There is a young woman in the jail Circle who is dealing with serious grief. I went to visit her, though she hadn’t requested a visit. She was very grateful and we talked for quite some time. There were tears of grief, regret, and loneliness, but there was also hope and new direction. She is new to all things religious, a former cynic. She is giving faith in God a try.

This week was her third time attending Circle. As soon as we got in our classroom she handed me a prayer song she had written. She said she had a tune but couldn’t remember it very well. I asked her if she would read it for us, which she did toward the end of our time. I also asked if I could share it with others and she readily agreed to that as well. I told her it would be anonymous; she said I could use her name. I told her when she got out, if she still wanted to, we would share her name as well.

Her prayer song was inspired by the stories we have been learning in Mark about John the Baptist and Jesus’ baptism and testing. One thing we focussed on was how God told Jesus, “I love you; I’m very pleased with you.” I said that I believe God feels that way about each of us and we should listen to hear the words addressed to us as well as to Jesus. This young woman is beginning to hear and to believe that good news.

Shattered

How could God forgive me again?
Will I ever learn? Probably not…
But Jesus knows where you’ve been
He knows every hurt we’ve got…

(chorus)
he says “I’ve been here all along,
Even when you pull away.
Through the right and wrong,
I stand by you every day.”

Tears flow as she cried
“my heart’s just too shattered”
Jesus said, “That’s why I died
Saving you is what mattered!”

She finally took his hand
Letting Jesus lead the way
He will always understand
His life he chose to pay…

(chorus)
he says “I’ve been here all along,
Even when you pull away.”
Through the right and wrong,
he stood by you every day.

The cause is never lost
It’ll never be too late
No matter what the cost,
Jesus turns your pathway straight…

September 27, 2017
Montgomery OH County Jail

Last Friday at the prison we did two Connections rounds for the story of Jesus’ baptism and testing (Mark 1:9-13).

The first one was about baptism—our own or someone else’s. One of us who is a Circlekeeper started us off by telling how she requested and received a second baptism, done when she was old enough to remember and choose for herself.

Several of the women had also been baptized twice. They apparently had a course about baptism at the prison and then, if one chose, she would be baptized. It was clearly very meaningful for all of them, a spiritual experience so profound they found it difficult to describe, but that they felt changed their lives.

As I listened, I thought about my worship professor in seminary and how strongly he argued against more than one baptism. It made sense at the time, in the abstract, but not so much last Friday with these flesh and blood Christians. I wasn’t about to say their second baptisms were “theologically incorrect” or somehow didn’t count.

To tell the truth, I think those baptisms counted for a lot. I think they were fully sacramental, outward signs of inward grace. As I heard their stories I imagined God saying to each of them just as God said to Jesus, “I am very pleased with you!”

Storyboard for “Jesus Is Baptized and Tested” (Mark 1:9-13)

What we heard when we listened to the story about Jesus’ baptism and testing from Mark

Yesterday we engaged the story of “Jesus Is Baptized and Tested” (Mark 1:9-13). A couple of the “Word I Heard” responses were not words or phrases in the story, but had come to the women while listening to the story. That’s an option I give.

One response was “depressed descendants” and another was “second chances.” Another I recall, which was in the story, was “God said, ‘I love you.” The first person to get the talking piece shared these words.

In a follow-up round to naming our words/phrases, participants were invited to tell why they picked the words they picked. Several women shared their reasons. Their explanations were spoken “from the heart” as our Circle guidelines suggest.

I had initially passed since I couldn’t recall that any word or phrase had particularly caught my attention while I told the story. But as I listened to the women, I recalled words that did stand out for me. They were similar to those spoken by the first person to share. They were, “God tells us ‘I love you.'” I wanted each woman present, me included, to hear God saying “I love you.”

I always wish I could remember what is said In Circle rounds because there is often significant spiritual wisdom expressed. I am regularly impressed by how articulate and well spoken and thoughtful responses of the women can be. But it is usually just a blessing of the moment that leaves an impression rather than a concrete memory.

Almost on time our Circle was over and the chaplain arrived to escort the women back to their pod. The group started to file out the door. On her way out one woman new to Circle said, “That was fun!” I was glad to hear it.

In 1998, George (Leo) Diaz preached for his graduating class of a program sponsored by New York Theological Seminary. Mr. Diaz was an inmate incarcerated in Sing Sing Correctional Facility. His sermon on Ezekiel 37:1-14 began with this invitation:

There are vast numbers of valleys filled with dry bones in the world today, but for now let us turn our attention to the prisons where a whole multitude of brothers need that breath of life blown into them.

What has Jesus empowered you to do with regard to our neighbors impacted by incarceration? Thanks to misguided public policy, the United States has the highest percentage of incarcerated citizens in the world. So we have a lot of neighbors in this situation: those who are inside penal institutions, those who have been inside; friends, family, and victims of those who are or have been inside

There are so many angles and issues related to the criminal justice system it is hard to know where to start. It can be so overwhelming that you don’t want to start at all! For each angle, each issue, there is an opportunities–a way in which individuals and faith communities can get involved in addressing the realities of mass incarceration.

Too decide which direction to turn, I found a helpful categorization of these ways in a resource compiled by Betsey Heavner. Her “Congregational Toolbox for Prison Ministry” is available online from the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church. The Toolbox categorizes seven ways for churches to embrace our neighbors impacted by incarceration, from prevention to advocacy.

Download a PDF for a handout I created listing the seven categories, with suggested activities under each:
7-ways-to-engage_handout

Click here to visit the GBOD site and order the “Congregational Toolbox for Prison Ministry” PDF.

 

“Word I Heard” cards from Sacred Stories on Mark 1:1-8

After a two-month break, we launched both Sacred Stories (jail) and Circle of the Word (prison) this week. The theme for the series this Fall is “Telling the Good News: Stories of Mark 1” beginning with the story of John the Baptizer (Mark 1:1-8).

Both groups of women were terrific. We had 13 come to Sacred Stories. Susan, my co-Circlekeeper, had told John 1:1-14 for worship this week on Sunday and I had preached. So, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” was rumbling around in our heads even as we engaged “The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave