Restorative Justice | Catalina Island
Update – 9.19.24
While the church building has been closed to group gatherings, it will reopen temporarily for two events: the Catalina Film Festival (which was previously committed to) and the memorial service for Kathy Thompson.
Additionally the church will unfortunately be unable to continue the Christmas Tree sale this year. If you or your organization have an interest in taking on this valuable community service next year, please reach out! We have pursued transferring to other local organizations with no success.
We continue our process of learning and listening in partnership with Ampersands. If you are a survivor and you have not already done so, we encourage all to reach out to them directly to share your story here.
Tentative timeline:
- July – August: Preliminary conversations with Avalon leaders and select survivors – Complete
- August-September: Conversations with survivors and advocates to assess needs and goals – Complete
- September: Small scale initial facilitated conversation between Avalon leaders and survivors – In Progress
- October: Debrief and recommendations for next steps – Not Started
Update – 8.23.24
As many of you are aware, Avalon Community Church has remained closed to group gatherings since July 7th. The Food Bank and Tarzana Treatment Center remain open and unaffected by this closure.
In an effort to effectively address the history of sexual, spiritual, and emotional abuse and its mishandling at Avalon Community Church, we’ve partnered with Ampersands Restorative Justice. They have issued an introductory letter which includes an opportunity for survivors to reach out to them directly.
While this initial listening phase will only include a handful of survivors, future phases will be expanded and include all survivors to assess everyone’s needs and goals. We encourage all survivors to reach out to Ampersands and share your story.
Tentative timeline:
- July – August: Preliminary conversations with Avalon leaders and select survivors – Complete
- August-September: Conversations with survivors and advocates to assess needs and goals – In Progress
- September: Small scale initial facilitated conversation between Avalon leaders and survivors – Not Started
- October: Debrief and recommendations for next steps – Not Started
Additionally, we were made aware of a formerly terminated church leader in leadership at another church out of state. We were able to make contact with that church’s leadership and informed them of the circumstances regarding their leader’s termination from ACC.
We understand this is a slow process, and we thank you for your continued patience and grace as we work together. In three weeks, we will provide our next update on the actions we are taking to listen and take accountability. Please look for updates on our website or Facebook. If you would like to join a small group, please click here.