June 24, 2010

Are You Prepared to Go to Jail for Jesus?

by Rev. Scott Homer

Trinity Church is preparing to go to jail for Jesus. No, the police aren’t coming to handcuff us and carry us off. No, we haven’t violated the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Trinity Church, in cooperation with prison chaplain Denny Ugoletti, and a number of Trinity seminarians, is taking prayer, bible study, and Christian fellowship to the prisoners at Beaver County Jail. The program is slated to run on Sunday evenings and begins on July 11th.

Our goal is to establish a program at the jail that will instruct interested inmates in the fundamental teachings of the Great Tradition: the Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. Secondly, we hope to ground inmates in the rhythm of daily morning and evening prayer, to show that the Christian life is born out of an ancient tradition dating back all the way to the time of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is an exciting program that will challenge us to reach beyond our comfort zone. We will feel overwhelmed at times and that is good because it forces us to place ourselves in God’s hands and to rely upon God’s provision. And whenever we muster up the courage to do that…God blesses us and enriches our lives in extraordinary ways.

Already a couple members of the parish have expressed an interest and have taken the jail’s mandatory volunteer training course. Perhaps God is calling you to share your faith with men or women at the jail. Will you pray about it? Will you be bold enough to ask the Lord if this is a ministry for you or will you dismiss it out of hand? I pray that you will consider this new ministry opportunity by asking God to speak to you about it. Give me a call if you have any questions. I will be waiting to hear from you.

No comments: