March 19th, 2010 4:24 PM Dear Fellow Chaplain, I am writing to let you know that we are really close to finishing up our latest re-entry directory. As always we will be planning a luncheon for you to attend and pick up a new directory. However, I know that often many of the San Diego Chaplains cannot always make the luncheons and I want to be sure I can get a new directory to you and every other San Diego Chaplain who is actively working within a correctional facility here in San Diego. So here is how you can help me accomplish the this goal. 1. I need you to email me back the best mailing address for you to receive your directory. 2. I need you to let your fellow chaplains know that I need their address to get them a directory. It is my goal to mail you a free directory if you are currently active in a correctional facility, however, I cannot do this unless you give me a good mailing address. FYI, I have found that using the correctional facilities’ address is not the best address if you really want the directory to get to you. Also, for you who have not heard, I recently published a book called “Our Lives In Recovery” which is my basic mentoring approach for inmates and ex-offenders. You can take a look at it on my website at http://reentry.org/Books/BPT.html if interested. Looking forward to hearing from you. Blessings! - 1st Thess. 5:23 March 19th, 2010 1:02 PM Dear Friends in Ministry, There will be an organizational meeting to form teams to minister at Juvenile Hall in San Diego. Please pass this information on to others who may be interested. Blessings! - 1st Thess. 5:23 To learn more about Re-Entry Prison and Jail Ministry, please check out the below links or our website at www.reentry.org Our Lives In Christ Book http://reentry.org/Books/BPT.html March 12th, 2010 1:49 PM Dear Friends in Ministry, I wanted to share with you an opportunity to have some student missionaries come and volunteer for your ministry. Please read the invitation below and respond to Kellie Kellner directly. I am coordinating a mission trip for our youth choir at First Baptist Church Hurst. We have approx. 82 students and will have 8 – 10 sponsors. We have performed at a variety of locations such as nursing homes, prisons, Salvation Army sights, etc. We also do any type of mission outreach service projects that helps the community. In the past we have fed the homeless, cleaned and did minor construction work at a variety of facilities, worshiped, fellowshipped, talked with, and played games with adults and children, and many other outreach events. We will be staying in dorms of one of the university and food is not required. Last year, we performed for several prisons and youth correctional facilities in Nashville and would love to perform in the same area again this year while in San Diego. We bring our own sound equipment, all we would need a place to perform and an audience to perform to. Please Respond to Kellie Kellner kelliekellner@charter.net
FYI February 16th, 2010 7:01 PM George Bailey Detention Facility has openings for Religious Service volunteers to conduct church services on Sunday afternoons and evenings. Please contact Steve Harris for more info (Steve.Harris@SDSheriff.org or 619-654-4400). February 16th, 2010 12:31 PM Please Attend an Urgent Community Forum Prisoner Release 101: The truth about inmate release under new law. Monday, February 22, 2010 7pm – 9:30pm Joyce Beers Center in San Diego 1230 Cleveland Ave., Suite M-100 San Diego, California 92103 Free to Public • California’s inmate population will be reduced by 6,500 this year to comply with law. • California is under federal court order to cut the number of inmates by 40,000. • In January San Diego County jails gave early release to about 260 inmates. These are low-level offenders such as drug users, who need services for successful reentry. Panel of Speakers Includes: Craig Gilmore, California Prison Moratorium Project & Californians United for a Responsible Budget Caroline Stewart, L.C.S.W., A New PATH Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, Drug Policy Alliance Rev. Dennis Malone, All of Us or None & A New PATH Judy Patterson, Second Chance STRIVE Dennis Moore, Bethel A.M.E. Prison Ministry And more… Moderator: John de Miranda, Ed.M. Stepping Stone & Faces and Voices of Recovery Please RSVP to: Gretchen Burns Bergman, Executive Director & Co-Founder A New PATH 619-670-1184 or anewpath@cox.net. Website: www.anewpathsite.org. Sponsored by: A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment &Healing) All of Us or None – San Diego January 15th, 2010 2:59 PM Thank you so much for your support in 2009. We were able to accomplish much. In 2009 we were able to do the following: • We corresponded with over 150 inmates and worked directly with 39 inmates transitioning back into San Diego County. • We worked directly with 44 inmates with the “Our Lives in Recovery” discipleship bible study and issued 11 certificates of completion. • We were privileged to share bible studies at Chula Vista Police Department Jail every Saturday in 2009. During the 52 meetings, there were 504 men in attendance. • We conducted two countywide Re-Entry Luncheons and distributed Re-Entry Services Directories to close to 100 participants representing 40 organizations in San Diego County who work with inmates or ex-offenders. • I also managed to finish my book, “Our Lives in Recovery” and got it published at the end of December 2009. On that note, please let me know if you would like a signed copy. You can order one by clicking on this link http://reentry.org/Books/BPT.html
God Bless You, Chaplain Art Lyons January 11th, 2010 4:36 PM
January 11th, 2010 1:41 PM I wanted to let you know of three exciting events for me and RPJM. First, a book that I have been working on for a long time has been published. You can check it out by clicking on the link below. Secondly, this year marks 30 years of ministry for me. I have posted a couple of videos on You Tube you may want to check out especially if you have been involved with the ministry for awhile. You may even see a picture of yourself in the 30 Year Slide Show. Should you like anything you see or hear, let me know. Our Lives In Christ Book http://reentry.org/Books/BPT.html Lastly, I wanted to let you know were working hard on updating our 2010 Re-Entry Directory. Please be sure to keep me informed of address or email changes to be sure we get to pass on any needed changes to our re-entry network. I am hoping to plan a re-entry directory release meeting in March 2010. January 6th, 2010 9:01 PM Dear Friends: Sunday, January 10 1300-1700 January 4th, 2010 9:35 PM There are two upcoming opportunities for anyone interested in being on an "In-Prison" team. In both of these facilities you must take the training and be cleared to go inside. If interested in either of these trainings, please contact me for further details. Feel free to share this information with others. Tom tomheyer@me.com DONOVAN STATE PRISON, OTAY MESA Training will take place on Sunday, January 10, 1-5 pm. Training takes place at Donovan in the Administrative Building, Classroom #1 METROPOLITAN CORRECTIONAL CENTER (MCC), DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO Training for new volunteers will take place on Wednesday, January 20, 5-9 pm. Training takes place at MCC at 808 Union St, downtown San Diego. There is only room for 24 new volunteers. You must reserve your place by contacting the Volunteer Co Ordinator, Edna Robertson and let her know you would like to attend. Her phone is: 619-232-4311, ext. 1242 Her email is: erobertson@bop.gov. December 22nd, 2009 4:50 PM Frequently Asked Questions About Becoming a Chaplain Are there education requirements to be a Chaplain? If so, what are they? There are not a lot of schools for training chaplains. Most education requirements are met by graduation from a Bible School or College. Anyone that has a B.A. in Pastoral Studies should meet the education requirements to be a chaplain. I encourage a minimum of one year (30 college credits) of Bible College or education in a related field to meet the entry-level requirements to obtain the title of "Chaplain". I will work with anyone who is willing to get involved in the process. I work with a university called Vision International University. They offer a one-year, ten-course correspondent curriculum with a certificate in correctional ministry. There are a few other Christian organizations that offer similar instruction. VIU offers Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate degrees through correspondence courses. They also will give you credit for previous Bible classes and life experiences. Are there opportunities to get involved in full-time paid Chaplaincy work? There usually is no back door to come in, such as a correctional counselor. Counselors are counselors, and deal with non-spiritual issues. Paid Chaplains are required to cover a multitude of spiritual needs including religious needs outside of one's own faith. The usual way a Protestant Supervisory Chaplain will do this is by keeping a list of other faith representatives to refer the inmate to. Do I need to be licensed or ordained? Most churches will require a combination of Bible education and practical ministry experience over a number of years. There should be an acknowledgment (bearing witness) from that church that you have a calling on your life for ministry. If your particular fellowship's standards are unreachable for you, you may want to find another recognized organization in good standing in the general Christian community that offers licensing or ordination. Vision International University also offers ordination. How did I (Art Lyons) become a Chaplain? How do you raise funds to be a Chaplain? What are the responsibilities of a Chaplain? December 19th, 2009 4:07 PM Welcome back. I shared with them the Christmas story in context of getting God’s presence not just presents for Christmas. I told them they could receive the peace that the angels proclaimed to the shepherds in the Christmas story. I shared a little of my own testimony of addiction, needing a miracle of deliverance, and finding the peace of God. We prayed for them and their families to experience that peace of God and I reminded them that we all get what we want from God. If we want to be close to Him, we get that, and if we want Him to stay away we get that too. We’ll see who comes back next week. Stay tuned for my next entry on FAQs about chaplaincy work. Ciao! December 18th, 2009 1:27 PM Dear Friends, This is my attempt to blog. I decided to start here on my own website. I know if I can’t be consistent here, I may as well not attempt it anywhere else. By the way, if this is something that you would like to receive via email, please sign-up with FeedBlitz. You can find how to do that right here on the re-entry website. Just look up. The opportunity I have here – is that no one has to feel imposed upon by receiving unwanted email. I am sure many of your can relate. Currently I am purging my email receptions. I have hundreds of email and spam that come weekly as one may expect hosting a website for the last decade or more. All that said, I hope that this news feed is not “all about me” but that is a real possibility. Read on if you dare……………………. For the last 2 years besides running Re-Entry Prison and Jail Ministry, working full-time at my church, I have been taking classes at Vision International University. I am now approaching completing my Doctorate in Ministry. Should the Lord grant me life, I am planning to complete my doctorate by the middle of 2010. As it looks now, I will be compiling a chaplain’s manual for my doctorate project. I hope that it will be worthy of being published. On that topic, I am excited to announce that my book “Our Lives in Recovery” will be available for purchase by January 2010. If you would like a copy, you can pre-order from me or purchase a copy from Vision Publishing or Amazon. I will be selling them for less, but if you are planning to send one to an inmate, you will most likely want to purchase it from Vision Publishing and have it sent directly to the inmate. That is the preferred method of most correctional institutions. They generally will not allow in inmate to receive publications from friends or family. If you want to purchase from me, just click on the book icon on the right of this web page. So what’s going on in ministry at Re-Entry? I want to just mention daily or weekly events as I blog. For tomorrow, I will be ministering at the Chula Vista Police Department Jail where I go every Saturday to administrate an eight week course to parolees that volunteer to come to our classes. I have been ministering there for over a year now. We generally have between 6 to12 participants. Out of a population of 25, that’s not too bad. We have an eight week course we rotate through until the inmates are released back into society. I will be posting here in the next few days a curriculum overview. During the week they also complete an intensive eight week curriculum on drug and alcohol rehabilitation issues. Then for those who want to hear about a Christian perspective on rehabilitation, they can attend our classes on Saturdays. It‘s pretty sweet for them. Once they complete their courses successfully, they get released into a 30 day halfway house and then into a 60 day sober living home. Tomorrow we will bring in doughnuts, milk and orange juice for a special Christmas service. The jailers suggested that this might draw in those who do not regularly attend. Yes, we are bribing them to attend this Saturday; however they will know that we are going to talk about the reason for the season. If you want to know how this works out, check back here in about 24 hours. Blessings to all who take time to read this. Let me know what you think – please. In His service in the jails, Chaplain Art November 20th, 2009 11:49 AM The School for Correctional Ministries (SCM)
Announcing! New credential programs in Correctional Ministries through SCM at Wheaton College Three Credential Tracks: Each credential program will consist of six courses, a capstone project or internship as well as a spiritual mentoring component. Courses will be offered as residential, online, or a blend; residential courses will be held on the campus of Wheaton College, near Chicago, IL. Core Curriculum (Required of all students regardless of credential track)
School for Correctional Ministries 2008 November 10th, 2009 7:04 PM Hi, I have not been on my own news board for a while. Since April it looks like. To say the least, busyness has been my lot for a few months. However, I wanted to let you know if there is still anyone receiving emails from here, that I am alive and well. The biggest news I can share with you right now is that a book I have been working on for years now, is about ready to hit the presses. If you have visited my site at all you know that I have listed the information on "Our Lives in Recovery" there for some time. Well, hopefully we will have it available in book form by the end of the year. The Lord has been using the information in the book now in several prisons. In one prison we have over 100 men attending classes weekly where the information is being taught. At any given time, we have twenty or so students completing the homework assignments and sending them into our office to be evaluated and have issued many certificates of completion in the last several months. Thank you for praying and supporting this ministry. The Lord is doing a good work. If you have time, send me an email if you received this just so I know your still out there too! Blessings! Chaplain Art Lyons April 7th, 2009 6:50 PM Hello everyone, Please view the information regarding the Making it Work-Treating Addicted Offenders Conference offered by UCSD's CCARTA. All questions regarding this event should be directed towards the contact information provided on the website.The conference is free of charge. Kristin Zimmer San Diego District Attorney's Office Americorps VISTA (619) 531-3630 Christine Brown-Taylor, MSW SB 618 Community Case Management Program Manager University of California, San Diego 5060 Shoreham Place, Suite 200 San Diego, CA 92122 858-334-3134 Fax: 858-625-0217 March 25th, 2009 9:39 AM Hard Time 2 Full Time If you have been previously incarcerated and would like to get some help with your employment search, we can help you. We will conduct a series of four workshops that address specific issues and will be held on Friday’s at 1:30 p.m ~ Staying Out Transferable Skills Resume/Cover Letter W.O.T.C. For specific information on start dates go to: http://www.sandiegoatwork.com/Workf If you would like to attend you must sign up. Call 619-516-2237 *These workshops are a part of a series. Once you have completed the entire series (all four workshops) a Certificate of Completion will be provided. METRO CAREER CENTER 3910 UNIVERSITY AVE STE 300 SAN DIEGO, CA. March 6th, 2009 12:27 PM Dear Friends in Ministry, There will be a meeting concerning the formation of teams to minister in the Juvenile Hall facilities in San Diego. The meeting is Monday, March 9, 7 pm, in Room 10, at Shadow Mountain Church located 2100 Greenfield Dr., El Cajon, CA 92019. It is open to all those interested in the Juvenile Hall ministry. Please pass the word about this meeting. For more info please contact Tom Heyer at tomheyer@mac.com
March 4th, 2009 9:31 PM Dear Friends in Ministry, I wanted to inform you that I am planning a Re-Entry Luncheon on April 24th, 2009 that I am hoping you can attend. It will be at 12:00 Noon at College Avenue Baptist Church located at 4747 College Avenue, San Diego, CA, 92115. The cost will be $12.00 per person which will include a copy of our latest 2009 Re-Entry Directory. I am still putting some of the details together and will be contacting you again thru email or snail mail with further information. Please mark you calendars. These luncheons always are fruitful in networking with other leaders who are actively involved with every aspect of re-entry issues. And – you’ll get a good lunch too. Stayed tuned. Blessings! Pastor Art Lyons February 2nd, 2009 12:39 PM I would like to invite you to be our guests for dinner on Thursday, February 19,5 pm, in Room A, at Shadow Mountain Community Church. The SMCC Prison Ministry is co-hosting this dinner so that you and others involved in ministering to incarcerated men and women, and their families, can meet and hear from representatives of Impact For Life. Impact for Life was started by Mel Goebel, a former inmate, who upon his release in 1976, began working with Chuck Colson and Prison Fellowship. In 2000, Mel began Impact For Life and the Library Of Hope. The Library Of Hope provides prison chaplains with some $300 worth of Christ-centered books and resources upon request for no cost. Impact For Life has additional ministries that assist and support inmates and their families. This ministry was brought to my attention by Jackie Williford who was a part of the SMCC Prison Ministry until her family moved north. She has continued to minister in prisons where she now resides. She and others are having Impact For Life come to their area during this same week. Representatives of Impact For Life are sharing in the LA area, including Saddleback Church, and we felt it would be wonderful to have them come to San Diego and share with you. Again you are our guest for dinner, but we do need to have you RSVP. You can do that by emailing me or calling me at 619-590-2107. We are hoping that you can attend. Here, again, are the details: Impact For Life Dinner Shadow Mountain Community Church Thursday, February 19 5-7:30 pm Room A (Next to Worship Center) If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thomas Heyer tomheyer@mac.com |