We met with Ken, a member of Vineyard Church, who spoke about all the ways their community is inclusive for people leaving prison and what it means for them, to be registered with The Welcome Directory.
About My Church
We’re a Vineyard Church close to a town centre and we registered with The Welcome Directory in 2017.
Supporting Prison Leavers
Our Christian ethos underpins our work. We run a charity connected to our church with several projects for our communities' marginalised groups, including prison leavers. For example, we run a well-being café, foodbank and allotment and homelessness projects. We receive regular referrals from Probation, and Prison Chaplains have also signposted prison leavers to us over the years
Making a Difference
One prison leaver who had regularly visited the food bank, told us that we had been “a life saver” at that time. He’d come here, rather than going to the pub or around the street corner and because he knew nobody we signposted him to other support. If he hadn’t found our community then he might have connected with individuals who may not have given him the best advice. Being part of The Welcome Directory has put the inclusion of prison leavers firmly on our church’s agenda. We say that ‘we’re a welcoming church’ and being registered shows that we really mean it.
A Good Welcome is …
... a prison leaver knowing they’re not going to be judged. They feel welcomed. They don’t feel out of place. And hopefully we can offer some practical support to help them.
The Most Important Thing I've Learned is...
I don’t need to know everything about a person when they first come into our church community. In my previous work I wanted and needed to know as much as possible about the people I was dealing with, but I have come to realise that with people coming to church (or to any of our charity’s projects) that I do not need to know everything about them, and this is especially the case with prison leavers. Prison leavers are no different to anybody else who walks through our door on a Sunday morning or to the food bank.
Thank you to Ken at Vineyard Church for sharing your time and story with us and for the difference you are making for people who have left prison.
Disclaimer: This case study represents the individual’s views, not the views of theirorganisation
A stock image has been used to ensure the anonymity of the faith community & its members
