Memorial Service for Damilola Taylor and Victims of Youth Violence 2000-2008

This is holy ground – we should take off our shoes. We are here for Damilola Taylor, and for the families still grieving for their young ones murdered on our streets for the past eight years. We are treading on the holy ground of human grief, of love wounded by violence.

And yet on this holy ground, where we must tread so gently, there are voices we must hear, and things we must learn. For we stand also at the foot of the cross, where I believe God took upon himself our sorrows and our love turned in on itself, so that we may return from our self-imposed exile to our true home of love.

Victims of violence evoke strong emotions. Today's service stirs up these emotions in all of us. But for Damilola Taylor's family, and for the families of all those whose children have been murdered, those strong feelings are never far away.

Above all there is the grief: 'a voice heard in Ramah – mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children' – that's how Jeremiah recalled the inconsolable sorrow of those whose children had been slaughtered. And it is a reference picked up by St Matthew in his description of the massacre of innocent children by King Herod.

Innocents, victims, perpetrators – this should not be!

So alongside our feelings of grief there wells up a righteous anger – not the anger that seeks revenge – but anger that some of our youngsters have been caught up in turf wars – damaged in that terrible process which Topol, in 'The Fiddler on the Roof' described when he said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth will make the whole world blind and toothless'.

Alongside the grief and the anger there's regret - the many 'if only's with which we torment ourselves – if only he'd walked home a different way. If only he hadn't fallen in with that crowd, if only we'd done this or that.

Then there's the fear. Not just fear for the safety of our streets. It is also the fear that the violence out there mirrors the prejudice and racism and violence that still lurks within us.

In the words of Alexander Ivanovich Herzen, the great Russian social philosopher, and political journalist:

"Only the strong acknowledges his fault,

only the strong is humble

only the strong forgives -

and indeed only the strong laughs,

though often his laughter is equal to tears."

Let me return you to the area of anger.

Anger often comes from our dark side. When it's out of control it can be outrageous and dangerous. But in the right place anger can become a potent voice for change.

Listen to Aristotle, who gave us the first picture of civil society.

"Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person to the right degree, at the right time for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not easy."

I want us all to exercise an "appropriate" anger. There is too much inappropriate anger in some people - and too little appropriate anger in others. Could we rediscover our appropriate anger and channel it into hope for the young people of our cities? Like the youngster in Birmingham who organised a very big rally after the shooting of Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis, crying Enough is Enough. Not another drop of blood! That appropriate anger broke the wall of silence laeding to a successful prosecution and conviction.

We heard a reading from Revelation 21 which talks about the streets of another City – not London, Birmingham, Manchester or York, but the Heavenly City.

A city where the streets are not stained by death and where there is no more weeping, no more tears, no more pain. A city full of light – paved with goodness, love and justice. In passing, I wonder what God will do to those who have never wept for their failure to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with their God"? (Micah 6:8)

For St John this city is our calling. It is our destination. It's our focus, our prayer, our life. We long for this city and its ways. Our days may be lived out in exile now, but we dare to live in hope of the city that is to come. For in that city, the God, who pitched his fleshly tent among us in Jesus Christ, will be our God, and we will be his people.

In the meantime, there's plenty for us to do. Our cities here could be communities of reconciliation, love and justice! They could be a foretaste of the eternal city!

In Revelation we hear of the Holy City welcoming in the wealth of the nations, the glory and honour of their offering. And this wealth of the nations is the gifts and talents of each individual member, young and old. No-one is without a gift from God which must be used and celebrated here in our communities and will be welcomed in the eternal city.

I think of people I have come across recently who are using their gifts to show there is a better way than the way of violence. It is great to hear of them: -

· Street pastors – out late at night on the streets of our towns and cities, making friends, being there to listen, often defusing tense situations, offering care and compassion.

· Mentors and role models – some of them ex-gang members who have been transformed, community activists, volunteers from all walks of life getting alongside young people who could so easily end up either as killers or the killed.

· "Bringing Hope in Birmingham" and its Damascus Road programme, is doing just that for many disaffected young people.

· Parents and Campaigners, and in particular The Mothers Against Violence - Doreen Lawrence, Gloria Regan, the departed Gloria Taylor, Beverly Thomas, Marcia Shakespeare. Women of passion and justice who transform their tragedy into a shining light to guide others.

For, while our hearts cry out for justice, our communities need to be built on hope for all their members.

Gloria Taylor's heart was broken because she couldn't understand why anyone would attack her young son of ten. The families of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare couldn't understand how people they knew came to shoot the girls. Other grieving families need to find a way of understanding and being able to rebuild lives that have been damaged by these crimes. There must be a new attitude, a new readiness to approach one another as human beings in a more radical, and perhaps more vulnerable and humble way.

For the sake of the families of all those involved, a vital part of the way we respond to these tragedies in our streets must be linked to the concept of Restorative Justice.

What does this justice look like? What are the principles that we must employ to restore those who have been injured?

· First, Justice should serve the victims and their families.

· Secondly, those most directly involved and affected by crime must be involved in the solution.

· Thirdly, Justice must serve the interests of the community because crime harms not only the victim but injures also the safety and stability of the community.

· Fourthly, Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done and done expeditiously. The ideal in a democracy is for people to respect the law and not merely fear it.

· Fifthly, Justice must seek penitence and rehabilitation because punishment alone is not enough. To punish where necessary and to rehabilitate where possible are both requirements of a just system.

For this to happen we must all accept the principles of Responsibility, Respect and Restoration. We must also be ready to exercise Repentance, Reconciliation, and Forgiveness.

I think of one young man who attends the M13 – a church project in Manchester – he said,

"When I started to come, I was mixing with the wrong crowd. I was involved in street robbery, got arrested and sent to court. At M13 they went through with me how what I had done had affected the victim. This made me see sense. They gave me a reference, and it helped me in court a lot. I have gained confidence in saying no to people when I know it's wrong. I am now off the streets and going to Cadets, Territorial Army, and M13."

What a transformation!

And it is transformation we need on every side.

We need to create communities that are at peace with each other and where owning up to our crimes has become second nature. How? By making our criminal justice system just, where the foundation is truth, restoration, and reconciliation.

The vision in Revelation is of a city transformed. For us this is revolutionary – a transformation which is moral, social, and economic.

Such a transformation requires commitment and courage, it is rooted in solidarity and community, it finds its voice in the transformed lives of individuals who become the catalysts for change.

I know there will be people who will say that this is all just "pie in the sky", "wishful thinking".

To those nay-sayers I would say look at the Berlin wall crumbled beneath our feet, look at the system of Apartheid in ruins, look at the slave chains left on the walls of our museums.

The victory is ultimately already ours. So to those who would pick up a knife or wield a weapon I say, put it down and come over to our side. We have won already. We cannot be overcome. Leave violence behind and join the winning side. Stop being a loser.

How can we do this? Mahatma Ghandi famously said, "Be the change you want to see in the world".

My message to young people is, be that Change, be that catalyst of hope in your community. Stand up to criminality, denounce violence, turn your back on drugs and embrace generosity instead. Seize the best of life, glory in the goodness of it, and then live it before God and humanity alike.

My message to parents in our cities is, be parents. Don't duck your responsibility of raising, nurturing and educating your child. If you need help, please shout from the rooftops before it's too late.

And all of us must heed their pleas for help. As we say in Africa, "It takes the whole village to raise, nurture and educate a child". Let us all participate in this responsibility.

As Abraham Heschel has said, "We must continue to remind ourselves that in a free society, all are involved in what some are doing. Some are guilty, all are responsible". [1]

We need to recognise our common humanity and our common responsibility in bringing about new hope for our young people and their families.

My message to our government, our churches, our communities is: reach out to young people, to all who are desperately searching for identity, meaning and belonging. When crime involving young people is on the increase, we can stem the tide by our commitment to reach them and draw them into our circle of love.

But we must also remember that, as well as being a tragedy for our communities and our society, each death is an individual tragedy taking place within an individual set of circumstances. For example, during our Review of the murder of Damilola Taylor, The University of Luton brought out a report which indicated that "the effect of public spending levels during the 1980s had dramatically reduced much needed community and youth provision in the Peckham area.

The numbers of youth workers and support services were diminished, with the result that there was an increase in powerful peer group loyalties, supplanting traditional family and community ties."[2]

To counter the threat and fear of gang culture, and the displacement and exclusion of our young people, we must provide education, community support, practical and social facilities for families, structures of love and care which can build them into a society of love and give them hope.

Let us do all we can to help our children and young people to feel and know the warmth of God's love and welcome.

Let us encourage all those who work to restore the outcast to a place in society – to raise the fallen – to gather together children who aren't loved – and to bring the wanderers home. "Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven".

Young people will change the world. They have so much to give us.

Today we remember those who have died – and we pray for all whose grief goes on. But in their memory we commit ourselves to a better way. To the way of faith, hope, and love. A way of truth, restoration and reconciliation.

A Rabbi asked his disciples how they knew that night had ended and the day was dawning. "Could it be" said one, "when you see an animal in the distance and can tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?". "No" replied the Rabbi. "Could it be" asked a second, "when you look at a tree in the distance and can tell whether it's a fig or an olive tree?". "No" the Rabbi replied. "Well then, what is it"? the disciples pressed

"It is when you can look on the face of any woman or man and see that she or he is your sister or brother. If you cannot do this, no matter what time it is, it is still night".

We must begin to recognise one another and to love one another, for that way lies our hope and our future.

As St Augustine of Hippo said,

"What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of humanity. That is what love looks like."

Friends, sisters, brothers. Let peace dawn upon our cities, upon our homes, upon our families. Please stand and say to the person on your left and on your right: "Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God."