2004 Report of the Prison Ministry Director
My introduction to CLF came in 2000-2001, when I was fortunate
to serve and learn as the ministerial intern. One of my most
significant personal discoveries that year was that I have
a passion for bringing the hopeful message of Unitarian Universalism
to people in prison. My pastoral correspondences with incarcerated
CLF members introduced me to people and to a ministry that
changed my life, but it soon became apparent that I could
not possibly write all the letters that wanted to be written.
A CLF prison pen pal program seemed to be the perfect solution,
with the added benefit that free world CLF members would now
have this valuable volunteer opportunity.
Over the next two and a half years the pen pal program grew,
most recently administered by Cecilia Owen, who also designed
a wonderful brochure for the program. In October 2003 Cecilia
moved on to other work, and I was delighted to return to CLF,
this time as the director of the Prison Ministry for six hours
each week.
In 2 ½ years, prisoner membership had remained steady
at about 60, with about 40 of these members matched up with
pen pals. Today, 6 months later, CLF has 100 incarcerated
members, an increase of 67%. My guess at an explanation for
this rapid increase is that it is the result of the respect
CLF staff extends to prisoners, the excellence of our message
and materials, and word of mouth among prisoners. In the “good
problem to have” category, staff is increasingly hard
pressed to keep up with the growing abundance of prisoner
inquiries and membership applications.
In the same period the pen pal program has grown by half
to 60 matches, and there has been something of a deluge of
inquiries from UU’s wanting to become pen pals. This
is clearly the result of CLF’s advertising the program
in various UU media, and the response has been gratifying.
It’s also likely that the UUA’s SAI on Prison
Reform has had an effect.
In addition to the work of the Rev. Anne Hines, our Prison
Chaplain who corresponds with some of our members who have
somewhat more complicated pastoral needs, we have reached
out to UU ministers nationally, and to retired ministers in
particular, to become “pastoral pen pals.” Eight
ministers are currently part of the pen pal program.
A larger concern for CLF’s prison ministry is the relative
invisibility of Unitarian Universalism in the nation’s
prison systems. I have begun exploring the possibilities of
addressing this issue through contacts with prison authorities
and chaplains, so far in Massachusetts, North Carolina, and
California, in hopes of building processes that will bring
CLF and Unitarian Universalism to a wider spectrum of prisoners.
At this point in its development, the Prison Ministry is
poised for even greater expansion. Our challenge, I believe,
will be to maintain the quality of our outreach to prisoners
within current staffing levels.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Reis, Prison Ministry Director
Last updated June 12, 2005
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