“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…” Isaiah 61:1-2

The world says: “Abandon all hope, all who enter here.” (inscription on the gates of hell, from Dante’s Inferno)

God’s word says: “...neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

the prison: Angola

• Long-term, maximum security

• 18,000 acres, known by residents as “The Farm”

• 5,000 inmates

• Once called “the bloodiest prison in America.”

the men of Angola:

living with danger, fear, guilt, stress, loneliness, isolation, hopelessness, anger...

For deliverance from all danger, violence, oppression and degradation, let us pray to the Lord, Lord have mercy.

where is the hope?

• most of the men of Angola are serving life or virtual life sentences

• many will be buried in the prison cemetery in an unmarked grave

“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true--even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20

the Episcopal prison ministry at Angola, how it started:

• a volunteer attended an interdenominational prison ministry weekend

• he began to visit the Episcopal inmates and others he met

• a priest joined him to take communion to his new friends

• one of the residents suggested a worship service and invited his friends

• more volunteers began to join the ministry; more men began to come to the service

“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:10

the heart of our ministry:

“First Tuesday”, monthly Eucharist service where we meet for: ...prayer...joy...worship...peace...communion...fellowship

“I love the house where you live, O LORD, the place where your glory dwells. “
Psalm 23:6

Outside team members, aka “outmates”
     …serving the Lord with joy and excitement

 “I want to walk as a child of the Light, I want to follow Jesus…”

why do we go?   

• a calling

• fellowship

• a chance to make a difference

“The peace of the Lord be always with you…”

why do they come?

• spiritual food

• gumbo

• Jesus

we offer the sacraments & community:

• baptism

• confirmation

• reception

• communion

• reconciliation

• healing

what do residents say about this service?

"From the very first Episcopal service I attended, I felt like I belonged. Strangers were soon dear friends, making me feel as a new member of the family. I know I have found a new me, someone I like and Lord can love. I now have a thirst to know Jesus Christ."   Roy M.       

"I go to the Episcopal service in the chapel because I get spiritual food for my soul. Also I feel’s God’s presence in the service. I see God’s love in each and every one of you who comes up here."  Fritz B.

important elements of the ministry

• friendship

• correspondence

• pastoral visits

• birthday cards

• newsletter

• fellowship

• prayer

• love

• gumbo

“Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  Psalm 34:8

another important element of our ministry:
    …teamwork

"I read just recently that God calls people to where they can hear him. There is no time or place where I have heard God so clearly as at the church services at Angola. And when I step back outside the gates of the prison, I am able by his grace to walk with a greater awareness of his presence."  Cindy Obier

“I have known the truth of Jesus’ words 'When you have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty…visited the sick and the prisoner, you have done it to me.'  But in actually going into Angola, I have actually experienced a reality of that saying. For I have encountered Jesus again and again in the men I have met and continue to meet there.”  Father Miller Armstrong

and another important element of our ministry:

working with administration, chaplains, other ministries

• Ministering at Angola through the support and encouragement of the prison administration, security and prison chaplains, obeying all rules and regulations of the institution

• Working with the many other ministries at Angola in a spirit of  cooperation, harmony and unity to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission to “make disciples of all nations…”

growing and maturing in God’s care:

     from ministry to mission

• Transfiguration made a mission of the Diocese of Louisiana in year 2000

• based on university chapel model

• an Advisory Committee comprised of residents and outside team members (inmates and outmates) guides the church

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”   John 15:5 

where are we going from here?
     ...following the Lord into the future

• Resident-led worship, outreach, and education

• build a prison ministry facility outside the gates for ourselves, Kairos, and other ministers

• aftercare ministry for released offenders

so we can all:

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!


For more information about prison ministry, please contact the church office at 225-387-0396.