support the families of prisoners year-round. Through this program, churches are mobilized to give hundreds of thousands of children a gift, the Gospel, and a personal message of love on behalf of their incarcerated parent. Kids who are signed up for Angel Tree may also receive a scholarship for summer camp. In select cities, Angel Tree sports camps bring together churches and the local community to help kids gain skills in various sports and learn about God’s love. One-day STEM camps are also available in select cities. In addi- tion, ongoing relationships—fostered by enfolding families into church life— can result in mutual encouragement, growth, and support. While Angel Tree provides structure, expertise, and funding, the members of local churches are the conduit of ongoing connection. Churches are encouraged to invite incar- cerated people’s families into the ministries of the church: Sunday worship, youth group, Vacation Bible School, support groups, etc. Sometimes these touchpoints are episodic—for example, a gift is purchased and delivered without much in the way of a personal connection. That can be perfectly appropriate. The family may already be connected at another church. Other times, however, this initial connection can function as a rela- tional icebreaker for an unchurched and under-served family and open the door to a fuller engagement between the family and the congregation. Prison Fellowship makes it easy to start by dipping your toe in the water. Your min- istry can grow from there. 2. The second option is one that you may not have heard of: Healing Com- munities USA’s Stations of Hope. O riginally founded by former Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode, Healing Communities takes the approach of providing you and your congregation with a vision, a curriculum, a range of practical resources, and a training process to help you reframe your congregational cul- ture into a “station of hope” or a “healing community.” Stations of hope engage deeply in reconciliation work in families and communities that have been impacted by (and often broken by) crime and mass incarceration. Think of this as a literal training manual for reorienting the heart of your congregation- al culture around restorative justice and healing. There are nearly a hundred Healing Communities chapters in 22 states and Washington, D.C. Unlike An- gel Tree, where it’s expected that you may only want to test the waters, the idea here is to take a deep dive into restructuring your congregation’s culture. In- terested? Download the U.S. Dept. of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs study titled Healing Communities: A Framework for Congregations in Their Ministry for Families Affected by Incarceration . As different as these approaches are, they share the same dynamic of shifting the focus. With Angel Tree, the focus is on ministering to the family of the incarcerated. With Healing Communities, the focus is on transforming the
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