We’re excited to invite congregations to make a real, local impact by sharing the plate with the Church of the Larger Fellowship’s Worthy Now Prison Ministry.
We call the ministry Worthy Now, because we believe every person has inherent worth — right now, as they are. And while the CLF has beloved members across the globe, we are also local: the CLF has members currently experiencing incarceration and pen pals in all 50 states. Many of them may be in your state!
The carceral system isolates and dehumanizes. When you Share the Plate with the CLF Worthy Now Prison Ministry, you’ll be supporting life-saving ministry that provides nearly 2000 UUs experiencing incarceration with worship, pastoral care, spiritual resources and community, all grounded in UU values. All by mail - one letter at a time.
We have prepared different types of ready-to-use Share the Plate resources. Your congregation can pick which resource is right for you and freely use:
- A one-page PDF request, outlining the need for supporting the Worthy Now Prison Ministry
- A full recorded worship service centering UU values as they pertain to incarceration, inspired by the 2000 incarcerated members of the CLF Worthy Now Prison Ministry
- A video to introduce CLF’s Worthy Now ministry that can be played prior to the offering
- A script your worship associate can read to introduce CLF’s Worthy Now ministry prior to the offering
- Email and social posts that can easily be copied and pasted
Our flagship Worthy Now program is our pen pal program, where we match free world UU’s in the many UU congregations across the country with incarcerated UUs for conversation and community. This is how we provide coffee hour-like conversation with our incarcerated members, when we minister to each other and build deep, meaningful relationships based on shared values. Right now, over 200 incarcerated UUs are waiting for a free-world pen pal! In addition to sharing the plate, you can offer your members the opportunity to become pen pals with incarcerated UUs, providing a way to support the Worthy Now ministry both financially and/or with their time.
We ask that either you use our resources to share the plate for CLF, or use our worship service and donate the amount you would have paid someone to preach that day, and/or invite your congregation members to become pen pals.
If you have any questions, please send us a message.
Thank you for your generous support!