Prisons Week is coming up - 11-17 October

Save the date!

Make plans in your churches and community groups…

Join with us as we pray with Prisons Week this year - the theme for the week of 11th to 17th October is UNITED IN LOCKDOWN

Resources and materials to help you pray and support Prisons Week will be available soon!

Watch this space for further details…

For forty years now, Prisons Week has prepared prayer literature to enable the Christian community, through individuals and churches, to pray for the needs of all those affected by prisons: prisoners and their families, victims of crime and their communities, those working in the criminal justice system and the many people who are involved in caring for those affected by crime on the inside and outside of our prisons. Prisons Week raises awareness and generates prayer. It motivates volunteers to step forward and give their time and gifts, in prisons and in their own communities. It provides an annual focus and reason for Christians to work together, building capacity and motivation to make a difference for people who are out of sight and often out of mind.

On the radio! All across prisons in the UK... pray with us and the Prison Fellowship

This Sunday we are encouraged to pray with Prison Fellowship for the work and ministry of the National Prison Radio…

I recall giving a live radio interview from a poky little BBC studio in Oxfordshire some years ago! A nerve wracking, but rewarding experience.

The Interview was to share news about the youth mentoring programme I was a tutor and mentor for. The mentoring scheme was part of the work that the Youth Offending Team were doing in partnership with local Christian charities. As a result of the radio programme, many more mentors came forward to volunteer on the project. Hallelujah! All my radio broadcast nerves were worth it!

Radio can be a powerful medium to reach people. The Sunday morning service which the Prison Fellowship is hosting later this month has the potential to reach thousands of prisoners and to touch their hearts. May it be a blessing to all who tune in! (Sara Iles, FCG Media Support Officer)

So let us pray for the PF and their service and for all those who tune in…

Prayer for Sunday 23rd August -

Prison Fellowship is hosting the Sunday morning service that is broadcast on National Prison Radio today. Pray that those who tune in will be encouraged and challenged by what they hear. Amen

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers…

You can find out more about the work of the National Prison Radio HERE.

You can download the prayer diary for August and pray alongside the PF and partners HERE.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

The Free Churches Group and our work in prison chaplaincy have worked with The Prison Fellowship (PF) for many years.

(image below from NPR and cover photo courtesy of Naadir Shahul at Unsplash)

"Committed to equipping prisoners to unlock and live in their God given potential..."

“Committed to equipping prisoners to unlock and live in their God given potential…”! That is the mission of the Christian charity, Imago Dei Prison Ministry (ID Prison Ministry for short!)

They go on to say that they are also committed to set men and women free from their past and to help them to know their true value and identity in their life.

At the heart of Imago Dei Prison Ministry is the desire to see prisoners live out their true identity and purpose. They believe that no one should be defined by their past or even their current circumstances. 

We are invited to pray for and support the vital and life changing work of ID HERE….

Imago Dei are an associated ministry of CiC, one of the Free Churches Group’s member denominations.

(image courtesy of http://www.idprisonministry.org.uk/)

““The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has appointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind., to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
— Luke 4:18-19”

Do you have plans for 25th August?

Planning ahead in these strange times has been a challenge for us all in recent months…

One of the things we can often commit to doing though is taking time out to pray…

So will you join me and thousands of others across the world, on 25th August, to pray for prison chaplains?

There’s a Global Day of Prayer for Prison Ministry on 25th August.

Here’s the link to liturgy resources in a variety of different languages. You are encouraged to share the resources among your colleagues and church networks. The theme for this year is: the Grace of God

Please encourage your church fellowships to get involved by praying in your homes or by safely physically distanced in your churches (as appropriate). Join with the Free Churches Group and many other ecumenical partners across the globe for the International Prison Chaplains Association (IPCA).

The Free Churches Faith Adviser to the Prison Service, Revd Bob Wilson, serves as the Vice Chair to the International Prison Chaplains Association (IPCA).

IPCA’s mission is: Uniting, encouraging and equipping... a global network of prison chaplains as they share God’s love and restoring justice.

Praying today for those in prison who are struggling with their mental health

Today we are invited by the Prison Fellowship to pray alongside those who are in prison and struggling with mental health issues…

This is a particularly challenging and difficult time for many prisoners… so in the healing name of Jesus, we pray… Prayer for Sunday 16th August

Loving God,

We pray for those inside whose mental health is negatively impacted by the lockdown.

May they know God’s peace and hope, and find the support they need to heal and thrive.

Amen

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers…

You can share and download a free booklet, designed by the Mental Health Foundation, to support male prisoners with mental health needs - how to look after your mental health in prison.

(images courtesy of the Prison Fellowship website from prayer meetings in the past)