PRISON FELLOWSHIP: Justice Fellowship

A new report finds that there has been a significant narrowing of the racial disparities in prison population. That is welcome news to PFM. Racial disparity in prisons is obvious the minute you enter a correction facility.  There is no denying it.

The Gospel tells us the good news:  that Christ died on the cross so that each of us can enter into fellowship with Him (1 Corinthians 1:9).

We are also called to have fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7).  Prison Fellowship Ministries, as indicated by our title, seeks to cultivate fellowship inside prison walls.  

Burl Cain, a member of Prison Fellowship’s board of directors and the long-serving warden of Angola Prison, was recently interviewed by the Acton Institute for an article appearing on its website. Since Cain took over Angola in 1995, it’s gone from being “the bloodiest prison in America” to one of the most revolutionary.

On July 18, 2012, Yokamon Hearn was executed in Texas.

Although the details of Hearn’s case may seem unique, his story unfortunately reflects the typical death penalty case in the United States. Sidelining the divisive question of whether capital punishment is permissible from a Christian perspective, we should also examine whether capital punishment is currently carried out in a just and merciful way: in a way that honors God.