The model is a great fit for a congregation that... • is missional and actively engaged in service ministries and has room for new participants. Do your members already think about your con- gregation as a kind of mission station? If new people showed up, would there be places for them to serve? • has leaders who can help guide and apprentice returning citizens into new levels of ministry. Don’t make returning citizens languish forever in a de facto probationary status as “helpers.” At some point, many of them will want to learn to lead. • has a system of recognizing someone’s spiritual gifts and helping them put those gifts to use. Having a discipleship and service-oriented minis- try coordinator can go a long way toward helping returning citizens find appropriate and meaningful outlets for their desire to serve. Advantages to the Mission Station Model It drives the process of desistance from crime. Shadd Maruna, one of the pioneers of desistance research, writes, “Desisting ex-offenders emphasize the desire to make some important contribution to their communities, and in particular to individuals like themselves who find themselves in trouble with the law” ( Making Good, p.12). It fosters collaboration. Your members and returning citizens aren’t on op- posite ends of serving. They’re working alongside each other. It helps get ministry done. Let’s face it: Anything that moves people from being consumers of ministry to producers of ministry is a good thing. It turbocharges the onboarding process. Opportunities to serve give re- turning citizens both a practical place and a role that connects them to your shared mission and to the people they’re serving alongside. That said, one experienced reentry leader noted that it’s healthy to allow for an adjustment period of living on the outside before plunging a returning citizen into lead- ership. In her experience, if too much is asked of someone too soon, they tend to struggle with either an inflated ego or with stress for having to live up to leadership expectations. It demonstrates respect. You’re signaling to returning citizens that you take them seriously, that they’re more than a basket of needs. They know that they’re valued, needed, and respected as people who are contributing some- thing important.
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