Community Justice Ministries
Celebrating 25 Years in Alberta!

A lot has happened in 25 years …

• comings and goings of staff and special programs within ministries;
• the birth and death of dreams;
• changes in direction and vision … some forward, some backward, and some sideways.

As a result, we have become even more determined to adjust to meeting the various needs of those we serve, while making the best use of resources available to us.

Joining in God’s work is never boring and this year has been no exception:

• The LifeLine contract we held for nine years is now with St. Leonard’s Society.
• Kae Neufeld will rejoin us at Edmonton Institution for Women, while Suzanne Gross is away this coming year.
• Some of our staff was able to attend the Restorative Justice Gathering in Winnipeg (sponsored by MCC Canada) and the National Chaplains’ Conference (sponsored by the Correctional Service of Canada) in Vancouver in May.
• In November 2007, during Restorative Justice Week, we hope to provide a forum to engage in dialogue one who has been victimized by murder and one who has perpetrated the same.

With Community Chaplaincy (aka Bridge Ministries), God’s grace has been seen this past year with:

• frequent visits with a former prisoner dying in the hospital,
• attending a one-year celebration of sobriety,
• rejoicing at the beginning of a new job,
• journeying with men volunteering in the community and,
• coming to grips with the untimely death of one of our younger clients.

Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) works, through volunteers, with high risk men leaving prison and returning to the community, and…

• recently gained international recognition;
• may soon become a national program;
• CoSA Calgary currently has 6 circles – more volunteers are needed.

M2/W2 continues to offer friendship and contact with the outside world for more than 100 men and women who live behind prison walls. We are encouraged when our volunteers choose to maintain relationships with their matches on the “outside” as well.
Thank you to our families, staff and volunteers who support us in this rewarding ministry. May each one of us echo the words of the prophet Isaiah,
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.                                                                                                                                    (Luke 4: 18, 19 NIV)  
Allyson Lucas