Friends:
On May 2nd 50 some leaders from around the city gathered at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies for the Praxis Forums Loving Our Neighbor Leadership Dinner! A powerful evening of dialogue on the intersection of Mathew 25, incarceration, its impact & its stigma, the church, policy, Jesus, ministry, our own stories, and more. Jennifer Jones Austin, Julio Medina, and Dr. Harold Dean Trulear informed and moved us to consider some difficult issues around our neighbors who have been incarcerated. Issues around the dynamics of the stigma, the ongoing sentence after serving your sentence, the impact of women as the prison guards, race, families, policies that need to be addressed, and how the church treats prison ministry different than other types of ministry even though it is coupled with visiting the sick in Matthew 25. They offered insights and concrete actions for churches & individuals to take to accomplish greater collaborative justice & Mercy in our city! Special thanks to FPWA for hosting and Caribbean Soul Caterers for making the dinner possible!
Praxis Forums will be following this dinner up to increase the shared knowledge & align action of those seeking greater collaborative impact in our city. One of the many lessons from the evening was that incarceration & poverty are connected. Both need to be addressed if we wish to impact either. Praxis Connections is committed to connecting leaders, strategies, and resources towards concrete action and change. As you view the pictures below I hope that you will be able to join us next time we meet.
