The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

It was part of a series of regional prison ministry conferences by the Rev. Jacqueline A. Means, criminal justice officer in the Episcopal Church's Office of Peace and Justice Ministries.

"The bishops, the clergy and lay ministers were open to dialogue and are working on the issues of reentry, inmates' children, gangs, faith-based programs, help for families traveling long distances to visit prisoners, and the private prison industry," she said.

Means, a former prison chaplain, addressed the 221st convention of the Diocese of Maryland, urging the delegates to start a camp program for inmates' children. She also urged a partnership with Big Brothers and Sisters to mentor the children, met with area prison ministers and the Prison Ministry Task Force, and visited the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown.

The convention adopted a resolution calling for prison ministry Sundays during Epiphany -- modeled after that of the Diocese of New York -- to focus on ways to support inmates, their families, prison ministers and staff members.

After preaching at Epiphany Church in Odenton, Maryland, May 8, where the congregation does preventive prison ministry, Means met with Annapolis area prison ministers, including leaders of Kairos, Touchstones Discussion Groups and the Maryland Justice Coalition.

In the nation's capital May 9, she met with Bishop John Bryson Chane of Washington and a member of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Stephen T. Rippe. She also worked with the Prison Ministry Committee and met with two White House Faith-based Initiative officials about funds for reentry and youth programs.

The next day, she met with Bishops James. J. Shand of Easton and Wayne Parker Wright of Delaware, and spoke to their Clericus members in Easton. On May 11, she addressed an ecumenical prison ministry group and urged those attending to minister to families traveling to the nearby state prison.

There, she addressed more than 200 inmates at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Princess Anne, Maryland.

"You have a purpose in life," she told the inmates. "Most of you are probably on a faith journey. Consider this a resting place. Show society you do have value and worth, and want to do the right thing. Give people a chance.

"Many of us are fighting on your behalf. There are people out there who care for you. Let the light shine through one another, and don't give up," she added, to a standing ovation.

Means recently spearheaded and attended regional multidiocesan prison ministry conferences in North Carolina, Florida and the dioceses of the Four Corners in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

She said she has found in her travels around the country a new awareness about the immensity of the "industrialized prison complex, the fastest-growing industry in the nation."

She said she saw "more attention being paid to the problems this industry creates. There is a greed for more prisons and longer sentences to pay for them." She pointed to plans in Memphis for the largest for-profit prison in the country and efforts by the faith community to stop it.

"The shipping of fathers and mothers to private prisons in far-flung states is guaranteeing a new generation of frightened, angry, disenfranchised children, who are future inmates," she said, adding that "families who try to visit loved ones are treated as suspects in many prisons. The children cannot understand the lack of warmth and hospitality in the visiting rooms."

The Episcopal Church's General Convention is on record in opposition to private prisons.

For Peace and Justice Ministries:
www.episcopalchurch.org/peace-justice
For Prison Ministry Network News.
-- Val Hymes is editor of Prison Ministry Network News.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_62396_ENG_HTM.htm