The Mission
Our purpose is to promote public awareness of the current attitudes relating to incarceration through public education and advocacy.

The Goals
• To increase awareness about the problems associated with a retributive justice system.
• To educate the parishes about the issues related to the prison-industrial complex.
• To be advocates for major reforms in attitudes concerning methods for the prevention of crime.

Join the PMTF
e-mail network

About the Task Force

The Prison Ministry Task Force, created by convention resolution in 1998, continues to gather information about the various ministries at work in and outside the Diocese, and inside and outside prison walls.

Information gathered by the Task Force will be shared with parishes and other dioceses through a directory and a web page linked to the Diocesan web site. Meetings are open and are held at the Diocesan Center in Baltimore. For meeting information and to volunteer, go to Contacts for information on how to reach the co-conveners or the coordinator. New members are welcome.

What We Know

Following are programs and ministries studied by the Task Force and the churches initiating them. More details on these programs are located under Resources.

Ministries and Programs Inside Prisons are: Peer Tutoring, Touchstones Discussion Groups (St. Anne’s, Annapolis), Alternatives to Violence Programs (St. John’s, Hagerstown), and Kairos (St. Anne's, Annapolis). Personal correspondence with prisoners is an important ministry under way at many parishes.

Pre-Prison Ministries: Those that may help troubled families and individuals avoid crime, and therefore prison, are The Children’s Learning Center (Epiphany, Odenton) and Christ Church Link (Christ Church, Columbia).

Post-Prison Ministries: “Aftercare” programs work to prevent a return to prison. The Susanna Ministry (Christ Church, Columbia) used a model for working with released women using refugee resettlement guidelines that will be available to the parishes. The Prison Aftercare Ministry (St. James’ Church, Potomac), The Cathedral House Re-Entry Program (Cathedral of the Incarnation), and the Prisoners Aid Association are others in Baltimore that use volunteers to help ex-offenders return to society.

PMTF e-mail network

The Prison Ministry Task Force Network receives news summaries on a regular basis concerning criminal justice reform events, issues, ministries,  books, executions, court cases, rallies, etc., referencing appropriate Web sites for more information. The summaries are sent as blind copies to protect members' privacy. 

As of January 2008, there were about 225 members, mainly in the United States but also in Australia, New Zealand and Scotland.

To join, write valhymes@aol.com or PrisMinNet@aol.com

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