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The prison reentry and aftercare ministry of St. Luke & St. Simon Cyrene Episcopal Church - Two Saints Prison Ministry |
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Episcopal Ministries |
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Supporting Central New York’s Prisoners & Families Inside and Out |
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Ministry What has been called prison ministry in the church has developed in a larger framework of reentry to community, and care for formerly imprisoned persons and their families. The social implications of the “big picture” are great too as they adversely affect entire large sections of the city.
Three areas of activity have occupied Two Saints parishioners concerned with such prison reentry and aftercare for youths, men, and women with experiences of incarceration.
Communal Prayers Two Saints weekly communal prayers draw attention to imprisoned men, women, and youths and to those reentering society. These prayers usefully remind us of an often unnoticed or overlooked aspect of community. Incarceration and reentry require much greater concentration and coordination of appropriate services to reduce costly recidivism, assist reentrants and their families, enhance public safety, and improve quality of life in urban neighborhoods.
Reentry Ministry Parishioners also take part in reentry ministry individually in the community. Our church participates with other churches in the PRAM ministry. One person, trained well as a reentry mentor by the Judicial Process Commission, consults weekly with a Monroe County inmate to help prepare and strengthen him for release. A second is active in Safer Monroe Area Reentry Team (SMART), which is dedicated mainly to small, extremely lean agencies providing reentry housing and other services. SMART assists these organizations with program operation, management, efficiency, fund raising, and growth in critically needed areas.
Girl Scouts Beyond Bars The Girl Scouts of Genesee Valley will soon launch a GSBB troop. Parishioners have taken part in planning for this start-up. We informed the congregation about outstanding GSBB outreach with newsletter articles, handouts, and at least one showing of a heartwarming video. About six parishioners attended a GSBB meeting at St. Thomas church that encouraged volunteering, an absolute necessity for program success. We hope the complexity of the application process will not discourage interested persons who would like to become engaged as GSBB volunteers. GSBB locally, patterned after some 40 such undertaking in the US, will serve daughters of women incarcerated in Monroe Correctional Facility and their mothers. This local effort will be the first GSBB operation in New York State. The GSBB “steering” committee also includes St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Samaritan Women, and Step by Step of Rochester.
Bob Seidel for the ministry, Rochelle Coley and Bob Seidel, chairs Two Saints is all on line at www.twosaints.org Contact: twosaints@prisonministry-edr.org |
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Other Ministries |