What are prisons for?

At first the answers may seem simple: prisons are for the punishment of people who have broken the law, for the protection of the community from potentially dangerous offenders, and for the correction of behaviors that threaten life in community. But prisons are also places where people live and work; where babies are born and people die of old age. Some prisons are run by the government, others by private corporations.

In the fall, we will take time to talk about prisons. We will invite people to tell us what happens inside a prison. We will schedule a visit to one of Nashville's prisons. We will hear about what happens to people when they leave prison. We will think and pray and talk about what prisons and prisoners have to do with our faith, and what role our faith can play in the lives of prisoners and their families.

We will make plans for about four weeks of study, worship, and service. The working title for the whole project is, as you probably already suspected, prison:360. If you would like to be part of the team that creates the programs and projects, send us an email. Our first brainstorming session will be very soon, on August 3.

“Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Matthew 25:44