|
Rev. Ed Nesselhuf
|
I was the developer pastor of the Community of St. Dysmas in Jessup,
Maryland from 1984 to 1987. St. Dysmas is a Lutheran congregation
established in two Maryland State prisons and is the first denominational congregation in
the nation where the members are all prison inmates. As I watched the inmate congregation
develop and at the same time, an outside network of support develop in the
Lutheran congregations of Maryland who chose to "partner" with us, it became
evident that we had stumbled onto a model of prison ministry with some unique strengths -
especially enabling here to fore uninvolved Christians to "visit the
imprisoned".
St. Dysmas of South Dakota Lutheran congregation (Sioux Falls and
Springfield, SD) and St. Dismas Episcopal congregation (Graterford,
PA) founded in 1990 and 1991 respectively have further convinced me - and the
supporters of P.C.A. - that this model can be used in many states by a number of
denominations. Hence, our deep commitment to this mission.
|
