Thankfully, our Lane County Jail was on top of the Covid 19 outbreak early-on, developing a safety plan for inmates, staff and volunteers, including chaplains. Unfortunately, implementation of the plan included exclusion of our Chaplains Team beginning in mid-March.

St. Mary’s Prison Jail Ministry is the work of the whole community. It enlists the resources of faith communities and human service organizations in helping the successful reintegration of offenders through non-judgmental, affirming presence promoting spiritual healing.

On Sunday, June 5th Deacon Tom English who also serves as Board Chair of Sponsors and Bill Hogan from the Sponsors Mentorship Program provided an Adult Education program on possibilities for lay ministry available to St. Mary’s parishioners. The program was well attended and I was asked to provide something of a summary for The Bellringer. What follows is a summary of that program.