Tag: jail ministry

• Remember Me?

  Eight months ago I stopped publishing my blog every week. Now I post an entry sporadically, averaging about one a month. The one thing I’ve been consistent about is always publishing on Tuesday morning. Today that tradition ends, too. It’s Friday. Specifically, it’s Good Friday, and there’s something on my mind that I want to…

  Marian

  April 14, 2017

  Celebrations, God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Lent, Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

  criminal request, Dane County Jail, Good Friday, Good Friday devotion, Holy Week, important in God’s eyes, important to God, jail ministry, Jesus remember me, Lenten Devotion, Lenten Devotional booklet, Messiah Church, Messiah Lutheran Church

• Do Something!

  “You’re not dead yet. Do something!” That’s what Pastor Jeff preached about at Messiah last Sunday. He talked about how difficult the past week had been – with two black men being shot in our country, just a day apart, and then five police officers being killed and more injured in Dallas just days later. When…

  Marian

  July 12, 2016

  God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  Buenos Vecinos, Christmas baskets, coats for inmates, Dane County Jail, Ellen Finn, Good Neighbors, Good Samaritan, Honduras, jail ministry, Jeff Vanden Heuvel, killing black men, operating expenses, Pastor Jeff, racial injustice, shooting black men, The Good Samaritan, Who are my neighbors?, Who is my neighbor?, winter coats, You’re not dead yet

• Let Me Introduce My Neighbors to You

  

  When I was a little girl growing up on a Wisconsin farm, I thought of four families as being our neighbors: the farmers across the road just west of us – the Henry Henderson family; the farmers who lived on the farm immediately south of us – The Mulcaheys; the farmers just east of us…

  Marian

  February 9, 2016

  God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  Cabrini Green, Catholics, Chicago neighbors, David Mahoney, different churches, dorm living, double cousins, Dulce Maria, God’s love in action, Good Samaritan, growing up, healing, healing environment, homeless, Honduras, housing project, imigrants, inmates, jail ministry, LaSalle Street Church, Methodists, neighbor, neighboring farmers, neighboring farms, neighborly, same church, Sandburg Village, Sheriff Mahoney, Stone Meadows, Wheaton College, Wisconsin farm

• Thanks, Maria. That Gives me an idea.

  

  A couple years ago, around the first of November, Chaplain Julia of the Jail Ministry invited the women inmates worshiping together in the jail chapel to tell each other about some of their family traditions related to Halloween and All Saints Day. She especially encouraged Maria to explain to us what her friends and family…

  Marian

  November 3, 2015

  Celebrations, Jail Ministry, Personal Retreats, Reflections

  All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Aztec, Christian celebrations, Day of the Dead, departed loved ones, Dia de los Muertos, favorite foods, favorite meal, Halloween, jail, jail ministry, Memorial Day, Presbyterian Church

• Remembering my “times” in Jail

  

  The last couple weeks I’ve been spending a lot of my time working on a new booklet, “Stories from JAIL Ministry: Personal Reflections of a Volunteer.” I recently agreed to speak about the Jail Ministry at a potluck luncheon of the senior citizen club of our church, Messiah Lutheran Church in Madison. Since I like…

  Marian

  October 20, 2015

  God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Reflections

  Bread for the Journey, church music, Dane County Jail, Henri Nouwen, incarcerated women, inmates, jail, jail booklet, jail ministry, Madison Area Lutheran Council, MALC, Personal Reflections of a Volunteer, Stories from Jail Ministry, unlikely body of people

• Observing Holy Week – Jail Style

  Last Thursday I participated in the women’s worship service at the county jail. I’ll be doing the same thing again this Thursday, Maundy Thursday. Women inmates have the opportunity to go to worship once every other week. The women from half the cell blocks are given the opportunity one week, the other half the next…

  Marian

  March 31, 2015

  God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Lent, Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

  Bread of Life, chaplain, Christ the Lord is Risen Today, communion, county jail, Cup of Blessing, Easter, first Last Supper, God’s love, gratitude jar, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands, Holy Communion, holy meal, Holy Week, inmates, jail chaplain, jail ministry, Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Last Supper, Lent, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, Lord’s Supper, love your neighbor, Maundy Thursday, Palm Sunday, Potter’s Crackers, reflections, released from jail, sharing bread and wine, singing a hymn, spirituality, This Little Light of Mine, when i survey the wondrous cross, women inmates, worship service

• Joy in Unexpected Places

  The highlight of my day last Thursday came at the end of the women’s worship service in the county jail.  As usual, I had gone to the Dane County Jail in Madison to play the piano for the women’s worship service. But this service was a little different. Instead of a more typical opening hymn,…

  Marian

  August 12, 2014

  God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Music, Reflections

  Be Not Afraid, Bob Dufford, Come We That Love the Lord, Dane County Jail, God’s love, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands, highlight, jail chapel, jail ministry, Jesus loves me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, joyful moments, life challenges, listening for God, love your neighbor, Marching to Zion, reflections, spirituality, talking with God, unexpected joy, women’s worship service, worship service

• Imagine you have just been arrested! Now what?

  Imagine you have just been arrested – for a crime that you may or may not have committed. Your life has suddenly been put on hold – for who knows how long. You may have small children at home. Who will care for them? You may have a job. What will happen to that? Think…

  Marian

  June 3, 2014

  Jail Ministry, Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

  arrested, Backyard Mosaic, Backyard Mosaic Women’s Project, Chance Allies, change in my life, chapel, chaplain, concert, Dane County, Dane County Jail, David Allen, fundraiser, fundraising concerts, God’s love, humility, inmate stories, inmates, jail, jail chapel, jail ministry, Jazz for Jail, Jazz for the Jail, John Mix, Julia Weaver, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, Lucas Koehler, Lutheran Churches, Madison Area Lutheran Council, MALC, Maria’s story, Messiah Church, Messiah Lutheran Church, mistakes, pencil, silent auction, Tisha Brown, white collar crime

• The Blessings of Awful Stories in the Bible

  There are some pretty awful stories in the Bible – like the story of Tamar in Genesis. She was a young widow who disguised herself as a temple prostitute in order to entrap her father-in-law into having sex with her so that she would have a son. Have you ever wondered why that story is…

  Marian

  March 18, 2014

  God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Music, Reflections

  awful Bible stories, awful stories, fairness, friends, God’s love, hard decisions, hymn sing, jail ministry, joy, kindness, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, praying for each other, reflections, sharing our stories, sharing stories, singing together, spirituality, talking with God, Tamar, tough decisions, worship service

• Top 10 Christmas Carols and my new favorite

  What are your favorites – your top 10 Christmas carols? I made a list of mine. It was hard to stop at ten, but I did it. Then I went on the Internet to see if I could find a list of the most popular Christmas carols. Chris Wilson compiled a list of favorites for…

  Marian

  December 24, 2013

  Celebrations, Christmas, God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Music, Reflections

  accomplishments, Away in a manger, Before the Marvel of this night, Christmas Carol Sing, Christmas caroling, Christmas Carols, favorite Christmas carols, God’s love, hymn sing, jail ministry, Jaroslav Vajda, listening for God, Merry Christmas, O Holy Night, reflections, Silent Night, Singing Christmas Tree, spirituality