PMS delivers restorative training to the Sisters of Bethany
Building Faith Communities
Increasingly, Portsmouth is becoming a wonderfully diverse place to live. We are extremely passionate about helping to build the city’s faith communities through Restorative practice and approaches.
Over the past few years we have worked very closely with different faith organisations to help equip their congregations with a greater understanding of how restorative practice can transform their families and communities. In particular, we have aimed to help with the following:
- Promote greater awareness of resolving conflict through Restorative Pathways
- Identifying opportunities to train and equip people of faith to become RJ facilitators
- Promoting the opportunities for people of faith to volunteer their skills outside of their religious setting
- Promoting the opportunity for people of different faith and no faith to work together for a Restorative Portsmouth
We have seen how powerful it can be to enlist the support of people of Faith. Here you often get more than a volunteer – someone who really gets the big picture and is passionate about the vision. They are people who often confess to living the dream and who apply themselves to the work with a sense of calling and zeal.
It seems natural that the people that make up the various Faith groups within Portsmouth should be at the forefront of the vision to see a Restorative city. Though there is of course opportunity for congregations within the various Faiths to equip their people with a new restorative toolkit – we are conscious that after the congregational meeting, the people go home and live and work and play in every sphere of city life. These are the places where we can all contribute – this is the front line where we can unite across parochial boundaries and religious divides to build peaceful and prosperous communities.
