Reflections on Restorative Justice: Rev. Stuart Lyster

After almost 50 years of involvement in restorative justice concerns relating to Correctional Services Canada, the Church Council on Justice and Corrections (CCJC) has merged with the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC). A national, non-partisan, faith-based coalition, rooted in the Christian tradition and initiated by the CCC and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops 50 years ago, the CCJC has returned home.  

“This merger will permit the work of CCJC to continue within a more stable framework and continue a long and fruitful relationship,” wrote Chair Pam Dillon to the CCJC board of directors in June 2023. “[The merger] will allow us not only to continue the historic work of CCJC, but also to consider other projects that align with the foundational values of CCJC in its mandate to pursue the values of restorative justice and reconciliation within the correctional system in Canada.” 

For the past seven years, at the heart of this work has been Rev. Stuart Lyster, a deeply committed representative of the United Church to the CCJC and the vice-president of the CCJC’s board of directors.  

“The upshot of this merger, practically, is that The United Church of Canada will have concluded its sponsorship of a rep to the Board of Directors of CCJC, a position I have held since 2018. It is with gratitude that all this has become complete,” says Lyster, noting his gratitude to Peter Noteboom, Pam Dillon, Maria Simkova, Karen Puddicombe, and Danielle Lever, CCJC's volunteer bookkeeper, for steering both organizations through the transition. “The mountain of work done to facilitate this merger has been incredible to watch.” 

A retired United Church clergy from White Rock, British Columbia, Lyster’s work in corrections and restorative justice outside the CCJC is extensive, including conducting prison visitations. In the 1990s, he volunteered with Crown Counsel’s Victim Services at the Surrey, British Columbia, courthouse. In 2011 and 2012 he made two visits to political prisoners in jail in the Philippines, and co-founded the United Church Foundation’s Legal Defense Fund Philippines for bail bonds, lawyers’ fees, and family travel for inmates identified as political prisoners. 

Recently he has begun working with the chaplaincy at the Fraser Valley Institution for Women near Abbotsford, British Columbia, and has conducted a wedding there. He has spoken about restorative justice at many Vancouver-area churches. 

Lyster has also been involved in innocence projects, and with the Interfaith Committee on Chaplaincy of the Correctional Service Canada (CSC). In particular, he advocated for prisoner contact with chaplains to occur not as part of a prisoner’s correctional plan, but as a guarantee under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which courts have ruled still applies, mainly, to prisoners.  

“Many faith traditions require totally confidential contact, which CSC in practice does not accommodate,” Lyster says. “CSC in practice still sees religious contact only as yet another security issue, or as an avenue to assess security issues.” 

Lyster attended the 2018 Restorative Justice Symposium in Saskatoon, an experience he considers to have been “seminal, in terms of sorting out both the incredible value, but also some of the pitfalls, of [restorative justice].” 

With the work of the CCJC as a separate organization now complete, Lyster says its legacy will be a positive one.  

“The CCJC leaves behind a legacy of positive influence in corrections, including the abolishing of capital punishment in Canada,” he says. “It has been a privilege to have been involved these last seven years.” 

—Rev. Stuart Lyster is a volunteer who is passionate about restorative justice. He retires after seven years with the Church Council on Justice and Corrections (CCJC).  

The views contained within these blogs are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of The United Church of Canada.