Sustainable Peacemaking: Restorative Practices in Faith Communities

This webinar series with Dr. Anne Martin (Shalem Mental Health Network) and Dr. Ray Kim (International Center for Religion & Diplomacy) aims to equip seminarians and faith leaders with the knowledge and tools to navigate and address the complex challenges of toxic polarization and conflict within their communities. By rooting our approach in restorative practices, we seek to foster environments that prioritize reconciliation, empathy, and sustainable peacemaking.

Session Overview

1. April 3 - Introduction to Restorative Practices

2. April 10 - Fundamentals of Conflict Resolution and Mediation

3. April 24 - Community Engagement and Participatory Practices

4. April 31 - Resilience Building for Communities and Leaders

Dr. Anne Martin is the Director of Restorative Practice Services at Shalem Mental Health Network. Shalem is located in Hamilton, Canada. In 2007, Anne was trained as a restorative practitioner through the International Institute for Restorative Practices. She is a founding member of FaithCARE, Faith Communities Affirming Restorative Experiences. Since 2008, Anne has offered faith communities proactive services, e.g., workshops, trainings, and consultations, and responsive services, the development of processes to support a community that has experienced harm or is the midst of a conflict. Anne also offers restorative services to workplaces, schools, community organizations and families.

Dr. Ray Kim is the Director of U.S. Programs & Partnerships at the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy (ICRD). As the Program Development Manager, Ray Kim coordinates and manages the full range of program-related work: the development of proposals, the management of a program during its operational duration, and the production of deliverables and reporting at their conclusion. Adept in various qualitative research methods and analysis, he applies these skills and the knowledge he gains from conducting research leading up to a proposal’s design to ensuring that the program’s design is directly informed by the contexts in which they will be implemented.

While at ICRD, he has provided support in the delivery of trainings on inclusive curriculum development for Saudi teachers, and provided the qualitative research frame for ICRD’s work in providing pro-social educational content for children in Lebanon. He also currently manages ICRD’s domestic programs that aim to empower and partner with American faith communities to address toxic polarization and rebuild social cohesion in our society.

Ray Kim received his Ph.D. from Georgetown University’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies. He is a sociologist of religion specializing in contemporary Islam and Christianity who has years of experience conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Korea tracking developments in the halal market and the spread of Islamophobic discourse throughout the country.

His research interests have also led him to collaborate on projects concerning the religious soft-power influences of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey in Africa, the Balkans, and Central Asia, as well as the flight of non-Muslim minorities from the Levantine region. He has also conducted qualitative research observing and interviewing churches in the US that were exploring questions about “calling” and “vocation” as part of a program that was funded by the Lilly Endowment.