Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry

Before I move on to the new topic for this coming week, I want to tell you about a program that helps incarcerated Unitarian Universalists find community. The Prison Ministry, run by the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), provides fellowship and ministerial guidance to incarcerated men and women.

If you know someone who is incarcerated and is looking for spiritual support and fellowship, please tell them about the Prison Ministry. The Prison Ministry welcomes people who are new to Unitarian Universalism, as most of their members are. Through the continued generosity of the Church of the Larger Fellowship’s pledging members, the CLF has been able to offer a free church membership to prisoners who are interested in Unitarian Universalism and would like to join the CLF. Information about joining is available here.

The Prison Ministry sends Unitarian Universalist publications to prisoners, and also offers a Letter-Writing Ministry. The Letter-Writing Ministry facilitates the exchange of letters between prisoners who have joined the CLF and non-incarcerated Unitarian Universalists. The Letter-Writing Ministry is carefully designed as a safe and worthwhile way for incarcerated and non-incarcerated Unitarian Universalists to connect.

This excerpt from the Prison Ministry website illustrates why this program is so important:

” Every week, the Church of the Larger Fellowship gets letters from prisoners all across the US : ‘I hear you’re a church where you don’t have to believe in God?’ … ‘My cellie tells me you’re open to pagans and Wiccans’… ‘Can you send me anything about religion and being gay?’…

And every week, we read comments in prisoners’ CLF membership applications that echo what UUs hear every Sunday during coffee hour: ‘I can’t believe I found a church that will let me believe what I already believe, and still help me explore and deepen my personal spirituality’ … ‘Oh, how I wish I’d found y’all sooner! When I think about how my life might be so different today’ … ‘Here’s my application to join your church. Please rush me a list of everything you’ve got in your lending library!’ “

The Prison Ministry welcomes non-incarcerated volunteers who have been members of a Unitarian Universalist congregation for at least six months to participate in the Letter-Writing Ministry. For more information about how you can participate, please click here.

Updated March 24, 2007.Â