Week 6: You were in prison.

“Lord, when was it that we saw you in prison and visited you?”

Week 6

Simple Actions

Children

• Pray for families of incarcerated people.

• Talk about forgiveness.

Youth

• Write encouragement notes; visit or write a letter to someone who is incarcerated.

• Learn about restorative justice.

Families

• Discuss mercy and second chances.

• Pray for those who feel forgotten.

• Write messages to immigrants imprisoned over the multi-faith holidays concurrent with Lent and Easter (including Ramadan, Holi, Passover)

Congregations

• Include weekly prayers for incarcerated people.

• Support prison or re-entry ministries.

• Learn what re-entry resources and supports are available in your community or area for incarcerated persons who have completed their sentences.

Worship & Advocacy Tie-In

• Pair with ELCA Prison, Re-entry, and Advocacy Network resources.

  • Read the ELCA social statement on the Death Penalty

  • ELCA Action Alert: Speak Out for People in Immigration Detention — Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona

  • Read about the ELCA Prison, Re-entry and Advocacy Network (PRAN): Prison Reentry and Advocacy Network

  • Learn about the Inside Out Network in Arizona and beyond: Arizona, Oregon, and Beyond: Inside Out Network Expands Support — Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA

  • View the 2019 Ken Burns documentary “College Behind Bars”:  Watch College Behind Bars | A Documentary About the Power of Education | PBS or College Behind Bars - Ken Burns

  • Explore prison ministry opportunities at http://KairosPrisonMinistry.com

  • Learn about the Women’s Higher Education in Prison Consortium: www.fepps.WHEP

• Observe Holy Week themes of justice and redemption.