Kent Munsey is senior pastor at City Church Chicago, which ministers to local families through Angel Tree® Christmas, partners with Prison Fellowship® to host Hope Events at nearby facilities, and regularly serves the men and women inside Cook County Jail.
We’re all going to stand before Jesus someday, and I (Pastor Kent) think that’s really the motivator for us. Jesus will say, “I was hungry, but you didn’t feed Me. I was thirsty, but you didn’t give Me something to drink. I was in prison, but you didn’t come to Me.” We all know that passage of Scripture, but sometimes these underserved communities seem so distant.
Around 2015, I held a prayer moment for those who have a family member in prison. I thought maybe there would be a few people in our church who knew someone or who had a family member who was incarcerated. But when I saw how many people responded to the invitation for prayer, I was overwhelmed.
I had given myself permission, as a pastor, to assume that people impacted by incarceration are “them,” a group outside of my community, but that’s not the case.
My hope is that our church would see new opportunities to be a part of the work that Prison Fellowship is doing, but also to view it differently. The work that needs to be done with those who are incarcerated is the same work that we have to do on a regular basis with ourselves.
