2025 Jail and Prison Ministry Training
The Missions Team is partnering with the Arkansas Sheriffs' Association to provide jail/prison-ministry-related training.
Fellow Arkansan and retired federal prison chaplain/author - Chaplain Rebecca Lewis - will be our guest for training and Q&A.
Every participant will receive a copy of her book "Streetwise Prison Ministry."
Who can atttend: Anyone interested in jail/prison ministry - this is not a "denominational" training
When: Saturday, January 25, 2025 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Where: Arkansas Baptist State Convention 10 Remington Drive, Little Rock
Cost: $20 per person; pre-registration required - see below. (book/snacks/coffee provided)
Here is what to expect: Every year thousands of religious individuals and groups of all faiths volunteer to enter into jails and prisons to bring hope to the incarcerated. But while their intention is honorable, many of these volunteers run into the reality of a highly dysfunctional, complicated and often volatile environment hostile by it’s nature to those efforts. Jail and prison ministry is not just about bringing the gospel of deliverance to the inmates through religious programming and spiritual counseling. Wise ministry comes from knowing the dynamics of the mission field which is often filled with the condensed darkness of human suffering and evil and many wolf traps. Effective jail and prison ministry requires the religious volunteer to have an awareness of the inner nuances of that environment. A study of inmate religious games, security issues that affect civilians entering to minister, as well as their own personal perceptions of ministry in a secular environment, is part of being fully equipped for that mission. Jail and prison ministry is not for the naïve in matters that may sabotage or weaken the intended purpose of those religious volunteers who seek to bring the hope of the gospel into the dark places that are our jails and prisons.