Community

The Rev. Gerson Annunciacao, Chaplain to the Presbyterian Immigrant Ministry, will be our guest at the Adult Education Class on Sunday, February 12th. Gerson will also offer the Minute for Mission that Sunday.

The Presbyterian Immigrant Ministry has three main foci. The first and most important is ministry through Bible study groups to incarcerated immigrants in correctional facilities. This group approach, which enables members to minister to and evangelize each other, is a distinctive feature of this ministry. The second focus is upon ministry to their families who need information and spiritual help from supportive outsiders to cope with the uncertainties surrounding incarceration. Thirdly, there is a ministry to congregations to tell the story of incarcerated immigrants so that together we may discern ways in which we can be genuinely supportive of them. To date the first focus has
been our main priority.

As reported to The Presbytery in November, seventy out of the 547 incarcerated immigrants (13%) in two correctional facilities are in these Bible study groups and negotiations are well under way to begin similar groups in a third facility. Of the incarcerated immigrants currently involved twelve are from Connecticut: six from Hartford, two from New Haven, two from Danbury, and one each from Norwalk and Stamford.

For more information on the Presbyterian Immigrant Ministry see http://presbim.wordpress.com/