Restorative Justice | Catalina Island

A Christian body on Catalina is embarking on an important journey of acknowledgement, accountability and amends in the aftermath of sexual, spiritual, and emotional abuse and its mishandling at Avalon Community Church.
 
We will be closing our doors to all programming and public gatherings, with the exception of the Tarzana Treatment Center and Food Bank.
 
During our closure, we will be working in partnership with MinistrySafe and Ampersands Restorative Justice to dedicate our time and resources to survivors.
 
 
Want to learn more about restorative conversations about the harm at Avalon Community Church and repair efforts? Click here to read an open letter to survivors and the church community. Click here if you are a survivor and want to participate in facilitated conversations.
 
 
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Update – 11.4.24


We would like to express our humble and sincere gratitude to those who have taken the bold step of reaching out to Ampersands and participating in conversations with our leaders.  If you are a survivor and you have not already done so, it’s not too late!  We encourage all to reach out to Ampersands directly to share your story here.


We are entering a new phase of listening and learning as we begin to compile our next steps and determine what’s possible within the realm of restorative justice.


If you’d like to join us in our educational journey, please take a listen to this resource on spiritual abuse.


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 – Complete
  • October: Debrief and recommendations for next steps –                                                               In Progress
We will provide an additional update in 4 weeks.  Please reach out to support@somethingnewcatalina.com
for any additional questions.
 
 
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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
 
We will provide an additional update in 3 – 4 weeks.  Please reach out to support@somethingnewcatalina.com for any additional questions.
 
 
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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.