Howard Zehr will received the 2006 Community of Christ International Peace Award for his pioneering work in restorative justice. He will spoke and accepted a sculpture and $30,000 (sponsored by Bank of America) to be donated to the charitable peace and justice organization of his choice on October 27 during a Peace Colloquy worship. 

Zehr, PhD, is co-director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA), where he is also a professor of sociology and restorative justice in the graduate program for conflict transformation. Before that he served 19 years as director of Mennonite Central Committee’s Office on Crime and Justice.

Zehr is considered one of the founders of the contemporary restorative movement. His book Changing Lenses: A New Focus for Crime and Justice is a standard in the field. He is internationally known as a practitioner, writer, lecturer, and teacher.  (more biographical information on Howard Zehr; in-depth interview)

Read about basic restorative principles.

Restorative justice can be used to address situations in families, congregations, neighborhoods, and larger communities. Zehr’s work has focused on criminal justice. He founded and directed the first Victim Offender Reconciliation Program in the United States in the 1970s and has helped several communities develop similar programs. In the 1990s, the federal court appointed Zehr to assist attorneys working with victims during the trial of Timothy McVeigh for bombing the Oklahoma City federal building.

Zehr has lectured, consulted, and trained throughout the world. He has worked with community groups, police, and correctional agencies in countries such as Northern Ireland, England, Russia, Jamaica, Bosnia, New Zealand, and South Africa. He is also an accomplished documentary and journalistic photographer, with several publications to his name.

Read about some Community of Christ restorative peacemakers.

The Community of Christ International Peace Award

The Community of Christ International Peace Award has been given annually (with the exception of 1996) since 1993 at Community of Christ World Headquarters during significant events, including the annual Peace Colloquy, the biennial World Conference, and the International Youth Forum (held every four years).  In terms of cash value, the Community of Christ International Peace Award has been placed among the top 20 international, non-governmental peace awards in the world (in a list topped by the Nobel Peace Prize) and among the top seven in the United States.¹

Recipients represent diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, and faith. The Community of Christ International Peace Award honor roll includes Craig Kielburger, Rev. James Lawson, Jean Vanier, Ela Gandhi, Swanee G. Hunt, John Paul Lederach, Jane Goodall, Marie Fortune, Juan M. Flavier, Marian Wright Edelman, M. Scott Peck and Lily Peck, and Jehan Sadat.

 1.  Peter van den Dungen, "Peace Prizes," Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict, Volume 2, 1999, pages 795-808.