NOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INNOVATIVE MINIST Healing Communities for Former Prisoners

Healing Communities was formed to assist formerly incarcerated men and women and their families, as well as those at risk of incarceration. The organization enters into partnership with Christian congregations throughout the United States to become Stations of Hope for persons affected by the criminal justice system. Harold Trulear, national director of Healing Communities, said

the organization grew out of a meeting in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, in 2006, at the Annie E. Casey Foundation “to discuss ways in which congregations could be a part of the redemption of prisoners.” Over the next year, these persons were joined by leadership from the Progressive National Baptist Convention, a Baptist World Alliance member organization, which formed a Social Justice and Prison Ministry Commission. That commission worked with representatives of the foundation and other key Christian leaders to produce a model for a relationally based prison ministry and prisoner reentry program called Healing Communities. Trulear explained that the rationale for Healing Communities

was “the millions of men and women who leave our nation’s prisons and jails each year [and who] often struggle to be reconciled with their families, friends, and communities.” He said, “true rehabilitation and justice means providing a bridge for formerly incarcerated persons to reenter society without stigma, shame, or discrimination.” An ordained Baptist minister in the city of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, and associate professor of applied theology at Howard University in Washington, DC, Trulear declared that “Just as enslaved Africans were objects of redemption in the antebellum period of the United States, a new cohort of persons in our society are candidates for redemption in today’s society.” He said that more than two million “men and women live their lives behind the bars of our state and federal prisons, and countless more languish in county and city jails.” The United States, he said “incarcerates its citizens at a higher rate than any nation on the earth.”

The majority of these incarcerated persons, he emphasized,

are African American men and women. This “should give call for pause and prayer, preaching and prophesying in our congregations.” Healing Communities works with congregations to connect

returning former inmates to resources that will help set attainable goals, provide spiritual support, foster positive relationships, extend open and affirming fellowship, collaborate with family and friends to rebuild relationships, and advocate for political change on a local, state, and federal level. “In the Healing Communities model, each congregation

identifies families in their own church who have an incarcerated loved one — a father, mother, son, daughter, etc. The congregation then begins to minister to the family and the inmate just as they would if that inmate were hospitalized,” said Trulear. “They provide prayerful counsel and support, visitation to the prison, and assistance with financial matters when appropriate.” Its programs include offering seminars in restorative justice,

family reintegration and family support; identifying resources and creating networks for capacity building, service delivery and advocacy; offering opportunities for peer learning from other

congregations and expert learning at local, regional and national conferences; and customized programming for local congregations. Prayer is at the heart of what

Healing Communities does. “Prayer is an essential ingredient to the vision of Healing Communities,” Trulear declared. “Healing Communities is a faith based initiative, and without faith and trust in the grace of God we will not achieve powerful healing results. Prayer is powerful and it is the key to changing circumstances.” Each week, a team of people pray via a Conference Prayer Line over prayer requests submitted through Healing Communities email. There are seven steps to becoming a

Each congregation identifies families in their church who have an incarcerated loved one. The

Station of Hope. Faith leaders commit to creating a Healing Community; faith leaders reach out to other faith leaders through the formation of a study group or “prayer circles”; the study group educates itself on the impact of crime, incarceration and reentry on their community; faith leaders introduce the Healing Communities concept to the congregation; the faith leader preaches, teaches and reaches out to members of the congregation to create a culture of healing and restoration for people affected by crime and incarceration; and members of the congregation volunteer to spread the Healing Communities message. In April 2015, the Religion Communicators Council gave

its Wilbur Award to the American CBS television network for a documentary featuring Healing Communities. The documentary, Crime, Punishment & Redemption, looks at how the faith community helps returning citizens and their families put their lives back together after incarceration. “All of us must be held accountable for

our actions. For some, it means the consequences of incarceration,” Trulear said. “But if we are willing to be changed — to be redeemed — then congregations must stand ready to be communities of redemption, no matter how far someone may have fallen. We should be prayerfully open to God’s heart for the redemption of the prisoner and his or her family. After all, our Redeemer paid the price for us while a prisoner Himself.”

Harold Trulear, national director of Healing Communities

congregation then ministers to the family and the inmate just as they would if that inmate were hospitalized.