Thursday 7 December 2017

Welcoming the Prisoner into Your Small Group

A new curriculum invites Christians to learn how their faith intersects with the American criminal justice system.

Small group topics range from the previous Sunday’s sermon to the latest Christian spiritual help book, from marriage to addiction to the Bible’s diet guidance.

Add to the list: mass incarceration.

Prison Fellowship, the nonprofit prisoner advocacy group, has created Outrageous Justice, a small-group study guide intended to transform more evangelicals into political evangelists for criminal justice reform.

The push to influence evangelical Christians comes at a confusing juncture. The campaign to ease sentencing for nonviolent crimes and to expand rehabilitation has moved forward at the state level, led by Republicans and Democrats alike. But at the federal level, such initiatives have stalled. President Trump, who has called for longer sentences, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has linked leniency to rising violent crime, have caused a slowdown on reform measures President Obama enthusiastically supported.

Heather Rice-Minus, vice president of government affairs for Prison Fellowship, concedes the current climate makes it harder to persuade white evangelicals—81 percent of whom voted for Trump—to consider reducing mandatory minimum sentences, increasing prisoner education programs, and reforming other areas of the criminal justice system.

“In some ways, it’s more difficult because of the law-and-order narrative that’s promoted, but at the same time, I’m hopeful,” she said.

Outrageous Justice is a six-session plan designed to be spread across six weeks. The first week, participants would discuss how they can “pursue justice that restores” in the criminal justice system. By the sixth week, they are considering whether the members are ready to accept ex-prisoners ...

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http://feeds.christianitytoday.com/~r/christianitytoday/ctmag/~3/l8nc1DGXWvI/outrageous-justice-welcoming-prisoner-your-small-group.html

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