bishop said.
“This is a movie for every person who has experienced injustice, every clergy family, every lay person, everyone engaged in the ongoing journey of racial reconciliation.”
Tyson was impressed by Stuart’s understanding of race in America.
“When the screenplay came in the mail, I read it standing in my driveway,” he said. “I didn’t even get back from the mailbox. It was so powerful and dead on.”
He believes the film will have a similar effect on others. “I hope that church folks will find this film challenging and inspiring and engaging and that it will open up a fruitful conversation, not only about race and a history that we’re still wrestling with, but about the challenges that confront us as Christians today,” Tyson said.
Stuart also wants to get across a message to young people about the history of race in the United States.
“There’s always going to be injustice,” he said. “The idea that, in every generation, you have to stand up to injustice is an important lesson.”
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
New documentary series to focus on Forgiveness
“[Whitney's] work resonates with concern for the human condition.”—NY Times
New York-based filmmaker and producer Helen Whitney focuses on ‘forgiveness’ in her new documentary series to be debuted in the Fall of 2010 on PBS. Forgiveness: A Time to Love, A Time to Hate follows a long list of award-winning work that often focuses on religious and spiritual matters – including an exploration of faith and doubt at Ground Zero following September 11th, a series on Mormanism, a close up of a Trappist monastery and a biography of Pope John Paul II.
The new four-hour, 2 part film will cover a wide range of stories that demonstrate forgiveness and reconciliation – in both the personal and political realms – and will explore forgiveness in even the most tragic circumstances by following stories of individuals facing agonizing choices. The series will focus on the public discourse and understanding of forgiveness and will cover a wide range of stories from adultery and personal betrayal to global reconciliation after genocide.
The first half of the documentary will focus on personal stories of wrongdoing, forgiveness and reconciliation, including an in depth look at the community in Philadelphia that immediately responding to the 2006 shooting of Amish schoolgirls by forgiving the killer and embracing the killer’s family. (Listen to or read a story about this from NPR’s Talk of the Nation)
The second half of the documentary will study the role of reconciliation and forgiveness in the lives of nations and the growing trend of governments stepping up and taking responsibility for past crimes. According to Whitney’s agency, Blue Flower Arts, the “subjects range from the genocide in Rwanda, the truth commission in South Africa, Germany’s penitential journey to more intimate dramas of emotional betrayal and the struggle for forgiveness.”
Feb 7, 2010: National Day of Prayer for Criminal Justice Reform
Encourage your church to participate in the National Day of Prayer for Criminal Justice Reform and contact Bill Mefford for more information.
Churches throughout the United States will spend either part or all of their prayer time during their Sunday worship services on Feburary 7th to focus on criminal justice reform. Specifically they will lift up the need for a fair criminal justice system based on restorative principles that do not sentence people to unjustly long sentences or target certain racial groups, so that the families of the incarcerated can be strengthened and local communicates safely restored.
They will pray for the empowerment of churches to serve those directly affected by the criminal justice system, by caring for victims of crime, providing necessary programs for ex-offenders seeking to reenter society, supporting families affected by crime, and advocating for reform of the criminal justice system.
And, they will pray for the moral leadership and accountability of elected leaders to support legislation that reflects the values of restorative justice and will care for victims of crime, eliminate unjust and unsafe treatment in the criminal justice system, and provide for in-prison, reentry and prevention programs to avert future crimes.
Facts to consider and share with your congregation:
- With 5% of the world’s population, the United States hold’s 25% of the world’s incarcerated
- In the U.S., 1 in every 100 people is incarcerated and 2/3 of those in prison are black or Latino
- Black men serving sentences account for 4,618 per 100,000; Hispanic males were 1,747, and Anglo males were 773. This means that Black males were 6 times more likely, and Hispanic males twice as likely as Anglos to be held in custody.
- There are more than 8,000 reported incidents of sexual assault in prisons each year. The number of unreported incidents cannot be estimated.
- In 2007, 82.7% of crack cocaine defendants were African American despite the fact that only 18% of crack cocaine users in the U.S. are African Americans.
- Every year across the U.S., 200,000 youth are tried, sentenced or incarcerated as adults and on any given day, nearly 7,500 youth are locked up in adult jails, and 2,600 are locked up in adult prisons.
These are just some of the reasons why we know the current system is broken.
Therefore, we must pray for reform of the criminal justice system, for empowerment of faith communities to advocate for reforms, and for moral and accountable leadership by our elected leaders to bring about just and humane reform. Please email Bill Mefford and let him know if your church is participating and the city and state where you are located.
The United Methodist Church’s position on the criminal justice system is:
“In the love of Christ, who came to save those who are lost and vulnerable, we urge the creation of an entirely new system for the care and restoration of victims, offenders, criminal justice officials, and the community as a whole. Restorative justice grows out of biblical authority, which emphasizes a right relationship with God, self and community. When such relationships are violated or broken through crime, opportunities are created to make things right.” (Social Principles, ¶164H)
GBGM’s “Circles of Learning” focuses on Restorative Justice
On Wednesday, December 16th, the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) of the United Methodist Church sponsored an open conversation on “Ministry with the Poor,” a ministry focus of the UMC. This conversation, which was broadcasted live on the internet, was the first of a series of conversations entitled “Circles of Learning“.
The initial conversation featured a panel about restorative justice and how it can lead to more productive lives for ex-offenders featuring Bishop Kenneth Carder of Duke University Divinity School and Jim Winkler of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society.
Be sure to check out the videos below:
Bishop Kenneth Carder
Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the General Board of Church and Society
John Paul Lederach featured in Christian Century
Followers of JustPeace since its founding remember well the name of John Paul Lederach, one-time faculty member at Eastern Mennonite University and now a professor at Notre Dame, who, as a member of the design team for this organization, argued successfully for it to be named “JustPeace”.
Professor Lederach is interviewed in the December 15, 2009, edition of Christian Century about his ongoing peacemaking work around the world, and about his teaching on the subject. Professor Lederach also was honored this year as the recepient of the annual Reinhold Niebuhr Award at Notre Dame.
During the award ceremony on May 19th, Notre Dame provost Tom Burish said of Lederach,
“As a practitioner of peace, he accompanies the poor, the refugees, and the victims of war — eliciting from them alternatives to violence. His wide-ranging experiences, profound analyses, and deep moral imagination have formed the basis for a corpus of writing that has enlightened peace studies scholars and peacebuilders around the globe. He is, in the words of St. Francis of Assisi, ‘an instrument of peace.’”
You can read about his award here: Lederach Honored for Social Justice
Watch this video about Professor Lederach and Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies:
10 ways to live restoratively
(Dr. Howard Zehr is professor of Restorative Justice at Eastern Mennonite University’s graduate Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and is the editor of The Little Books of Justice and Peacemaking series. He wrote this reflection on his blog, Restorative Justice Blog, on Nov. 27th, 2009. Restorative Justice focuses on repairing the harm caused by and revealed by crime and wrongdoing.)
10 ways to live restoratively
- Take relationships seriously, envisioning yourself in an interconnected web of people, institutions and the environment.
- Try to be aware of the impact – potential as well as actual – of your actions on others and the environment.
- When your actions negatively impact others, take responsibility by acknowledging and seeking to repair the harm – even when you could probably get away with avoiding or denying it. (To craft a letter of apology, see the Apology Letter website developed by Loreen Walker and Ben Furman.)
- Treat everyone respectfully, even those you don’t expect to encounter again, even those you feel don’t deserve it, even those who have harmed or offended you or others.
- Involve those affected by a decision, as much as possible, in the decision-making process.
- View the conflicts and harms in your life as opportunities.
- Listen, deeply and compassionately, to others, seeking to understand even if you don’t agree with them. (Think about who you want to be in the latter situation rather than just being right.)
- Engage in dialogue with others, even when what is being said is difficult, remaining open to learning from them and the encounter.
- Be cautious about imposing your “truths” and views on other people and situations.
- Sensitively confront everyday injustices including sexism, racism and classism.
I would welcome additional suggestions as well as comments on these ten.
The chart below explores some implications of five key restorative justice principles for criminal justice and for restorative living.
Restorative Justice Principles adapted by Catherine Bargen (2008) from Susan Sharpe, Restorative Justice: A Vision for Healing and Change. Thanks to Catherine for her suggestions on the above as well.
| Principle of Restorative Justice | Application for Criminal Justice | Application for Restorative Living |
| Invite full participation and consensus. | Victims, offenders and the community have a voice in responding to criminal harm, with as much agreement as possible in what the outcome should look like. | All those who feel they have a stake in a situation of harm or conflict can be invited to participate in dialogue around the issues and have a voice in the outcomes or decisions made. Power imbalances are noted and addressed as much as possible to achieve consensus. |
| Heal what has been broken. | When a crime is committed, the need for healing inevitably arises.This may take the form of emotional healing (for victims, and for offenders), relationship healing, and/or reparation of property damage. | Our everyday interactions and situations can result in hurtful words and actions, which may create feelings of injustice or imbalance in our relationships. As much as possible, the restorative approach seeks to bring those hurts to light and create space for healing and reparation. |
| Seek full and direct accountability. | Offenders need to take responsibility for their own actions and choices.They are given the opportunity to explain their behaviour and fulfill the obligations created from their behaviour directly to the people they have harmed. | When harm occurs, we can nurture an environment where we are encouraged to take ownership for our own role in hurtful behaviour or abuses of power.Living restoratively means respectfully expecting oneself and others to be accountable for our actions in ways that are fair and reasonable. |
| Reunite what has been divided. | Victims of crime often experience a sense of isolation from the community, as do offenders. While the reasons for this isolation may differ between these two groups, processes that allow for reintegration need to be sought in the wake of a crime for all that have been affected.Such processes can create a renewed sense of wholeness and closure, as well as a sense of reintegration into the community. | Hurtful or damaging behaviour in our places of interaction can create feelings of isolation and of being an outcast. It can result in individuals taking sides and developing an “us”/ ”them” mentality. As much as possible, restorative living aims to take stock of where divisions have occurred in our communities and work toward balance, understanding and reconciliation. |
| Strengthen the community to prevent future harms. | A justice process that is restorative will focus not only on the details of the crime at hand, but what the systemic causes of crime are in the community and how they can be addressed. In this way, a healthier and safer community is created for all, not just those wanting to be protected from crime. | Most communities can ultimately use situations of harm to learn, grow and change where necessary. When living restoratively, we can help illuminate systemic injustice and power imbalances. We then advocate for positive changes in order to make the community a healthier and more just place for all. |
Invictus – Lessons of Reconciliation from South Africa
Clint Eastwood’s new film Invictus opens this Friday. Although I admit I haven’t seen it yet, the previews look promising. The movie, set in post-apartheid South Africa, details Nelson Mandela’s quest to unite his country by inspiring the South African Rugby team to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
It is a story of racial reconciliation told within the context of a sports movie. From the previews, it seems that Eastwood pulls it off and successfully reminds us all about the power of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Watch this clip below as Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) instructs a member of his security detail about the power of reconciliation:
“Reconciliation starts here….Forgiveness starts here too. Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon.”
If you have a chance to see it this weekend, comment below and tell us what you think.
Musings about congregational conflict resolution, ADR, and sources of inspiration
Is there a need for conflict resolution ministries?
There is no doubt in my mind that there is a profound need for such support. Methodist congregations are voluntary associations of people organized around founding principles. They embrace a difficult tension between staying faithful to tradition versus being advocates for social justice and change. This balancing act is not easy. Differences of opinion…conflicts…abound in church life. Until recently, this challenge was minimized or even ignored. Even today, I estimate about 25% of all UMC congregations are so conflicted that they suffer major structural problems in achieving their goals.
Getting started building a new ministry: three steps
Before you start, you need to accept that this will be a long journey. No one is sitting around thinking they need your services except the occasional DS or UMC General Counsel. Seminary still downplays this field. Many clergy are conflict-adverse. Most congregants will respond to you like “deer in the headlights”…unsure of what you are taking about. Many will be uneasy about the subject.
As a first step, you need to develop an internal ministry team. At our church, we created a diverse group of twelve members, including a young clergy member and a retired clergy member. We met every six weeks for the first year. Over the year, some members dropped off, and other members joined.
As a second step, you need to define your mission. At our church, we crafted a mission and four phase approach to frame our vision. We felt that we needed to present a concrete concept to others before we could expect their support. We decided to initially focus on education, prevention and consulting, rather than mediation of disputes. This was a crucial decision to our future.
As a third step, you need to obtain clergy support. At our church, our goal was to obtain support from the clergy, especially the Senior Pastor. We presented our vision to the clergy and stayed connected with them over time. Ultimately, the clergy endorsed our work.
Crafting the mission
A mission is simply a definition of your direction…who you are and who you hope to become. Some churches start with a highly visible mediation program, while others start more behind the scenes. Our approach was to start slowly and evolve to a more visible status.
At our church, the original mission was:
- To promote the healthy resolution of differences among the congregation.
- To build a more consistently respectful culture in the congregation.
- To educate our congregation in conflict prevention, consensus building and conflict resolution.
- To build personal capability in each member in peacemaking as a life skill
- To serve as a “just-in-time” resource to the Clergy, Church Council, and the Conference
- Over the four years, we feel pretty good that we have achieved most of these goals.
Challenges to success
We have experienced many challenges to achieving our mission, most of them fairly typical in faith-based and non-profit organizations. The first challenge is simply finding a sufficient number of people with passion in this field. Very few congregational members have extensive experience in conflict resolution. The second challenge is crafting a compelling vision to motivate the ministry team and sell the idea to the church. Many Christians incorrectly think conflict is only bad and wish “we could all just get along.” The third challenge is overcoming the natural reluctance of church leaders to recognize the need. ADR has not been a major part of the American culture, only litigation. ADR is truly a leading-edge area of church culture and practices. In the beginning, we got a lot of glazed over eyes when describing our vision. Only by articulating our past church conflicts in great detail did we sell our vision.
Sources of inspiration
There are many researchers and practitioners who perform exceptional work in this field. One is Tom Porter of the UMC JustPeace Movement. Another is Professor Dave Brubaker of Eastern Mennonite University. Of course, the founding practitioners in the field include the Mennonite leaders from Lombard, Illinois.
The big surprise
The biggest surprise from our history is that we perform more work for the conference staff (mainly the DS) than we do for our own congregation. There are at least two reasons: one is marketing. We have a large church. Unless we constantly meet with new lay leaders, they forget who we are or what we offer. Second, there is reluctance from our clergy and staff to refer problems to us, because we are congregational members. Some clergy and staff view conflict as “exposing the dirty laundry of the church” to non-elected constituents.
The Future
Our future is exciting and unlimited. We have many ideas about our future, which include:
Mediation of individual disputes
The national JustPeace Ministry successfully conducts mediations of disputes for the UMC across the nation. Our ministry team is aware that other congregational ADR programs offer mediation of internal and external disputes. This is an exciting option but requires experienced mediators and significant administrative support. This is a later stage initiative.
Avoidance of UMC schism over sexuality issues
We are adamantly against schism as the means to resolve church conflict, and accept the conclusions by researcher, peacemaker and Professor Dave Brubaker to avoid schism by encouraging an active middle voice of the congregation.
Collaboration with other denominations
The Phoenix area has several ADR organizations and numerous opportunities for faith-based collaboration through non-denominational vehicles. We have informally met with other faith leaders and see this as a future opportunity. We are aware of the rich tradition of conflict resolution in the Jewish, Catholic, and Mormon faiths. Our church has an active affiliation with a Jewish Temple and an Islamic Center.
Outreach to dissatisfied and departing members
Our Senior Pastor has asked us to consider some outreach to those periodic members who are unhappy and are quitting the congregation. Most of them provide advance warning of their dissatisfaction, and some of them could be retained if only someone reached out, explored their concerns, and attempted some reconciliation. Often the departing member has a problem with a particular clergy person, preventing their successful outreach. We are struggling as to whether this very legitimate concern (and innovative idea) is a focus for us, or instead another part of the congregation.
The Peacemaker Conflict Resolution series
We have recently purchased the training materials from the Peacemakers Ministries, an outgrowth of the Christian Legal Society. They offer a four step congregational development program, starting with the individuals own capability with handling conflict. Other goals include conflict coaching and mediation. The ultimate goal is to build a culture of peace within the congregation. The series has DVDs and workbooks. See www.peacemakers.net.
The author
Dick Fincher is a full-time mediator and arbitrator of workplace disputes and litigation. He is the Managing Partner of Workplace Resolutions LLC in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2005, he was the National Vice President of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR). He currently serves on the faculty of the Institute for Conflict Resolution (ICR) at Cornell University. He can be contacted at 602-953-5322 or rdf@workplaceresolutions.com
Howard Zehr: Restorative Justice & Victim Services Collaboration
In a recent blog post on his Restorative Justice Blog, Howard Zehr emphasizes the importance of collaborating with victims and victim supporters in the restorative justice process.
“We in the restorative justice community have much to offer victims. I’m convinced, though, that in order to deliver on this we must partner with victim advocacy and support groups.”
Click here to read the rest on The Restorative Justice Blog.
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