ing directly with and for returning citizens as well as any activities that were designed to be “returning citizen-friendly.” We wanted to find out what ap- proaches were having the most success and what challenges were arising. While our intention was to hear and learn from communities in different faith traditions—and we made a concerted effort in that direction—in the end vir- tually all the responses we were able to gather were from Christian churches. After covering some basics, we’ve grouped the responses we received accord- ing to the eight models presented above. Please note that the percentages given are based on the number of responses to a particular question. RC = returning citizen.
General Survey Questions Q40:
Congregation’s setting: Suburban: 52%; Urban: 39%; Small town: 6%; Rural: 3%
Q41:
Congregation’s average weekly worship attendance: Fewer than 75: 23%; 75-125: 30%; 126-250: 17%; 251-750: 3%; More than 750: 27% How RC-friendly is your congregation: Extremely so: 40%; Quite a lot: 21%; Somewhat: 23%; To a limited extent: 7%; Not at this time: 9% 63% have weekly worship that’s intentionally RC-friendly 50% have occasional special worship services focused on RCs What does that look like? • One congregation is entirely geared toward RCs and their fam- ilies • Celebrate Recovery services • Monthly or occasional RC-specific services • “Welcome Home” worship service • Lifting up RC challenges and successes in worship, prayers • Prison chaplain as guest preacher • One non-profit in FL started a worshiping community on-site after a returning citizen who’d been a sex-offender was turned away at 18 churches he phoned.
Q20:
Q1: Q2:
Q3:
80% have regular prayer ministry to lift up needs of RCs
Q42:
Estimate of number of RCs congregation engages with per year: 1-5: 29%; 6-10: 16%; More than 10: 55% Estimate of number of congregational staff and volunteers currently involved in reentry ministry: 1-5: 70%; 6-10: 7%; More than 10: 23% 56% offer a peer support program where RCs minister to each other
Q43:
Q15:
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