Reconciliation & Re-entry (R&R) Ministry

 

 

What is the R&R Ministry?

          The R&R Ministry creates Partnerships between individuals (the “Partner”) leaving prison and faith teams (“FT”) to help the Partner and the Durham community reconnect and restore wholeness to one another.

 

Why is the R&R Ministry Needed?

          People leaving prison face several challenges upon returning to Durham.  These include the adverse impact of the prison experience; difficulty in finding and keeping a job and affordable, decent housing; avoiding substance abuse; forming and maintaining good relationships; finding safe, healthy activities to fill spare time; and connecting with helpful community resources.

          A FT is particularly well-suited to help the Partner meet these challenges and successfully integrate back into Durham.  By doing so, the FT elevates the spiritual wholeness of the Partner, the congregation and community and helps effectuate restorative justice.

 

What is the Commitment?

          After training, the Partner and the FT enter a covenantal relationship for one year, which can be extended upon their consent.  They agree to work together to help the Partner achieve agreed-upon goals.  Activities include interactions like conversations, walks, cultural or entertainment opportunities, and congregational events.

 

What Training and Support is Offered?

          The FT participates in 2 – 3 training sessions of 3 – 4 hours each to become familiar with the criminal justice system; needs and goals of the Partner; the nature and boundaries of the relationship with the Partner; how to develop and maintain the FT; and resources in the community that can help.

          FT’s will be part of ongoing support groups and periodically receive additional training.

 

To learn more, contact Marcia Owen, mowen8@nc.rr.com

Statements on Why People of Faith Should Participate in the R&R Ministry.

 

1.     Christianity

            Why should Christians help ex-offenders successfully return to their community after leaving prison?

            Born in the Hebrew tradition of “shalom,” peace with justice, the teachings of Jesus instruct us boldly and clearly to “love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10: 27-28) 

            So who is the neighbor deserving of our love? The Parables of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), the Last Judgment (Mathew 25:31-48) and the Workers in the Vineyard (Mathew 20: 1-16) make clear that our neighbor is the stranger and all who are hungry, sick, impoverished, victimized, or imprisoned. Throughout the scriptures Jesus implores us to understand that in the eyes of God justice is a process of restoring wholeness through acts of mercy, compassion and forgiveness.

            Jesus repeatedly challenges us to love one another as God loves us. The Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5: 1-11) describes in detail how we receive God’s blessings through our actions and purpose. The Beatitudes make clear that we are to seek that which is of God and to put aside that which is not. The human desire for vengeance must yield to divine reconciliation wrought by God in Jesus Christ. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ make all human beings brothers and sisters reconciled irrevocably to one another.

            This ministry of reconciliation and restorative justice through loving service to those who have offended seeks to enact the spirituality put forth in Galatians 6:1 that reads, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in the spirit of gentleness.”

 

2.     Judaism

            Why should Jews help offenders successfully return to their

community after leaving prison?

In the Jewish Tradition, we are called upon to free the captive [Deuteronomy 15:12, 23:16].  This includes a released inmate.  Because even after an offender is set free from his cell and allowed back to the outside world, he is often still a captive - a prisoner of both his past experiences and his present inability to meet basic human needs on the outside.

            The Jewish Tradition also calls on us to be kind to the stranger [Exodus 22:20] and even to “Love the stranger as yourself” [Leviticus 19:34].  This includes an offender.  No person becomes more a stranger to their community and even their family than many who are incarcerated for several years.     

            Perhaps the most compelling reason to help offenders is found in a story about the time the ancient Rabbis were discussing which verse in the Bible is most important.  Rabbi Akiba spoke up first, saying it was Leviticus 19:18 – “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Rabbi Shimon ben Azzai then said it was Genesis 5:1 – “In the day that God created man, in the image of God did God make him.”

            Jews find great wisdom in the second view.  It’s true that the first view, loving all people, all our neighbors, is a worthy goal to strive for.  However, as a practical matter, most of us are not able to truly do this.  But even if we can’t feel love for the offender who has committed dreadful crimes, we can always remember that he, too, is made in the image of God, and that behind his face and every human face is the face of God.  So as the bearer of the Divine image, he, too, is entitled to the esteem and reverence in which we hold the face of God.

            Finally, Jewish Tradition calls on us as a partner of God to heal, repair and transform a world that is broken and in need of our help.  If we build a relationship with the offender, and help him reconnect and be welcomed back into the community, we help to repair and redeem the spirit of the offender, and the community, and the world, and ultimately ourselves.