"You're approved for the jail!"

That was the text I received this morning from my friend and TN coworker Amy. A funny statement...I couldn't help but be aware of its oddity and how for many this is not a statement which is followed with an exclamation point and congratulations! And yet, that is (fortunately) my situation. Next Sunday, for the first time I will join others from Tierra Nueva who have been leading Sunday Jail Bible Studies for years.

The Skagit County Jail Ministry has been one of Tierra Nueva's core ministries for the past 16 years, since Bob Ekblad began leading dialogical bible studies with the inmates. The dialogical model is one in which the inmates are invited as full-on participants--their contributions being equally if not of more value than those of the leaders. For more on this model, see:

• Bob Ekblad's "Reading the Bible With the Damned" which includes numerous discussions that have risen out of both reading the bible with Skagit County Jail inmates as well as campesinos in Honduras

• works by Gerald O. West, such as: Reading the Bible in Africa: Constructing our own Discourse, School of Theology, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.
• Ernesto Cardenal's The Gospel in Solentiname, which is 'a radical reading of the Good News of Jesus from the perspective of the poor and oppressed

As the Tierra Nueva's website explains,
"Most of these inmates view God as a judge or prosecutor, ready to write them off, condemn them, and damn them to a place of no return. But through open discussion of Scripture and healing prayer, many are discovering a God they have never known before, a God ready to liberate, heal, love, and restore. God is constantly touching these forgotten ones through physical healings, legal miracles, and the resolution of impossible situations."
http://www.tierra-nueva.org/TheJailMinistry.html. Click here to see the article (.pdf format) that appeared on the front page of the Skagit Valley Herald a couple years ago!

TN staff lead Bible Studies in the Men's, Women's, and Juvenile Jails multiple times per week. For the women, these are on Sunday at 1pm, and 1:30pm in the different pods. Amy is the lead Women's Chaplain and has been for the past year. See: http://skagitwomensjail.blogspot.com/ for more on the past Bible Studies and experiences.
I look forward to joining this time of worship & study, (or 'jail church') and to learning from inmates. So if you think of it, every third Sunday of the month, from 1-2ish, that's where I will be!