Prison ministries leaders in the Pacific Northwest will need to wait for another year for a regional training conference, event organizers announced Thursday, August 22.
“We had planned to host an NPUC Prison Ministry Convention this September 13-14 in Gladstone, Oregon,” said Byron Dulan, NPUC vice president for regional ministries and prison ministry director. “Our planning team faced a myriad of issues in planning this convention and so we voted to postpone this convention until next year – likely September 2025.”
Yet, the needs for prison ministry still exist. During the pandemic, prisons were shut down for in-person prison ministry activities.
With the pandemic pause on volunteerism, established volunteers found other ways to be involved in prison ministry such as letter writing and supporting transition houses. These ministry expressions require a different base of volunteers that doesn’t crossover with in-person prison ministry.
As prisons are opening up again to accept prison ministry volunteers, the network of volunteers is needing to be reestablished and expanded.
“This is a unique, special and meaningful area of ministry,” Dulan said. “While the training convention may not be happening for our union territory, your conference prison ministry coordinators are available to answer questions, provide you training and onboard you for being involved in various forms of ministry to inmates.”
