Prison Ministry work and services offered by Westgate Church of Christ             

 Three monthly worship services at John Middleton Unit—the first 2     Wednesdays and third Sunday of each month.

 Weekly on unit Bible studies:  Salvation 101, Faces of Anger (Anger Management), Old and New Testament survey classes.

 World Bible School correspondence courses: 5 courses in all—1. God has spoken,  2. Knowing Jesus,  3. Born of the Water and Spirit,  4. The Family of God,  5. This is Good News.

 Monthly Support Group to families from Taylor County with a loved one who is incarcerated (second Tuesday 7:00 p.m. of each month).

 Taylor County Jail worship and visitation—average 2 services a month on Thursday evenings.

 Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Big Country provides us with Lunch Buddies who are children of prisoners.

 Grocery pantry,  gas services, and bus passes to the families of the incarcerated as well as the newly released.

 Networking with various employers in the Abilene area to assist ex-offenders in finding work.

 Networking with and assisting other congregations in the Taylor County area to better meet the needs of the incarcerated, their families and parolees.

Support group for prison families

 Since the Abilene area is home to two major state prisons, the city is visited weekly by hundreds of family members, as well as families who are living here temporarily to be near their incarcerated relative.

 The spectrum of this situation is an ideal medium in which the love and concern of Christ can be shown and demonstrated to the families, via a support group.

 If you have any questions concerning this outreach program contact us.

 Our meetings are the second Tuesday of each month here at the building, at 7 p.m.  If we can be of assistance, please come and join us. 

                “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the       new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled to himself through Christ              and the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself              in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the      message of reconciliation” ( NIV)

What began with twice-weekly Bible Studies and worship in 1994 has evolved into an innovative and ongoing domestic missions approach to mending lives of individuals and their families through correspondence courses, pastoral visits, private family counseling, visitations and a community support group for the families of the inmates.

For the record:

700 men baptized in the Middleton Unit last year. 93 men and women  baptized at the Taylor county jail.

23 students in our weekly Christian Life Skills class.

318 men awaiting a seat in that class. While many will be transferred before getting in, there are typically 3-5 requests per day coming in.

352 men awaiting our next anger management class

11 students (& 2 spouses)  continuing the “New Life behavior” curriculum via correspondence from other units.

20+ taking our World Bible School course

We are also working with Rep. Susan King and the Texas Legislative staff toward a bill to address the serious issue of ex-offenders remaining unemployable because of 15+ year old convictions.

As a ministry team, we realize that being a Christian is not just about memorizing scriptures and attending church, but about WHOM one becomes through the process of studying God’s Word and learning His will for their life. It is this life experience and insight that allows us to reach deep into the lives of these men and women and show them hope.

The individual & Collective efforts of those involved include:

Conducting church services at the Middleton unit, 1st & 2nd Wednesday of the month, and 2 services, 3rd Sunday of the month.

Conducting church services at the Taylor Co. Jail 2 Thursday a month.

Spending approx. 24 hrs a month mentoring individuals.

Assisting families with loved ones in Jail and/or TDJC (Our support group meets 2nd Tuesday of each month).

Providing Bibles and World Bible school lessons to inmates & their families on the outside.

Life Skills classes & workbooks, Anger Management classes & workbooks

Assisting with & teaching GED prep and testing, college entrance exams, prep and course work

Providing Christmas gifts for the children of those in jail through the Snow angel program.

We are so grateful for the support and encouragement of this congregation . If you would like to be involved, directly or indirectly, Please contact Bill & Judy Collier (or any elder), Bill & Trisha Riggs, CJ Chaney, Jeff Thigpen, Mike Wetsel or John & Dorothy Emerson.

Since 1992, Westgate has been actively involved with Prison Ministry work.  This work has taken place at the Price Daniel Unit in Snyder, the French Robertson Unit in Abilene, and the current focus of our efforts is at the John Middleton Unit in Abilene.  Aubrey Rodgers has been our Prison Minister for the better part of that time period, and Ed Alford has been leading much of this effort over the years.

The current activities involve teaching classes, leading and supporting worship services, correspondence with inmates, prayer for the ministry, and some after care involvement.  We desire to be open to the Lord’s leading in this very wide open ministry.

Some training is required in order to be actively involved on a prison unit. There is a one day class in which volunteer procedures are thoroughly covered, and this class is taught on a periodic basis at the Middleton Unit.  We work very closely with the Chaplaincy in all of our efforts, and Larry Mitchell is currently the Chaplain at the Middleton Unit.