email of 2/2/2010 from General Board of Church and Society, The United Methodist Church

Join the Feb. 7 Day of Prayer for Criminal Justice Reform!!

Dear Raymond,

I want to invite you to join with people of faith throughout the United States on Feb. 7 to pray for criminal justice reform. We are asking churches to take part or all of their prayer time in this Sunday's service to lift up the prayer items that follow. Please e-mail me and tell me the name of your church and the city and state where you are located, if you do lift up these prayers.
Facts to consider and share with your congregation:

With 5% of the world’s population, the United States holds 25% of the world’s incarcerated.

In the United States, 1 in every 100 people is incarcerated and 2/3 of those in prison are black or Latino.

Black men serving senten.es account for 4,618 per 100,000; Hispanic males 1,747, and Anglo males 773. This means that black males were 6 times more likely, and Hispanic males twice as likely as Anglos to be held in custody.

There are more than 8,000 reported incidents of sexual assault in prisons each year.
The number of unreported incidents cannot be estimated.

In 2007, 82.7% of crack cocaine defendants were African-American despite the fact that only 18% of crack cocaine users in the U.S. are African-Americans.

Every year across the U.S., 200,000 youths are tried, sentenced or incarcerated as adults and on any given day, nearly 7,500 youths are locked up in adult jails, and 2,600 are locked up in adult prisons.

These are just some of the reasons we know the current system is broken.

Therefore, we must pray for reform of the criminal justice system, for empowerment of faith communities to advocate for reforms, and for moral and accountable leadership by our elected leaders to bring about just and humane reform.

Please e-mail me and let me know your church is participating and the city and state where you are located and share this with everyone else you know who might be interested:

bmefford@umc-gbcs.org.

All you need to do is have your church spend part or all of the prayer time during its worship service lifting up these specific prayer needs:

A fair criminal justice system based on restorative principles that do not sentence people to unjustly long sentences or target certain racial groups, so that the families of the incarcerated can be strengthened and local communities safely restored.

Empowerment of churches to serve those directly affected by the criminal justice system, by caring for victims of crime, providing necessary programs for ex-offenders seeking to reenter society, supporting families affected by crime, and advocating for reform of the criminal justice system.

The moral leadership and accountability of elected leaders to support legislation that reflects the values of restorative justice and will care for victims of crime, eliminate unjust and unsafe treatment in the criminal justice system, and provide for in-prison, reentry and prevention programs to avert future crimes.

As always, as you participate in the Day of Prayer, please let me know the name of your church, and the city and state in which you are located: bmefford@umc-gbcs.org.
The United Methodist Church’s position on the criminal justice system is:

In the love of Christ, who came to save those who are lost and vulnerable, we urge the creation of a genuinely new system for the care and restoration of victims, offenders, criminal justice officials, and the community as a whole. Restorative justice grows out of biblical authority, which emphasizes a right relationship with God, self and community. When such relationships are violated or broken through crime, opportunities are created to make things right. (Social Principles, ¶164H)

A genuinely new system can only come through people of faith coming together and prayerfully working towards reform. Feb. 7 for some of us will begin that journey and for many others will be another step. But let’s walk this together.

Please have your church participate on Feb. 7 and recruit others to join as well. And please let me know as you do.

Thank you for your faithfulness!

In Christ,

Bill Mefford
Director, Civil and Human Rights

The General Board of Church and Society
100 Maryland Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002202-488-5600
FAX 202-488-5619
Order Resources
1-800-967-7000
www.umc-gbcs.org


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