Recently I toured the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail with a few members of Westminster. The tour was led by the jail chaplain. WPC contributes to the salary of Chaplain Varaksa as part of Good News Jail & Prison Ministry. It was a lot to take in. In some respects, I saw some encouraging things taking place — volunteers tutoring inmates, respectful interactions between the chaplain and the inmates, and respectful interactions between some of the guards and the inmates. On the other hand, there were, not surprisingly, some upsetting and sobering aspects to the visit as well.

Certainly there are improvements that can be made in all areas of the criminal justice system. For those wanting to help, knowing where to start can seem overwhelming. Some of our laws need to be changed. Conditions within the jail need to be improved and finding ways to provide hope to inmates is needed. Probation policies need to be revamped. For me, the tour served to reinforce one area where we can make an impact- reentry to society. By that I mean immediate reentry into society. For instance, oftentimes inmates are released with little or no notice and so find themselves in the parking lot of the jail with only the clothes in which they arrived. If they were incarcerated in the summer wearing shorts and sandals and get released in the middle of a snowstorm, those are the clothes they are released in. That is a problem.

Many individuals have difficulty finding a job, getting to work if they find a job, paying bills, etc. There is a non- profit organization in the area, The Fountain Fund, which provides low-interest loans to formerly incarcerated people with viable employment prospects. However, there is currently no organized effort at providing appropriate clothing upon release, transportation for newly released inmates to their home or apartment (if they are fortunate to have such a place to stay with family or friends) or, if they have no place to go, providing money for even one night in a hotel. It strikes me that addressing these issues may be something that Westminster is called to do. I invite all of us to prayerfully consider that possibility.

If you would like to join other members for a chaplain-led tour of ACRJ, contact Kathy Redding for more information, 434-906-4697.

Westminster has a long tradition of education and support for members as they engage with environmental issues, from the production of Alternative Lifestyles manual that church members compiled in the 1970s, to the Household Sustainability Challenge that Ruthie Buck and other Green Team members led a decade ago, to the installation of solar panels on church facilities and the support of wind-power projects we have given in the last few years.

As part of this continuing focus on environmental stewardship, the Green Team would like to draw the attention of Westminster members to a recent series of articles and documents, drawn from both secular and denomination sources, that help frame the current environmental situation, with a view toward encouraging individual and collective actions that we can take that will help actively show our love and gratitude for God’s earth. We would like to lead with an interactive quiz that we hope church members can take; it promises to be eye-opening for all. The quiz (“How Much Do You Know About How to Solve Global Warming”) is part of the New York Times article “How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint” by Livia Albeck-Ripka.

The Green Team will be scheduling outings and talks in the upcoming weeks and months to help us further explore the issues and questions raised by this and the other publications mentioned. Please stay tuned!

This year Westminster will host the PACEM (People and Congregations Engaging in Ministry) men’s homeless shelter, March 9-23. Based on previous years, we will likely host 40-50 guests each night in Fellowship Hall. This ministry is one of the best ways that we can fulfill our Christian commitment to love all our neighbors. It’s a pleasure to get to know our guests and share time with them. To volunteer during PACEM, click here.