PNBC to establish its first center to assist churches with prisoner re-entry

The Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC) has set out to raise $100,000 to establish its first national center to aid churches in helping individuals re-enter and reintegrate into communities after being released from prison.

The PNBC hopes to open its National Re-entry Resource Center at the group’s national headquarters in Washington in 2013. The initiative, announced at the convention’s 51st annual meeting held Aug. 5–10 in Memphis, Tenn., would build on the historically black denomination’s Healing Communities model for engaging congregations in the restoration of individuals and families torn apart by crime, whether committed against or by a member of the church.

DeeDee Coleman, chair of the PBNC Commission on Social Justice and Prison Ministry, said with 7.1 million people incarcerated in the United States and rates disproportionately affecting black males, leaders expected to find that faith-based organizations were already involved in prisoner re-entry as part of their everyday ministry. To their surprise they found the subject is often ignored because faith leaders are ashamed to talk about it when it affects someone in their own congregation.

The Healing Communities model, used by groups including the PNBC and American Baptist Churches USA, reframes the issue by pointing out that entire communities are affected by crime, incarceration and reintegration. It invokes unique strengths of the faith community like acceptance, compassion, forgiveness, redemption and restoration while encouraging those who commit crimes to assume responsibility for harm done to others and take action to repair harm to the victim, community, family and self.

The National Re-entry Resource Center would provide a “one-stop” resource for the 2.5 million members of PNBC churches seeking help with family reunification, domestic violence, victim awareness, community resources, training in life and job skills and re-entry support both through conferences and through addressing the social-justice aspect of mass incarceration.  

(ABP)