Following the teachings of Jesus, a group of volunteers brings messages of hope weekly to the inmates in the Pennington County Jail through the Hope for New Life Jail Ministry.

"For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me."

These are not only Jesus' words as written in Matthew chapter 25, verses 35 to 36, but a creed for members of a social justice ministry at Blessed Sacrament Church.

"Social justice has always been important to me," said Deacon Greg Palmer of Rapid City, who started the movement back in 2004.

He said their group began as a ministry under the semblance of a process called Salt and Light, which was started by the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops. "Salt and Light is an umbrella for all of social-justice-type projects that center under the core principles for the dignity of the human person."

Based on that, he said, his group started a number of different ministries. The Hope for New Life Jail Ministry was one of those projects.

For about an hour and a half every Wednesday, volunteers visit the women's cell block of the jail. Nine volunteers rotate visits. The group does not currently have enough volunteers to visit the men, but members are in the process of expanding into the men's cell blocks. Palmer said they approach each visit in an ecumenical way.

"While we are Catholic, and we do present Catholic ideas and theology through our discussions, we are not Catholic in how we approach. We don't do a Catholic Bible study, for example. We try to bring the word of God to them. We try to bring them hope, which is the reason we named the ministry as we did. Hope for these young ladies and hopefully eventually for juveniles as well as men in the future, to let them know that God is in their life and they can turn to him."

Mary Sperlich of Rapid City said three volunteers visit the jail at a time. They rotate the responsibility for planning the core of the meeting and choosing the evening's topic.

"It can be anything from forgiveness to something about a saint or alcoholism," she said. "Sometimes it's done on the stations of the cross. The topics are very varied." Past topics also have included women heroes of the Bible and the Christmas story.

Sperlich said in addition to doing evening prayer services, she has led a Taize service, which is primarily a meditative ritual that blends music, words and silence together. She said the service, which is usually done by candlelight, had to be modified to exclude candles because they are not allowed in the jail. She said she brings printouts of the music and words for the women to follow.

She said the volunteers are uplifted by the services as much as the inmates are.

"We probably get more out of it than we give," Sperlich said. "We usually come away with a special feeling like these are somebody's children who made a wrong step and they find themselves there. They could be your children who maybe made a bad decision or ran with the wrong crowd."

She said that some of the women don't have a background in religion, but others do. "And these sessions turn them back to where they were before at some time in their life."

Implementing the program was no easy mission. Palmer and co-founder Cathie Harris of Rapid City began researching such a program in July 2004. "And our actual first visit to the jail was not until August 2006," Harris said. "Work began to research not only the need at the jail, but how all this would come together. We really didn't know what we would be allowed to do, who we would need to contact, or who would even be interested in doing something like t

She said before anyone could even step foot in the jail, they had to have a complete outline of their program. Harris said it has been a huge success.

"Our program, according to the jail, is one of the most signed-up-for programs. The inmates have told the jailers and they have told us, because it is different every week, they want to keep coming. We actually have a waiting list to get into our program."

Harris said they offer every participant a Bible to keep. She said donations from Blessed Sacrament's parishioners make that possible, as well as a small budget through the church for their ministry.

"There isn't another church in the community that is doing what we do," she said. "There are other churches that go in and visit at the jail, but they don't have a weekly program like what we do."

She said a lot of women attend for forgiveness or because they are looking for a new relationship or to renew a relationship with God.

"Some of our programs have been on forgiveness, and most of the women leave the room in tears because it is so moving for them to finally grasp the thought that 'I've really screwed up, but God still loves me and there's still hope for me.' We are there to lift them up and not judge or chastise them, but encourage them to continue their relationship with God. Jesus died on the cross for all of us," Harris said.

Occasionally, the volunteers give the inmates stamped envelopes and cards so they can keep in touch with friends and family. "Most of these women don't have monetary resources in jail, and you have to have money to be able to buy stamps to be able to send letters. We don't want them to have incentives to come to our programs. We want them to come because they want to come and they want to be there. This is just a bonus. They never know when I'm going to hand out cards."

Harris said she doesn't fear going into the jail. "Because the guards are right there, and we're in a controlled environment. If you're not familiar with jail or the prison system, it's a little frightening just getting to the women's cell block. You go through many locked large slamming doors. Everything is secure. You can't go through one door until the door behind you closes and then it slams shut. So it's a little intimidating, but after you've done it once or twice it's kind of like this is just the way it is. We're in jail."

Lt. Brooke Haga of the Pennington County Jail said there are lots of positives with all of the programming at the jail, which she said keeps inmates busy, keeps them focused, gives them something to look forward to and can be enjoyable even though they are locked up.

"I think programming altogether is a wonderful thing," Haga said. "I think it's helpful to our staff because it gives inmates something to do so they don't sit around idly. It also gives them a support system. We can't sit around and talk to the inmates. We're not there to be counselors, but yet they have people to turn to who are not biased who can provide that extra support that we can't. I think there are a lot of positives in our programming. I certainly would not want to be without it."

Palmer said he will never forget one special experience.

"We had one young lady who came, who knew very little about God, listened very attentively, was very moved by what we had to say as a ministry and eventually came to be baptized, received church communion and was confirmed," he said. "To watch her growth and to watch how she moved forward and to see changes in her was phenomenal.

"And I know for a lot of people it's easy to say, 'Well you're in jail and everyone finds Jesus in jail,' and I won't dispute that. That does happen from time to time. But in my opinion in watching this young lady and being there when the sacraments were administered, I saw a real conversion in her life. A real change in her life. It was a phenomenal moment and a moment I will never forget."

Volunteers welcome

Anyone interested in joining the Hope for New Life Jail Ministry is welcome. Volunteers are not required to be members of Blessed Sacrament Church. The group meets the third Monday of every month at 7 p.m. at Blessed Sacrament. For more information about becoming a volunteer, call the church at 342-3336.