financially and operationally over time. Whatever the form, a common feature of this model is the individual peer leader. As in many other situations, people follow other people. Effective peer reentry leaders tend to be winsome, credible, and reliable men and women who (a) have lived experience, (b) can demonstrate positive change in their own lives, and (c) can function well as the face and voice of the ministry. The Peer-led Ministry model can be a good fit for a congregation that... • has already bought into reentry ministry. • has a credible, faithful, reliable, winsome leader with lived experience of incarceration and successful reentry. • has operational capacity for another parallel ministry. • has reasonably good contacts with local jails, prison, parole, and other reentry providers. Tips for getting started The gotta-have in this model is the peer leader. But what if you don’t already have that person as part of your congregation? In that case, you’ll probably need to use one of the other models to ramp up your reentry ministry to the point of having enough returning citizens in your congregation to make this a viable option. An alternative to growing your own peer leader, of course, is to find and (pos- sibly) hire one. This can be tricky, as congregational culture fit can be difficult to assess. If your long-term goal is to be the location of an independent out- side ministry (along the lines of the many churches who host AA meetings), then this may work well. But if it’s to make this a ministry of the congregation itself, then you’ll almost certainly have to take more time to nurture relation- ships with returning citizens and discover and nurture potential leaders. In any case, once you have identified a peer leader, you’ll need to do some careful discernment with that leader, the pastor, and congregational leadership about goals, scope, lines of communication, operating budget, etc. Advantages to the Peer-Led Ministry model Relevance and credibility. Peer-led ministries don’t have to try to achieve “authenticity” with returning citizens. They already have it. Reputation. If done well, your ministry can become your community’s go-to place for all things reentry. This can create a self-reinforcing upward spiral.
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