Justice That Restores
In this episode...
- Introduction (00:30)
- Interview (07:10)
- Describing Our Opponents Accurately (35:55)
- Prayer (38:10)
Our guest this week is Heather Rice-Minus. She's vice president of government affairs and church mobilization for Prison Fellowship. Prison Fellowship is in a rare spot where some of the work they do is responding in a simple, direct way to simple direct commands in scripture—to not forget those in prison and to visit prisoners. But another part of what they do is taking big, broad principles that we're supposed to dedicate ourselves to and finding specific ways to apply those themes in a complicated, multifaceted system.Prison Fellowship is a great example of a collection of Christians humbly trying to figure out the best way to be a practical, visible example of the kingdom that is to come in the middle of the here and now. They don't shy away from engaging with a very hard, very complicated form of brokenness, and they do it while leaving room for people who don't share their approach to still exercise their best wisdom. We recorded this via Skype, so the connection is not great, but the questions Heather raises—"What is the purpose of the justice system?" "How do we as Christians take our thoughts about crime and punishment captive to the gospel?"—are worth wrestling with even over a poor-sounding connection.
Pray for Your Prison
Spend a few minutes this week or weekend looking up information on your nearest prison, including its location and its warden/senior staff. Pray for its senior staff members by name, and for the rest of the staff and inmates collectively. Pray for safety for them from COVID-19, wisdom for how to deal with the outbreak, and for God's Spirit to fill the walls of the facility and provoke healing, change and restoration in peoples' hearts.
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Go Deeper
Learn more about the work of Prison Fellowship and take part in their upcoming events:
- Get a free copy of their Outrageous Justice curriculum for personal or small group use.
- Take part in their Second Chance Month Virtual Prayer Meeting on April 18.
- Learn more about the stories they celebrate during Second Chance Month.
- Read the white paper and the Barna polling Heather mentioned during the interview.
- Read and sign their Justice Declaration.
