March 2015 ~ Facing the `Dark Side,`

Spring 2015
Facing the ‘Dark Side’ — Together
In the original Star Wars trilogy, Luke Skywalker
travels to a strange jungle planet to train in The
Force with the Jedi master Yoda. In the climax of
his training, he enters a dark cave and meets a
shadow of the sinister Lord Vader. Yet after the
ensuing lightsaber battle, Luke finds behind the
menacing mask only his own face.
The recent suicide of Dustin Klopp in the Lancaster County Prison is a reminder of just
how difficult it is to confront our own evil.
Even a vague account of his wife’s murder, to which he
had reportedly confessed, can cause any of us to shudder with telltale signs of secondary trauma.
Cont’d page 2
“I have to admit, I wasn't buying this at first, but now I really
see how it can be helpful for me as a parent.”
parent participant of Making Peace class
Making Peace Class Wants More
It culminated with one shy young man looking
his mother in the eye and speaking directly.
Then smiles broke through. You could see a
shift in how they related.
Six youth and their parents (below with facilitators) began their Making Peace class in February with reticence but ended with palpable ease.
In separate classes at first, they learned and
practiced responsibility-based communication.
Then youth joined parents to practice together.
By the end, everyone agreed it had been helpful.
Several parents and youth even asked for more
class time together. We expect great things from
these young leaders and their families. 
KNOW YOUR COMMUNITY
Take the Survey! Your Insights Key to the Future of Peacemaking in Lancaster County
“What do people in Lancaster know about
restorative justice?”
It began as an innocent conversation with
Emily Barnshaw, an
Elizabethtown College
student interning with
the Center for Community Peacemaking this
semester.
community needs beyond our own referrals
or the perceptions of our work to address
peacemaking locally.
In 2014, the Center for
Community Peacemaking
handled 165 juvenile
incidents, facilitating 74
agreements between
young people and those
they harmed in VictimOffender Conferencing.
89% of all agreements
were completed, and the
It became apparent that
we had little solid information about the
Facing the ‘Dark Side’ (cont’d)
restitution was paid.
Juvenile crime is reportedly in decline. But
we still perceive a vast need for restorative
justice work locally. Crimes and conflicts
with adults or in schools, for example, too
often remain an open wound without a restorative component.
What needs do you see in the community?
Share your insight and a chance to win free
Annual Dinner tickets in our online survey:
www.ccp.org
What is an offender? It is
someone who shows little
regard for right relationships.
Navajos say of such a person,
‘He acts as if he has no
relatives.’ So what do you do
when someone acts as if they
have no relatives? You bring in
the relatives!
were met by surrounding
those involved with sustained concern and accompaniment?
These two stories, one current and one as
ancient as history itself, miss a key component of potential redemption: community.
enables offenders to be
returned to their society
in a new way.
What must it be like to wake up each morning with the indelible memory and incomprehensible shame of such heinous violence, known to your children, family and
neighbors? Like Luke Skywalker, most of
us would probably opt to run off and fight
an external threat than to face the ‘dark
side’ within. Indeed, such
truths may be impossible
for some to face alone.
Nearly twenty years ago,
Lancaster has such a
Mary Achilles (below)
resource. Alongside sevfounded Pennsylvania’s
eral victim and court
Victim-Offender Diaservices, the Center for
logue Program which
~ Chief Justice Robert Yazzie
Community Peacemakfacilitates the meeting of
ing has handled thouthose involved in violent
sands of cases over the
crime. There is clearly a
last 20 years. And it has the experience to
great need for the prohandle more kinds of violations than ever.
gram; it is currently backBut it needs your partnership beyond the
logged from the demand
court system.
by survivors.
Community is an essential component of restorative justice. The edited
volume, Justice As Healing details indigenous
methods of restorative
justice in the US, Canada
and beyond. Elders, religious leaders and relatives of both victims and
offenders address harm
through a variety of processes. This engaged community presence creates
multi-faceted accountability
and empowerment. It also
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Nonetheless, as a community, as family and friends
of those impacted by violence, we also have a role
to play.
Founder of the state’s VictimOffender Dialogue program,
Mary Achilles is the featured
speaker at our Annual Dinner.
Seeing how indigenous
groups have achieved
broad community participation in restorative justice helps us imagine the
possibilities. How many
lives and relationships
could be restored if every
such incident in Lancaster
In addition to Victim-Offender Conferencing, the Center’s Peacemaking Circles work
to restore relationships—neighbors, schools,
churches and others—and repair the harm
done by violence. Based partly on traditional indigenous “talking circles,” it does not
require referral through the legal system.
But it does require your participation.
At one time or another, most of us are impacted by violence. Can we learn how to
face it without fear, isolation or revenge? If
like Luke Skywalker, we all have a “dark
side,” we could probably all benefit from
such a journey—together. 
Making Things Right
TAKE ACTION
April 30th Annual Dinner to Inspire & Raise Funds
Melanie Snyder
(right), executive
director of the
Lancaster Reentry
Management
Organization will
be recognized by
the Center’s Restorative Justice
Achievement
Award.
WHO?
Supporters and Curious Guests like You
WHAT?
Silent Auction, Dinner and an Inspiring Program
about Restorative Justice in Our Community
WHERE?
Shady Maple Conference Center: East Earl, PA
WHEN?
Thursday, April 30, 2015
5:00 pm - Hors d'oeuvres, Silent Auction
6:30 pm - Dinner & Program
YOU?
Register, sponsor or just support the Center with the enclosed card.
Or register online for this and our other events:
www.ccp.org/events.html
More Opportunities for Restorative Justice this Spring!
Train and Volunteer in
Victim-Offender Conferencing
Learn Skills in
Peaceful Communication
Watch Film & Discuss
Concrete Steel & Paint
Begins Tuesday, March 31, 2015
April 10-12 & 18
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Zoetropolis Art House of Lancaster
The Center’s experienced trainers will
conduct this intensive training geared
to equip volunteers to facilitate transformative restorative justice dialogue.
$95 for volunteers, $295 others.
Register by March 16!
Thank You Contributors!
Who gave Dec. 1, 2014-Feb.28, 2015.
Please notify us of any errors or omissions.
Individuals
Diane Adamczyk
Bill & Susan Adams
Gerald & Rose Ann Baer
Rob Bomberger
John & Eleonora Brenneman
Frank Byrne in honor of Jon Singer
Jim & Denise Cassel
Maria Cattell
Clayton & Dorothy Charles
Kathryn Weaver Eby
Roy & Margaret Eby
Paul & Saveria Freisher
Trula Gingrich
Stanley & Susan Godshall
Donald & Ginnie Good
Leon & Elaine Good
Spring 2015
Charito Calvachi Mateyko, JD, MA, leads
this one-day training in communication
skills for resilience and wholeness in your
personal, professional or community
life. Originally from Ecuador, she incorporates influences from South American indigenous traditions. $75.
Sherri & Blaine Gorman
Lavonne I. Grubb
Tom Hassler
Nathan & Arlene Hege
John & Theresa Herr
Evanna & Daniel Hess
Ron Hipple
Gene & Judy Homan
John & Dorothy Hooning
Miriam Housman
Lynette Huber
J. Elvin & Esther Kraybill
Ruth A. Kulp in memory of
Amina Smith
John & Gladys Landis
Earl & Joyce Livengood
Elvin & Laverne Martin
Elwood & Nancy Martin
Ryan Martin
Rhoda & Ora Mast
Gerald & Lynette Meck
Robert Neuhauser in honor of
Barbara Speigelberg
What happens when victims of violent
crimes meet inmates who committed
such offenses in a mural arts project? See
it unfold in this documentary, followed
by interactive discussion.
Ken & Elizabeth Nissley
Frank & Betty Pack
William & Betty Parson
Kimberly Ressler
Geneva Rufenacht
Roger & Pam Rutt
Nina Shapiro in honor of Jon Singer
Allen & Rosanne Shenk
John & Myrtle Shenk
Harold & Alma Mae Shultz
Jon & Terry Singer in honor of
Christopher Fitz
Marcus & Dorothy Smucker
Leon & Nancy Stauffer
John & Joan Stipe
Walter & Alice Trumbauer
Sylvia Trupe
Linda Van Til
Marvin & Miriam Weaver
Patricia Haverstick & Kreg Weaver
Robert Weinstock
Eugene Wile
Holly Williams
David Worth
Miles & Dawnell Yoder
Businesses
Gap Power Rental
Jack Treier, Inc.
Lehman Insurance Agency, Inc.
Congregations
Blossom Hill Mennonite
Community Mennonite Church
Erisman Mennonite Church
Highland Presbyterian Church
James St Mennonite Church
Pilgrims Mennonite Church
St. John Neumann Catholic
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Foundations/Organizations
Elizabethtown College
High Foundation
Kiwanis Club of Lititz
The Steinman Foundation
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Editor
Christopher Fitz
Executive Director

Thursday, April 30 t h
See inside for more...