Doing Prison Ministry Together Essay Sample free essay sample

I. IntroductionSince clip immemorial. the prison establishments have ever existed. In the histories of civil societies. prisons have ever been a portion of the construction of administration as the enforcement of the regulation of jurisprudence necessitates the being of prison establishments to imprison mistaking citizens and jurisprudence surfs. All throughout the old ages. the prison establishments continued to be. However. the world of these prison establishments has ever been that of a image that portrays a ugly status. possibly in order to implement barbarous penalties to those who were imprisoned and to picture a status that would be a great hindrance for possible jurisprudence surfs in society. and therefore prevent future offenses. In the assorted Biblical narratives. imprisonment was common topographic point. peculiarly for those who were either captured enemy soldiers or jurisprudence surfs in the community and revolutionists. In the present clip. prison establishments continue to be for more or less the same intents as in the yesteryear. Around the universe merely a few alterations can be observed in the prison systems every bit good as conditions of prison houses. though some developments have been introduced in order to function the rehabilitation of those who are imprisoned. However. prison systems continue to be seen as a topographic point where the castawaies and undesirables are held. either to function a sentence that has been handed down to them by the justness system or for safekeeping while expecting test. It is in this context that rather a figure of churches and spiritual groups have targeted the prison establishments as fertile Fieldss where the seeds of the Gospel can be spread and harvested subsequently on. This is in response to the Biblical challenge to â€Å"bring out captives from the keeps. from the prison those who sit in darkness† as Isaiah portrays the Lord’s chosen retainer [ 1 ] . and subsequently. in the New Testament. Jesus’ words himself when he said. â€Å"†¦I was in prison and you came to me. † [ 2 ] Furthermore Apostle Paul’s words to the Hebrews continue to animate the churches to make ministry to the captives which says. â€Å"Remember those who are in prison. as though in prison with them†¦ . † [ 3 ] This ardor is what leads different religions peculiarly those from the different Christian groups to parade to these prison establishments to proclaim the Good News. albeit to change over these captives to the religion peculiarly to their group. The message of the Gospel aside. the ardor to change over captives to their ain denominational groups have become a beginning of contention among the different groups and therefore posed a job non merely to the prison system but more so among these Christian groups and with groups of other religions. It is hence the purpose of this paper to look into the ‘whys’ ( or grounds ) and ways of making prison ministry together within the assorted Christian groups and even with other religions. and understanding â€Å"dialogue† as a utile tool in accomplishing this terminal. To this terminal. this paper will besides look into the experience of a peculiar group in Negros Oriental. the Provincial Rehabilitation Commission. in how they were able to really make dialogue early on in their ministry to the captives. II. Current state of affairs of prison ministries and groups making prison ministry in the PhilippinesA. Government Initiatives in the PhilippinesWhile most of the alterations in the manner the authorities dealt with captives merely started go oning in the recent old ages. peculiarly during the term of so President Corazon Aquino. it can besides be noted that the authorities disposal under so strongman President Ferdinand Marcos instituted prison reforms aimed at decongesting the over-crowded gaols all over the state. President Marcos did this by go throughing the Probation Law in 1976. [ 4 ] President Corazon Aquino’s leading is credited for altering the construct of the gaols from establishments of penalty into establishments of rehabilitation. Among other things. the Corazon Aquino disposal symbolically made this alteration by officially mentioning and re-naming the gaols into Rehabilitation Centers. and subsequently on Correctional Institutions. seting more accent on the rehabilitation of captives. Even the word â€Å"prisoner† was changed to â€Å"boarder† or â€Å"vacationer† or merely â€Å"inmate. † In 1991. Pres. Corazon Aquino’s disposal created the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology ( BJMP ) to pull off the municipal and district/city gaols all over the state. entrusted non merely with the humane guardianship of the inmates but every bit good as for their development and general public assistance. [ 5 ] While the BJMP manages the municipal and district/city gaols functioning as impermanent keeping installations for inmates expecting condemning. the National Penitentiaries managed by the Bureau of Corrections every bit good as the assorted Provincial Jails managed by the Provin cial Governments continue to run under more or less the same authorization as that of the BJMP. The commonalty among these establishments is the acknowledgment of the Five Pillars of the Criminal Justice System in the Philippines. and these are 1 ) the Law Enforcement. 2 ) the Prosecution Service. 3 ) the Courts. 4 ) the Correctional Institution. and 5 ) the Community. Among the five pillars. the Community is regarded as a really of import pillar and is a alone characteristic of the Philippine Criminal Justice System. While the â€Å"Community† is institutionalized in the Barangays. the smallest political unit of the state. [ 6 ] it however is made up of the remainder of the community which. among others. include the churches. This is where the prison ministries of the different churches come in. B. Churches and church-related groups making prison ministry Unfortunately. the United Church of Christ in the Philippines ( UCCP ) as an establishment has non made any concrete advancement when it comes to a nation-wide prison ministry plan. However. there are a figure of local churches spread out in the state who are engaged in their ain prison ministry activities. Furthermore. there are a figure of church members and church workers/pastors who are actively engaged in prison ministries. Noteworthy illustrations of these are the Ellinwood Malate Church in Manila [ 7 ] . and churches within the Negros District Conference peculiarly the Silliman University Church. UCCP Dumaguete. UCCP Sibulan. UCCP Bais and UCCP Manjuyod. A figure of churches in Luzon and Mindanao are besides engaged in prison ministry but do so non in a consistent. regular mode. On the other manus. a more organized Roman Catholic Church through their Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care ( ECPPC ) has since been actively involved in the prison ministry. [ 8 ] Two other major groups within the Roman Catholic Church are besides into the prison ministry – the Caritas Manila organisation [ 9 ] and the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service. [ 10 ] There are legion other churches that have their ain prison ministries. but most of these churches merely prosecute in the â€Å"spiritual† facet of the ministry. This fundamentally means that their battles with captives are merely in the â€Å"spiritual† affairs such as worship services and Bible surveies. Most of these churches belong to the more fundamentalist-leaning traditions and enterprise to regenerate the lives of the captives by â€Å"converting† them from whatever other denominations they belong into that of their ain. This is where the job normally begins. One scenario that has been painted by some prison perceivers is that captives normally accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in every group that invites them to and different groups that have â€Å"converted† them will shortly number them as their ain members. Since bulk of the population in the state belong to the Roman Catholic Church. it follows that most of those who are imprisoned belong to the same church. and these are the 1s who are being â€Å"proselytized† by these fundamentalist-leaning churches. While the message of Christ’s redemption is clear and unfastened to all. denominational differences and rank enlisting has been a sore pollex in the prison ministry. In affairs of other non-Christian groups making prison ministry. it can be noted that since bulk of the population are Christians. merely a smattering few belong to other religions such as Muslims. etc. Furthermore. there are no formal certifications related to prison ministries done by these non-Christian groups although visits by persons belonging to these groups who are related to captives have been noticed. III. The Biblical authorization in making prison ministry.There can be no error when we examine the Bible sing prison ministry. As mentioned beforehand. biblical footing abound in support of making out to those who are incarcerated behind bars. Jesus Christ himself commanded the trusters to travel to the prisons as he used such state of affairs in the New Testament fable in the narrative of the concluding judgement. In the transition in Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus commends the righteous for feeding the hungry. welcoming the alien. dressing the bare. and sing those in prison. Jesus so declares. â€Å"Whenever you did this for one of the least of import of these brothers of mine. you did it for me! † ( Matthew 25:40. TEV ) . When we therefore visit and curate to captives and other unfortunates. it is so as if we are ministering to Jesus Christ himself. On the other manus. one of the clearest instructions that we can read in the Bible is the fact that all of us have sinned before God. Romans 3:23 say. â€Å"For all have sinned. and fall short of the glorification of God. † It is hence exactly because of this iniquitous status that we dare travel into prison to state inmates about this God whom we serve. While it is true that most of those who are in prison have broken the jurisprudence of the province. all of us on the other manus have violated the Torahs of God. It is in this peculiar status and credence of such conditions that we go non to boast but to portion about God’s love and forgiveness through the decease of his Son Jesus. and to give hope to them by stating them of Christ’s Resurrection from the dead. IV. Making prison ministry togetherA. Understanding spiritual and inter-faith duologueThe message of hope that is brought to the captives through the assorted prison ministry plans of different groups and churches are strikingly the same. However. as pointed out earlier. one of the jobs of groups coming to the gaols is that with the same message. different groups would set a claim on peculiar captives who have possibly indicated and professed his or her religion through a peculiar denomination or group. This created a job in that the inmates alternatively become baffled as to who’s what and which group is which when it comes to the treatment about the most reliable or the right faith or denomination. Furthermore. this mentality develops an attitude of unhealthy competition in and among these groups functioning the people inside the gaols. The construct of making duologue among these different spiritual groups hence is really relevant in footings of making prison ministry together. The term â€Å"dialogue† in footings of religion dealingss is normally identified with Inter-Faith concerns. However. within the Christian tradition the term that is more frequently used is â€Å"ecumenism† but since rather a batch of groups within the Christian spectrum include those who don’t subscribe to the ideals of ecumenism. the term â€Å"dialogue† would suit in good when we talk about coming together. peculiarly in making prison ministry. We can so name this demand to come together as a demand to come into spiritual duologue with each other in prison ministry. Prison ministry is a missional enterprise of any faith-based group and making mission in our clip today requires that we know how to make duologue or how to prosecute in duologue since most probably those whom we come to make missions with do non belong to one’s ain spiritual group. While mentioning to Christian-Muslim duologue. Chawkat Moucarry in his book â€Å"Faith to Faith† says that mission carried out without a dialogical attack is irrelevant. patronizing. and possibly harmful. On the other manus he says that duologue without a missional position is an academic exercising. likely to be superficial and complacent. [ 11 ] Making duologue in prison ministry nevertheless needs to be understood good. While really frequently when one hears about duologue. what normally comes to mind is the image of a formal conversation between two groups or individuals. However. far from being merely a formal conversation. duologue in this peculiar context can be referred to into different types: duologue of life ( which includes duologue of action ) . academic duologue and religious duologue. [ 12 ] First and foremost is what is called the â€Å"dialogue of life† which takes topographic point in about all topographic points where people live in a community. We can see this in our twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours lives where people of different religions and spiritual orientations co-exist in a community. where these people inter-act in assorted state of affairss and concerns like in a market topographic point. in a bank. in a eating house. inside a public conveyance system and in any topographic point where people portion a common life. This sort of duologue is normally unnoticed but helps in constructing up dealingss in and among members of the community. The duologue of life is farther carried out whenever people come together to work for common concerns such as good administration. battle for peace. justness. human rights and freedom in the community. This is more profoundly known as duologue of action. where people coming from different religion and spiritual orientations come together to work for a common good. This is where most of the work in the prison ministry can be classified. particularly together with other spiritual groups. B. World directions/movements in spiritual and inter-faith duologueThe twelvemonth 1948 saw the coming of age of the motions in inter-religious and inter-faith duologues through the constitution of the World Council of Churches ( WCC ) . an inter-church organisation consisting largely of mainstream Christian churches. With the exclusion of the Roman Catholic Church. which sends commissioned perceivers to meetings. the WCC consists of most of the Orthodox Churches. legion Protestant Churches. including the Anglican Communion. some Baptist churchs. many Lutherans. Methodists. and Presbyterian and other Reformed. a sampling of United and independent churches. and some Pentecostal churches. There are besides some Old Catholic churches who are members of the WCC. [ 13 ] Most. if non all of these member-churches are working towards duologue and in duologue with each other and with other religions. On the other manus. the Roman Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council in the sixtiess has provided a strong push towards motions in inter-religious duologue in the Roman Catholic churches worldwide. though non by springs and bounds and without any challenges. The Council was instrumental. among other affairs. in the Roman Catholic Church’s apprehension of its relationship to other Christian traditions and other faiths in the universe. [ 14 ] This paved the manner for the Church to slowly embracing duologue in their traffics with other spiritual and faith-based groups in the different facets of church life and mission. With the Roman Catholic Church and most of the other churches within the World Council of Churches traveling into the kingdom of cooperation and apprehension. duologue can so take topographic point down to the simplest look of mission in the local churches. This can be seen in what is and has been go oning in the prison ministry here in the Philippines. peculiarly in the experience of the ministry in Dumaguete City. C. Dialogue in action through prison ministry: the Provincial Rehabilitation Commission ( PRC ) experienceThe Provincial Rehabilitation Commission ( PRC ) is a religious-civic and oecumenic group that runs a attention plan with captives in the metropolis and provincial gaols in Negros Oriental. Philippines. The PRC came approximately as a plan ab initio inspired by an ex-prisoner during the Philippine Martial Law in 1973. and was subsequently joined in his vision by other ex-prisoners and people who identified themselves decidedly with the prisoners’ predicament. Under the protections of the Provincial Government. the group came into being and included non lone persons but every bit good as authorities and non-government establishments. schools and most of all different churches coming from different denominational traditions such as the Roman Catholic Church ( which includes the Sisters of St. Paul every bit good as the Redemptorist Church ) . the United Church of Christ in t he Philippines ( including the Silliman University Church ) . the Seventh-Day Second adventists. The Voice of Zion Church. the local Presbyterian Church ( Koreans ) . March of Faith. and many other smaller church groups. While these groups hold their ain worship services and mass among the captives. they do so in different agendas in regard to each other. However there are times when the PRC holds common oecumenic worship services with about all spiritual groups take parting and these go on during particular occasions like Christmas and the institution’s day of remembrance and other jubilations. [ 15 ] Furthermore. to beef up the ties with and among members of these spiritual groups. invitations to the members of the PRC to go to services of these spiritual groups were extended and attended thereby assisting them understand more each other peculiarly their group’s traditions and strong beliefs. and accordingly ensuing in the constitution of regard for each other’s group. The duologue of action in the PRC happens in the countries of attention where members of churches come together and work in the different countries of attention as defined and set up by PRC. These countries of attention are segregated in the different working commissions which follow: Justice. Religious Services. Health and Hygiene. Social and Cultural. Academic/Education. Diversion. Vocational Skills. Family Life. Promotions. Financial. and Post-Release Care. Members to these working commissions normally come from the different church and spiritual groups within the PRC. The Justice commission plants in assisting follow-up instances of inmates in the tribunals and possibly with the attorneies in doing certain that the instances move and are non rendered forgotten as was normally the instance. This undertaking is really of import as there had been instances in the yesteryear where captives who were subsequently on declared guiltless languish inside the gaol for old ages because the tribunals. swamped with a batch of instances. have non been able to delve in to their records. Following up of instances by voluntaries from different spiritual groups is a really good illustration of duologue in action where people come together to work for a common good. peculiarly in puting free those who are wrongly accused or have been pine awaying in gaol waiting for their instances to thrive. While the Religious Services are done by churches. the remainder of the other working commissions. like the Justice commission. are populated by different voluntaries coming from the different spiritual groups who have committed themselves to the prison ministry work. These groups hence have been working harmoniously together in a â€Å"dialogue of action† in prosecuting their mission and ministry together those who are in prison. For about 40 old ages now. this ministry has been traveling on. turn outing that so â€Å"dialogue of action† can be done as a duologue in action every bit long as people come together for a common docket and are willing to put aside differences and work together for the common good of the community. V. ConclusionComing together and working for a common good is a really baronial act but in world is really hard to accomplish particularly when differences among the people is caused by spiritual and faith-based strong beliefs. However. understanding what duologue is all about and understanding that coming together and puting aside difference without needfully depriving one’s ego of one’s individuality by esteeming others and their uniqueness provide for the best chance of achieving peace in the community every bit good as accomplishing the mission that is common to all concerned. The Provincial Rehabilitation Commission ( PRC ) has proven this for about 40 old ages now since its initiation and it continues to make so in order to go on every bit good to react to Biblical authorization to see and care for the captives among us. This terminal has been met and continually being met in peaceable coming together of the community belonging to the different spiritual and faith traditions. This is done through the different countries of duologue of action through the different working commissions with members coming from different groups who do their work together. Through this work. many have been blessed and captives have been â€Å"set free† non merely from the confines of their prison cells but from the bondage of force. hatred. unforgiveness and wickedness every bit good. Bibliography â€Å"Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care ( ECPPC ) . † CBCP Online. hypertext transfer protocol: //cbcponline. net/v2/ ? p=1120. Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. bjmp. gov. ph/about. hypertext markup language. Caritas Manila. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. caritasmanila. org. ph/restorativejustice. php. Cruz. Emmanuel Noel A. . et. Al. â€Å"The Probation Law. † The Probation Law Journal. Volume 52. No. 1. ( February 1977 ) . Ellinwood Malate Church Christian Witness A ; Service. hypertext transfer protocol: //ellinwoodph. com/cws. php. Manaloto. Aires. The Fifth Pillar of the PCJS is the Community. hypertext transfer protocol: //youwerenoteventhere. blogspot. com/2011/08/fifth-pillar-of-pcjs-is-community. hypertext markup language. Moucarry. Chawkat. Faith to Faith: Christian religion and Islam in duologue. England: Inter-Varsity Press. 2001. Philippine Jesuit Prison Service. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. jesuitprisonservice. org/ . Provincial Rehabilitation Commission Fact Sheet/Brochure. The Holy Bible. English Standard Version. Good News Publishers. 2001. The World Council of Churches. hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/World_Council_of_Churches. Vatican II Voice of the Church. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. vatican2voice. org/ . World Council of Churches. Guidelines on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies. Geneva. Switzerland: WCC Publications. 1990. ———————–[ 1 ] Isaiah 42:7[ 2 ] Matthew 25:36[ 3 ] Hebrews 13:3[ 4 ] Emmanuel Noel A. Cruz. et. Al. â€Å"The Probation Law. † The Probation Law Journal. Volume 52. No. 1. ( February 1977 ) : 89-106. [ 5 ] Bureau of Jail Management and Penology ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www. bjmp. gov. ph/about. hypertext markup language ) . [ 6 ] River airesManaloto. The Fifth Pillar of the PCJS is the Community ( hypertext transfer protocol: //youwerenoteventhere. blogspot. com/2011/08/fifth-pillar-of-pcjs-is-community. hypertext markup language ) . [ 7 ] Ellinwood Malate Church Christian Witness A ; Service ( hypertext transfer protocol: //ellinwoodph. com/cws. php ) [ 8 ] Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care ( ECPPC ) . CBCP Online ( hypertext transfer protocol: //cbcponline. net/v2 / ? p=1120 ) . [ 9 ] Caritas Manila ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www. caritasmanila. org. ph/restorativejustice. php ) [ 10 ] Philippine Jesuit Prison Service ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www. jesuitprisonservice. org/ ) [ 11 ] Chawkat Moucarry. Faith to Faith: Christian religion and Islam in duologue ( England: Inter-Varsity Press. 2001 ) . 20. [ 12 ] World Council of Churches. Guidelines on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies ( Geneva. Switzerland: WCC Publications. 1990 ) . VII. [ 13 ] The World Council of Churches ( hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/World_Council_of_Churches ) . [ 14 ] Vatican II Voice of the Church ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www. vatican2voice. org/ ) . [ 15 ] Provincial Rehabilitation Commission Fact Sheet/Brochure