June 9, 2020
As Jesus the Liberator enters our 25th year, we have been practicing the African parable of Sankofa – looking back to move forward. Therefore, we have been putting our archives in order and completing our 3rd book, which contains organizational history.
This summer will be our 5th anniversary at St. John’s Grace, our 5th “House of Witness.” We hope that it will be a long-lasting relationship. In the spirit of mutual redemption and collective support and consciousness, we would like to thank a few members of St. John’s Grace, another “cloud of witnesses”…
Rev. Judy Breny was the pastor that invited us to St. John’s Grace. I have written about her previously but will briefly say that her vision of the Christian Church as witness and advocate of the “poor, oppressed and long-suffering” harmonized with our work. David Mathewson, the long time parish administrator and music director, advocated for us and supported and made our transition seamless. Kathy Stelter was a prudent gatekeeper and assessed, approved and handed us a key. Tom Lochner was also a virtuous gatekeeper. Herb Hogue fixed any structural issues of the building space. Lydell Gilbert was a warm soul who was always pleasant to be around and made us feel welcome and helped transform our rental space from a storage area into an office. Dr. James Martin was on our board and expanded our consciousness of “Christian Humanism,” “ego-strength for inmates” and gave brilliant analysis of teaching methods that encouraged reading and writing, which enhanced our theological correspondence program. John Schimminger and Stefana Paskoff worked on evaluations for our archiving, as did David Lillvis, who also introduced St. Anselms’s Proslogion, which harmonized with our pedagogy in that he wrote about a “faith seeking understanding.” Ann Dutton attended some of our talks and informed us of the goodness, potential, rituals and history of the Episcopalian tradition. Robert Peterson assisted us in many direct and intangible ways. Vanessa Pelligrenetti created a Rembrandt-esq cover drawing for our upcoming book. Rev. Jon Lavelle, the current minister, inspired us by combining the pastoral and prophetic aspects of the Christian Church. And Colleen Morrissey was a good friend and has helped us promote this work of mercy and justice by giving us space to write about it…
In keeping with the brevity of this column, I could not tell all the details and wonders of the above people or mention many others.
I will mention that Gabrie’l Atchison, who was the parish administrator at St. John’s Grace, became fundamental to our organization.
June 4, 2020
As Jesus the Liberator enters our 25th year, we have been practicing the African parable of Sankofa – looking back to move forward. Therefore, we have been putting our archives in order and completing our 3rd book, which contains organizational history.
Relative to the uprisings we are witnessing, Gabrie’l Atchison writes in our forthcoming book that “Mass incarceration has its origins in the unwillingness of a slaveholding class to let go of people they once held as property, and has swallowed up generations of African Americans disproportionately…”
The members of the police force that killed George Floyd are an extension of the authoritarian apparatus that manifests in prisons, police, court systems, parole, bail bonds, ICE (immigration customs enforcement), border patrol, facial recognition technology and surveillance, homeland security and a host of similar entities. How can any moral person not resist this? Does not morality imply a resistance to death?
Part of our resistance is to support, advocate and give a space for people in prison.
May 28, 2020
As Jesus the Liberator enters our 25th year, we have been practicing the African parable of Sankofa – looking back to move forward. Therefore, we have been putting our archives in order and completing our 3rd book, which contains organizational history.
Within that 3rd book is a section entitled “The Cloud of Witnesses.” This refers to the book of Hebrews 12:1. Jesus the Liberator has been blessed by a multitude of witnesses – some within prison and some without. I included two ministers of St. John’s Grace as witnesses…
“Rev. Judy Breny was a student of James Cone and Black Liberation Theology. She had a vision of the church as a bridge between rich and poor neighborhoods and invited us to use the space as an office and new home. Her sense of church and justice collaborated and supported our efforts.”
“Rev. Jon Lavelle was the minister of our host church who filled in when Judy stepped down. His years of ecumenical and interfaith service in the Middle East gave him a unique voice and critique of the Christian Empire of America, which affirmed our libratory educational approach.”
The 2 excerpts above are taken from our forthcoming publication, More to this Confession: Relational Prison Theology.
May 19, 2020
As Jesus the Liberator enters our 25th year, we have been practicing the African parable of Sankofa – looking back to move forward. Therefore, we have been putting our archives in order and completing our 3rd book, which contains organizational history.
Our foundation is built upon Judeo-Christian principles and consciousness and service to/for/with poor people, particularly those incarcerated. We were founded by ministers and professors trained and educated in Western liberal arts traditions of broad and diverse theoretical perspectives and methodologies. And so, our view of Jesus and the Christian tradition incorporates layers of knowledge.
What is the correlation between Buddhist meditation and cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) and how does that relate to Jesus claiming that the “Kingdom of God is within” and how can all of this benefit an inmate who uses her/his time for conscious evolution and spiritual growth?
Do Jung’s theories of the collective unconscious correlate with Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) and other 12 step programs that affect so many people incarcerated?
How does Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs correlate with Thomas Keating’s steps leading to “unitive” consciousness expressed in Centering Prayer benefit the inmate meditating?
These are some of the questions of Prison Theology.
Prison Theology 