Posts Tagged ‘Restorative Justice’

Shivering, he cried for forgiveness. “I come to you as a prodigal son. Please forgive me.” The two women whose materials had been stolen emerged from the congregation and gave him a big hug.

The Lyndon United Methodist Women hosted a mission study about restorative justice on Oct. 29. The guest speaker was Stan Basler, J.D., and director of Criminal Justice and Mercy Ministries for the Oklahoma Annual Conference.

It is about allowing healing to take place in our lives, and refusing to be sucked into the perpetual cycle of violence and toxicity. Grace is indeed hard, but even taking a few small faltering steps in its direction can open the doors for healing to start and violence to stop.

Faith & Leadership: When violence happens, CeaseFire workers, participants and volunteers respond by organizing rallies and vigils and providing support for the families and loved ones of violence victims, both to ensure that there is no violent retaliation and to change the group attitude so that people can begin to believe their neighborhood can change.

Howard Zehr shows us a better way, one that seeks to repair and restore victims, offenders, and the people around them. If you can’t come to meet him personally, pick up one of his little books and look through his lens at a very different and I believe a much better world.

The concept of restorative justice means giving back to the community you’ve hurt. Some prisoners have found a way to support children who have even less than they do. And volunteers believe this program will help inmates feel pride and avoid a return to prison.

“And I am impressed with our church members who, on the day after the break-in, were already talking about forgiving and moving on and how God could bring something good out of this.”

We follow the process and go where the parties need to go. This might mean helping a young man save face after he refused to answer a question by creatively finding another way of asking it.

Rev. Ken Carter, District Superintendent of the Waynesville District in North Carolina, recently led a study of “The Journey: Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Restorative Justice” at the Western North Carolina United Methodist Women’s School of Christian Mission. He reflected on the experience on his blog.

Schools of Christian Mission are taking place across the country this summer to study The Journey: Forgiveness, Restorative Justice and Reconciliation. Find out where a school is taking place near you. The schools are open to everyone.