Prayers for Use by our Friends at Edna Mahan
While we are apart, we offer this collection of prayers that you may join us in prayer across the days and weeks ahead. You remain dear to us and we hold all of you, inmates, officers and administrators, in our hearts and ever before God in our prayers. We at Church of the Holy Spirit remain committed to you as the Lord commands us:
Continue to remember those in prison
as if you were together with them in prison,
and those who are troubled
as if you yourselves were suffering.
Hebrews 13:3
While we are apart, we offer this collection of prayers that you may join us in prayer across the days and weeks ahead. You remain dear to us and we hold all of you, inmates, officers and administrators, in our hearts and ever before God in our prayers. We at Church of the Holy Spirit remain committed to you as the Lord commands us:
Continue to remember those in prison
as if you were together with them in prison,
and those who are troubled
as if you yourselves were suffering.
Hebrews 13:3
Update from John Andrews - September 20, 2021
Dr. Lynch and I recently had a conversation about our ministries at Edna Mahan. She started by saying that the number of religious volunteers will need to be reduced. There are currently 205 volunteers and the prison population is now approximately 400 inmates (approximately 300 in Max and 100 in Grounds). The Chaplaincy staff has been reduced. She said at this time, no new volunteers will be accepted and volunteers who had not started attending sessions prior to the Pandemic will also not be accepted.
Plans for starting up religious ministries are being considered now by Administration. The ministries will be phased in and the first volunteers will not be able to start their ministries until January at the earliest and possibly not until next summer. Dr. Lynch understands that the Shawl Ministry is important to the women, but is not sure whether Administration will allow Shawl Ministry to resume. However, even if Shawl Ministry is permitted to resume she expects that it will not resume in the first phase and the sessions will be limited to one a week in Grounds and Max. The number of Shawl Ministry volunteers per session will also be limited. If Bible Study sessions are permitted to resume there will be no Bible Study sessions at night. Dr. Lynch is hoping that Bible Study sessions are permitted to resume in C Cottage because the inmates in C Cottage are underserved.
Dr. Lynch will let me know when renewal applications for State IDs will be accepted. She is concerned that Custody is going to be overwhelmed by the number of applications system-wide that will need to be processed.
She directed any questions regarding tutoring to Ms. Thatcher, the Director of Education. I will contact Ms. Thatcher.
I am sorry that the news is not better. We need to wait for Administration to make decisions about religious ministries.
On another matter, I am still looking for volunteers to write our monthly letter to the women in Edna Mahan. We need volunteers for the letters for the rest of the year starting in September. Dr. Lynch told me that the letters are appreciated by the women. Please help me keep this important ministry going.
Dr. Lynch and I recently had a conversation about our ministries at Edna Mahan. She started by saying that the number of religious volunteers will need to be reduced. There are currently 205 volunteers and the prison population is now approximately 400 inmates (approximately 300 in Max and 100 in Grounds). The Chaplaincy staff has been reduced. She said at this time, no new volunteers will be accepted and volunteers who had not started attending sessions prior to the Pandemic will also not be accepted.
Plans for starting up religious ministries are being considered now by Administration. The ministries will be phased in and the first volunteers will not be able to start their ministries until January at the earliest and possibly not until next summer. Dr. Lynch understands that the Shawl Ministry is important to the women, but is not sure whether Administration will allow Shawl Ministry to resume. However, even if Shawl Ministry is permitted to resume she expects that it will not resume in the first phase and the sessions will be limited to one a week in Grounds and Max. The number of Shawl Ministry volunteers per session will also be limited. If Bible Study sessions are permitted to resume there will be no Bible Study sessions at night. Dr. Lynch is hoping that Bible Study sessions are permitted to resume in C Cottage because the inmates in C Cottage are underserved.
Dr. Lynch will let me know when renewal applications for State IDs will be accepted. She is concerned that Custody is going to be overwhelmed by the number of applications system-wide that will need to be processed.
She directed any questions regarding tutoring to Ms. Thatcher, the Director of Education. I will contact Ms. Thatcher.
I am sorry that the news is not better. We need to wait for Administration to make decisions about religious ministries.
On another matter, I am still looking for volunteers to write our monthly letter to the women in Edna Mahan. We need volunteers for the letters for the rest of the year starting in September. Dr. Lynch told me that the letters are appreciated by the women. Please help me keep this important ministry going.
What the ministry at Edna Mahan was pre-COVID
The volunteers at Church of the Holy Spirit engage in a variety of ministerial activities at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey. As New Jersey's only facility for women, Edna Mahan houses about 800 women who are incarcerated for a variety of reasons in both Maximum and Minimum Security.
There are two types of ministries that take place during the month. On Monday and Tuesday afternoon (1 until 3pm), volunteers visit the women in both Maximum and Minimum Security and either knit or crochet shawls for anyone who might be in the need of healing or comfort or celebration. These shawls travel all around the world and the women never know who will receive their gift of time and talent. This most worthwhile endeavor demonstrates to all that the women in this Shawl MInistry at Edna Mahan are women of faith who wish to give back to their community. With the assistance of the women at Edna Mahan, the Church of the Holy Spirit gives annually over 200 shawls to the worldwide community.
On two evenings a month (the second Wednesday or the third Monday of the month), several volunteers visit the prison in both Maximum and Minimum Security and provide a Bible Study and Evening Prayer service for the women who wish to come to a Christian gathering. There is singing hymns of praise, praying for ourselves and the needs of others, reading Holy Scripture, and reflecting on the words of God for our daily lives. The Holy Spirit is always present and both the women and the volunteers experience the Spirit's power.
If you are interested in this life changing ministry, please contact John Andrews.
The volunteers at Church of the Holy Spirit engage in a variety of ministerial activities at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey. As New Jersey's only facility for women, Edna Mahan houses about 800 women who are incarcerated for a variety of reasons in both Maximum and Minimum Security.
There are two types of ministries that take place during the month. On Monday and Tuesday afternoon (1 until 3pm), volunteers visit the women in both Maximum and Minimum Security and either knit or crochet shawls for anyone who might be in the need of healing or comfort or celebration. These shawls travel all around the world and the women never know who will receive their gift of time and talent. This most worthwhile endeavor demonstrates to all that the women in this Shawl MInistry at Edna Mahan are women of faith who wish to give back to their community. With the assistance of the women at Edna Mahan, the Church of the Holy Spirit gives annually over 200 shawls to the worldwide community.
On two evenings a month (the second Wednesday or the third Monday of the month), several volunteers visit the prison in both Maximum and Minimum Security and provide a Bible Study and Evening Prayer service for the women who wish to come to a Christian gathering. There is singing hymns of praise, praying for ourselves and the needs of others, reading Holy Scripture, and reflecting on the words of God for our daily lives. The Holy Spirit is always present and both the women and the volunteers experience the Spirit's power.
If you are interested in this life changing ministry, please contact John Andrews.