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Hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon, and soft drinks. I would say it’s a picnic! On July 16, 2022, Kairos Prison Ministry had a statewide picnic for their Team Leaders/Members.  They had two keynote speakers. One was Rev. Bernie Morris, Religious Advisor/DOC Liaison, and the other was Cameron Manuel, a former inmate of VADOC (and a gifted singer!) who was discharged in 2021. Chaplain Morris has also served on the Catholic Prison Ministry Committee (Catholic Diocese of Richmond) representing both GraceInside and

It has been over two years since COVID-19 hit the world. The death toll was in the hundreds of thousands in the U.S. and in the millions worldwide. There were so many unknowns when this hit, and none of us was sure what to do at the time. Everything seemed to come to a standstill.  Businesses and schools were impacted.  And PRISONS were severely impacted.  Sadly there were many cases of COVID-19 infections and deaths among DOC inmates and staff. 

Imagine being incarcerated for over 30 years. You served your time, but your church may not see it that way. That’s what happened to Lee. His church pushed him away, but Lee has friends that only see his “New Creation” heart, rather than judging him by his past. (“Are you my neighbor?”)  Yes, Lee is a former inmate (now working at GraceInside’s Central Office).  Yet two of GraceInside’s phenomenal Chaplains made Lee feel as if he was a part of

Have you ever heard of a husband-and-wife prison chaplaincy team?  Did you know that such a thing even existed?  Well, it does, and I am an eyewitness of one such team that I was blessed to know. Robby and Karen Burke lived in Harrisonburg, VA.  They were both ordained ministers – affiliated with both the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) and with the United Church of Christ (UCC).  This couple was inseparable.  They even co-pastored a small church together.  It

On April 5, 2022, we were able to hold our first “New Chaplain Training/Orientation Day” (live and in person!) since prior to the pandemic.  Needless to say, we had quite a backlog of new Chaplains that had been waiting to go through this important training.  This training was led by our very own Bernie Morris, our Religious Advisor/DOC Liaison. Bernie covered the essential DOC policies and procedures relating to faith-based/religious program and chaplaincy, went over the DOC’s “Virtual Library”, and

A group of eight GraceInside Chaplains and Staff Members were blessed and privileged to attend the 10th Annual Summit of the CMCA (Correctional Ministries & Chaplains Association) in New Orleans, LA, on May 27-28, 2022.  The event was held at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (and was the first “live” summit CMCA has had since prior to the pandemic).  The Summit and CMCA itself is out of the Correctional Ministries Institute at The Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College