BOOK 2: IDENTIFYING THE STONES & LAYERS
Taking on the overwhelming obstacles of reentry – together.
So far, you’ve been in the “relationship with Lazarus underground” phase of this journey together.
Jesus was friends with Lazarus, loved him, was moved to tears that his friend was buried, and spoke his name into the tombs. That’s what you’ve been doing.
You are embodying this process with your letters, phone calls, and visits: entering into Jesus’ kind of open-hearted relationship with those in Hades, the underworld. Hopefully you are learning not only to trust, but also know and enjoy each other. Maybe you consider your incarcerated partner a friend now, and vice versa. That’s the first part. You’re seeing how this friend of yours, and God’s, is coming to life.
For Jesus, a relationship and coming to new life was just the beginning of resurrection.
That huge stone was still in the way.
At every Kickoff Orientation, we ask people to imagine waking up in darkness, wrapped up like a mummy, with no one rolling away the stone at the entrance of their tomb. How would they feel?
“Trapped,” some people say.
“Terrified.”
“Stuck.”
“Alone.”
“Confused.”
“I’d rather be dead than awake while sealed down there.”
That’s exactly how millions of people—whom God has brought to new life while inside jail or prison—feel when they release and none of the re-entry barriers are removed: stuck underground.
Resurrection without rolling away the stone is cruel and pointless.
LAZARUS DIDN’T ROLL AWAY HIS OWN STONE
Few people released from prison are able to fully break into the land of the living. The barriers—the gates of Hades we’ve put between the incarcerated and the living—are just too overwhelming.
Consider this: to the small community of local folks Jesus called to help roll away the stone, it probably didn’t feel like “spiritual work”: grunting, pushing, stopping and trying a different angle, working together.
Today, that stone is a mountain of fees, requirements, appointments, classes, holds on licenses, and barriers to housing and employment. We don’t roll our sleeves up to push a 10-foot boulder; we get out laptops to research resources, pull out our phones to locate offices and set up appointments. We start new conversations with agencies in our community. We print and sign and scan paperwork. We pick our friend up and drive to appointments, sit in court, and wait our turn together.
It may not feel “spiritual”, but this is resurrection work: what every person releasing from prison needs to make it all the way out from the tomb.
FIVE ROLES
We’ve boiled down years of re-entry work into a few essential categories of “stones” to roll away. This month, you get to learn about each of the roles and choose one person for each role (you might have enough people for two team members per role). The idea is to share the work. Spread it out. Make it manageable by breaking it up into small parts.
Your incarcerated friend will lead the work, supervising each respective role through letters and calls before release, then continuing that work together on the outside.
Print out this page outlining the roles and familiarize yourself with each possibility, asking:
Which one would be a good fit for you?
This is the month everyone on the team takes on one role, and starts to move this specific “stone” for the next several months.
The Five Roles:
Prison & Housing
ID & Drivers License
Health Systems
Employment
Pastoral Leader
(Note: the pastoral role on your team has likely already been filled, but feel free to read over what the role entails.)
A comprehensive how-to for each role is included at the end of this module. You can reference these for more detailed information before you decide on a role. Once you’ve chosen one, consider it your roadmap for moving forward!
A One Parish One Prisoner team meeting—organizing their reentry plans—during statewide lockdown.
QUICK QUESTION
STONES & LAYERS FORM
At your team meeting this month, look at your incarcerated friend’s most updated “Stones & Layers” form. This is where we start. (If you haven’t received it yet or didn’t reach out to us last month let us know so we can get the form to you: dexter@undergroundministries.org.)
Check with your incarcerated friend about updates or progress that they may have made already. Figure out which “stones” they have listed fit under which role.
Now you’re becoming a resurrection & reentry team, not just pen pals!
MUSCLES FLEX
Muscles, like the members of your team, move, adjust, shift weight, help each other.
That said: be flexible!
These roles aren't “set in stone.” (We are all about undoing arbitrary, rigid rule following !) There will be overlap. For example, the PRISON & HOUSING person might need to collaborate with the HEALTH SYSTEMS person for parole-appointed chemical dependency classes.
YOU’VE GOT THIS
It’s natural to feel overwhelmed at this point. Imagine how most releasing individuals feel! Let this shared sense of overwhelm build KINSHIP among your team and with your incarcerated friend. You are entering into the emotions of resurrection and the hope of the gospel:
“ . . . and the gates of Hades will not prevail against this movement.”
— Jesus, Matthew 16:18
We emphasized at the Kickoff Orientation how Jesus founded his “church” (ekklesia) or movement with this radical confidence: the locked doors and prison walls of hell, of Death, of the underworld, won’t be able to stop us.
Let that encourage you this month.
Jesus recruited a handful of followers to expand the movement of divine Life, breaking through barriers of Death in our world. You’re part of this movement. It’s bigger than your small team. This is the cosmic hope swelling up within us: Jesus saying, “We got this. Do not be afraid. I give you the spiritual keys to break these gates open. Watch me. I’m with you.”
All the social work “stones” you’re taking on are profoundly spiritual work.
It’s what the church is for, if we take Jesus’ purpose statement seriously. This is resurrection work.
ACTION STEPS
PRINT this module (with all five Roll Away the Stones Roles) and MAIL it into your incarcerated friend.
GLANCE through all those Roles. Think about which one you’d be best at.
AFTER YOU DECIDE on roles in your monthly team meeting, the team can tell your incarcerated friend (in your next letter or call or video visit) who will be in which role. Ask them where they’d like to start.
CONGREGATIONAL CONNECTION: Make an announcement or a Minute for Missions at your church. Let your community know about the roles you’ll be taking on over the next few months. Ask for prayer. Ask for resources. Ask for support.
FOR TEAM DISCUSSION
Who wants to take on which role? This is the meeting to figure it out together.
Which of the “stones” might need to be addressed right away, given your incarcerated friend’s release timeline? Does everyone have a recent copy of your friend’s Stones & Layers form? Help each other as you practice divvying up the various reentry barriers your friend identified on that form. Make sure each team member feels clear about their responsibilities in the months ahead.
Use the discussion and planning time to encourage each other to leave this meeting with confidence, supported and ready to focus on the Stones To Roll Away. Start by reading your Role’s page more closely and talking it over with your incarcerated friend.
BONUS: HOW A CRIMINAL RECORD KEEPS SOCIETAL DOORS LOCKED
The Marshall Project created an interactive quiz to shed light on some of the invisible barriers many of us never have to face. It takes two minutes to complete and your results are confidential!
