LEARNING MODULES
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WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
How to open new relationships of mutual healing
How to build a holistic reentry plan together
How to navigate the prison system & local reentry barriers
How to integrate more of our community
We don’t go to the margins to “make a difference.” We go to the margins to be made different—as we experience exquisite mutuality among the most excluded.
—Father Greg Boyle, Homeboy Industries
TOOLS & TEAM ROLES
CONVENER
Sends meeting links and reminders
Coordinates modules and resources within team
Mails printed module to releasing friend
FACILITATOR
Moderates team meetings (See Monthly Meeting Format)
Notes Action Items’ progress and distribution
Files monthly Facilitator’s Report
BARD
Coordinates regular updates to congregation according to whichever current/new avenues exist
Link/loop/tag Underground Ministries
PASTORAL CARE
Holds team to Covenant and Welcoming Prayer
Care for team wounds and challenges that surface
Tap church leadership
Preaching and Commissioning Service
REMEMBER
Below is our suggested order of monthly learning modules for the two-year journey. However, every reentry and resurrection journey is different. Things happen. So, please familiarize yourself—often—with the entire menu of modules below.
As a team, feel free to jump ahead for a specific module that feels most needed any given month. (But, be sure to continue with the suggested order after that. And a new module every month until all are completed.) Always stick to the monthly meeting format, starting with Welcoming Prayer. When things feel off, come back to the Covenanttogether.
You got this.
MONTHLY OFFICE HOURS
Join us for monthly gatherings on Zoom for a space of prayer, break out rooms, question-asking, sometimes answers, and community care. Check here and team emails for the next one:
April 15, 7-8 pm (Pacific Time) - Zoom link here!
LEARNING MODULES
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BOOK 1: RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNDERGROUND
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THE LOST ART OF LETTER WRITING
Prison letters are how we start new relationships.
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SUCCESS?
Our primary goal is not to fix someone. That turns our friend into a project. It has nothing to do with love.
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THROUGH THE GATES
Navigating prison visits, phone calls, emails & our fears.
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THE ART OF BUILDING TRUST
From the voices of our incarcerated friends: Trust creates an environment for healing.
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BOUNDARIES & MONEY
Fostering healthy relationships as the journey expands.
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WELCOMING PRAYER
We join the journey of transformation when we open the locked doors within ourselves.
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BOOK 2: IDENTIFYING THE STONES & LAYERS
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REENTRY PLANNING BEGINS: HOUSING
Building a personalized plan together.
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THE STONES TO ROLL AWAY
Taking on the overwhelming obstacles of reentry – together.
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MASS INCARCERATION
A culture that disposes of humans. And how one relationship at a time interrupts it.
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TRAUMA & HEALING
Pain can isolate us or draw us into connection.
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MENTAL HEALTH
This affects all of us. It’s about disconnection.
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ADDICTION
How we all find ways to numb our pain and isolation. Relationships of deeper trust are the tender ways out.
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WRITING MY WRONGS
“What was their crime?” Storytelling goes both ways.
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BOOK 3: ROLLING AWAY THE STONES
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THE WELCOME HOME PREP EVENT
Storytelling and organizing with more of the congregation. Here’s what some teams have done.
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RELEASE WEEK!
It’s like when a new life is born. Be ready. Be flexible. Here’s how to plan a solid homecoming.
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ACCOMPANIMENT THROUGH THE SYSTEM
You’ll see why people rarely make it out of the underground. This time, they’re not alone.
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BOOK 4: GENTLY REMOVING THE LAYERS
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THE MAGIC SEASON
The prison walls are no longer between you. Enjoy the land of the living together. Be creative. It’s about savoring, not saving.
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EMPLOYMENT
This is part of lasting resurrection today. We have some pointers for building new employment connections. (This is the Employment & Finances role.)
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WHEN THEY DISAPPEAR OR RELAPSE
We wait. The prodigal son story gets more real, now, than all the sermons we’ve heard.
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NOT THE STORY WE WANTED
Resurrection usually means passing through a death—or “failure”—first.
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BOOK 5: BEARING WITNESS TO THE RESURRECTION
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RETHINKING INCARCERATION
What if we’re only starting to glimpse a very different imagination of God’s justice and restoration?
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IS THIS JUST THE BEGINNING?
Your 2-year “program” is ending, sure. Now you take off the training wheels.
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CAPSTONE PROJECT
Capstone project to cap off your two year learning journey.
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