A Unique Ministry
Prisoner Visitation and Support (PVS) is the only nationwide, interfaith visitation program with access to all federal and military prisons and prisoners in the United States. Sponsored by 35 national religious bodies and socially-concerned agencies (consisting of Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and secular organizations, including the American Friends Service Committee, Baltimore Yearly Meeting and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting), PVS seeks to meet the needs of prisoners through an alternative ministry that is separate from official prison structures.

PVS was founded in 1968 by Bob Horton, a retired Methodist minister, and Fay Honey Knopp, a Quaker activist, to visit imprisoned conscientious objectors. In its first five years of service, PVS volunteers visited over 2,000 conscientious objectors. PVS was encouraged by the war resisters to visit other prisoners and, now, PVS visits any federal or military prisoner wanting a visit.

Today, PVS has 260 volunteers who visit at more than 90 federal and military prisons across the country. The visitors make monthly visits to see prisoners who rarely, if ever, receive outside visits. PVS visitors also focus on seeing those prisoners with an acute need for human contact: those serving long sentences, those frequently transferred from prison to prison, and those in solitary confinement.

A prisoner at the federal prison camp in Danbury, CT made the following comment after receiving a PVS visit: "I feel like I'm not in prison. I feel normal when I talk to my PVS visitor. I feel I could become part of the community again."

Since PVS does not seek or receive any government money, so as to be independent of the prison system, it is dependent upon donations, which are tax-deductible, from individuals and congregations. If you know of anyone who might wish to make a donation to PVS, or who might be interested in becoming a prison visitor, please let PVS know by writing to:

Prisoner Visitation and Support:
1501 Cherry Street; Philadelphia, PA 19102
Email: ECorson@afsc.org
Phone: (215) 241-7117

The Ministry of Reaching Out to Those in Prison: Correspondents Wanted
FGC's Advancement and Outreach (A&O) Committee has developed a program called Quaker Spiritual Friends (QSF). The program allows Friends who are unable to visit prisons but in search of a ministry to prisoners the potential to develop spiritual friendships through correspondence. Quaker Spiritual Friends responds to inquires from the many people imprisoned in lonely and fruitless places who are examining their lives and are seeking guidance as to how to turn their lives around. Each inmate is assigned a corresponding Friend and there are many more prisoners making requests than Friends participating at this time. The program is set up to protect anonymity to the correspondents. Friends are urged to consider this ministry and if interested contact: A&O, c/o FGC office, 1216 Arch St., 2B, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

Introducing Pastoral Care Newsletter
For Overseers, Ministry and Counsel, and others who provide pastoral care in unprogrammed Friends meetings

This quarterly newsletter is by and for Friends who are providing care for the members of our meetings.

Each six page issue includes:
• A feature article in a topic of interest to pastoral caregivers in Friends meetings written by a seasoned Friend experienced in pastoral care.
• First person commentary on the experience of a meeting.
• Listing of additional resources on the subject of the issue.
• Discussion questions to be used in your committee or meeting.

Meetings can make optimal use of PCN by buying a subscription for each member of the caregiving committee (e.g., Overseers or Ministry and Counsel) and then using it as a basis of discussion in the committee. Back issues are available on topics such as membership, marriage, dealing with difficult situations, and nurturing the meeting community.

One subscription is $10.00 per year. Multiple subscriptions shipped in bulk to one address are priced as follows: 2-4 copies, $8.00 each; 5-9 copies, $7.00 each; 10 or more copies, $6.00 each.

For more information contact:
Pastoral Care Newsletter, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
1515 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102
Telephone: (215) 241-7068 • E-mail: steveg@pym.org>steveg@pym.org