Prison Ministry Update - April 2024

    Prison Ministries Update

    Following an exciting Church and Justice Sunday on April 7, we want to update you on the work of our prison ministry at Rye Presbyterian. For over a quarter of a century, RPC has been engaged in work in the criminal justice system in the New York State prison system.  Our congregation has been a leader of Hudson River Presbytery in this ministry. Many of our church members have been active in a variety of programs.  Here’s a sample:

    * Coming Home

    Coming Home is an 18-week life skills program for the formerly incarcerated individuals. Coming Home engages members of RPC as mentors for participants. It also enables congregants and others to share a weekly dinner with participants, coming to know them and building bridges between people from vastly different backgrounds who share a common humanity.

    *  Volunteering Inside Prison

    Prior to the pandemic, a group from RPC met with men at Sing Sing Correctional Facility who were students in the New York Theological Seminary Masters in Professional Studies in Ministry Program, and with graduates of that program who remained incarcerated at Sing Sing. These monthly meetings enabled the volunteers and the inmates to enjoy fellowship together. This program has not been fully reinstated since the pandemic, in part due to some transitions and changes at NYTS.  A group from RPC also went into Fishkill Correctional Facility on a monthly basis sponsored by the Fishkill inmate committee, Community Minded Organization. Please read below to see about a new possibility that is in the early stages of development.

    * Other Programs

    Limits on the number of volunteers inside have not stopped RPC from being actively involved in a wide range of important programs, both in and out of New York’s prisons:

    1. We have a “Clothes Closet” collecting men’s clothing for paroled graduates to wear as they seek employment and begin their careers. We collect and distribute suits, dress shirts, slacks and sport jackets through our Coming Home program, Exodus Transitional Community, and Hudson Link for Higher Education. Clothes can be left in the hallway near the men’s restroom.
    2. We helped found Hudson Link, the first privately financed college program created in men’s prisons in New York after funding for higher education in prison was cut off in 1996. Since 2001, Hudson Link, in partnership with Mercy College and other colleges, has provided undergraduate education at several state prisons. Hudson Link also offers transitional housing and other programs for those coming out of prison. For more information visit https://hudsonlink.org/.
    3. We helped guide the founding and growth of “Rising Hope,” founded by NYTS graduates in 1997. This 30-credit “undergraduate” program helps meet prisoners’ thirst for knowledge. Dr. John Miller is a professor in this program.

    * Looking Toward the Future

    We are currently looking to expand our prison ministry in 2024 by:

    1. Inviting women to be involved in the Woman 2 Woman program, which is a prison ministry program that connects women in our community with women incarcerated at Bedford Hills and Taconic. For For additional information, please make use of the provided link: https://hudsonlink.org/.
    2. We are working to re-establish our Rye Writes program where members of RPC correspond with inmates on a regular basis using an electronic version of communication which inmates in New York State have access to. Contact John Miller if you’d like to be in volved in the relaunch of this program.
    3. A monthly virtual fellowship group called “I Want To Understand,” comprised of formerly incarcerated individuals and church members who via a Zoom gathering will enjoy fellowship together and have discussions on topics of interest, even as they care for one another.
    4. We are in conversations with Hudson Link to gather a group who will go into Sing Sing to meet with men who have been involved in the educational programs within Sing Sing. This is in the early development stage. People involved in this program would enter Sing Sing as visitors, and not volunteers. This would preclude having to go through the extensive vetting process for volunteers.

    Please contact John Miller if you are interested in participating in any of these opportunities.