ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT
The Prison Ministries department within the North England Conference (NEC) has been active for many years under the umbrella of the Personal Ministries department. In 2021, the Executive Committee appointed Pastor Ian Philpott as the first sponsor for the department.
Within the geographical area of the NEC, there are 62 prisons holding nearly 50,000 prisoners. These prisons are a combination of:
- Male adult
- Male young offenders (15 to 21 years)
- Female adult
The main thrust of the various ministries across the Conference is the Sunday morning services provided in the prison chapels. Several churches have been visiting prisons for a while, and others are setting up a prison ministries team. During visits, we provide Discover Bible courses from our Adventist Discovery Centre (ADC), Desire of Ages, Great Controversy, and other literature.
OUR DEPARTMENT'S OBJECTIVES
The department seeks to empower, equip and enable its Prison Ministry volunteers to reach those who are incarcerated in the north of England with love, compassion and hope for a brighter future. We're planning to achieve this by:
- Establishing Adventist members as chaplains within the prison system.
- Hosting Conference-wide and local church Prison Ministries days to raise awareness of the ministry and encourage members to get involved.
- Encouraging Adventist members to get involved in the "visit a prisoner" and "pen pal" schemes.
- Creating teams to support with prisoner resettlement upon release.
- Planning an annual overseas trip to develop our volunteers by exposing them to ministry in different contexts.
SPONSOR'S ROLE
Pastor Ian Philpott is the Sponsor for the Prison Ministries Department. His remit within the department is voluntary whilst he ministers in two local churches. His responsibilities include but not limited to:
- Raise awareness of prison ministries within the NEC and opportunities for involvement of local Adventist members.
- Encourage churches to launch their own prison ministries teams and minister to those incarcerated within a local prison.
- Provide literature, bible study guides and other resources for prison inmates.
- Support local prison ministries teams across the Conference by providing training and resources.
RESOURCES
- Keys to Prison Ministries, by the General Conference - www.sabbathschoolpersonalministries.org/assets/sspm/pmleaflets/Prison%20Ministries.pdf
