26 October 2017
Letter to prison chaplains from Methodist Presidency
Letter from the Methodist Presidency to prison chaplains(see here).
- Founded in 1974 Prisons Week, aims to pray for and raiseawareness of the needs of prisoners and their families, victims ofoffenders, prisons staff and all those who care.
- Worhip and prayer resources for prisons week can be found viathe Prisons Weekwebsite.
- There are currently 56 Methodist chaplains working across 58prisons.
- Many prison chaplaincies also have local volunteers.
- The Community Chaplaincy Association offers support toex-prisoners of all faiths and none as they go "
- The current UK prison population is almost 86,000 [85,786 as at31/10/14 - weekly stats are posted on line].
The Revd Dr Stan Brown, Methodist Church and CommunityDevelopment Officer, said: "Prisons Week is a wonderful opportunityto remember the needs of those in prison, their families, prisonstaff and the victims of offenders. It's also a time when we cancelebrate and support the work of our prison chaplaincy teams.There are currently 56 Methodist prison chaplains working across 58institutions, as well as the many people who volunteer to helpprison chaplaincy work. Prison chaplaincy now reaches out into thecommunity with a network of Community Chaplaincies which continueto support ex-prisoners, helping them to find new direction intheir lives and to reducing re-offending. So there areopportunities for local churches to become involved in this widerwork."