Thank you, everyone!

Thank you to everyone who attended our inaugural meeting on Sunday! It was fascinating and inspiring to hear about what brought people to the group, and I hope we have many more such conversations going forward.

Our tentative plan at the end of the meeting was to meet every two weeks, at least initially — which would leave our next meeting scheduled for August 26. We'll adjust things as needed as we begin to schedule guest speakers.

Right now I want to share something that had been in my "to watch/listen to/read" queue for a while and has now entered my "beg others to watch/listen to/read" queue. I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Jesuit publication America, but I receive their e-mail updates and click on enough story links that I'm often asked to subscribe as a "frequent reader." About a month ago, they published a story about Thrive for Life, a Jesuit prison ministry organization based in New York City. They work with people both inside (spiritual retreats) and outside (facilitation of housing, education, and employment) of prison — currently at six facilities, but they plan to expand their operations. Impressively, their group was only founded in 2016!

Here is a link to the profile in America:

How one Jesuit is transforming inmates and fighting the criminal justice system

There's also a an audio interview with Olga Segura, the writer of that article: "How can we build community with those incarcerated?"

Finally, there's a short video (6 minutes) that I hope you'll consider watching. I think it gives a good sense of the kind of difference a group like this can make in people's lives. Here's a link to the video on YouTube, and it's also embedded below:

Thank you all again for being there on Sunday, and I hope to see everyone again very soon!