I WAS IN PRISON AND YOU CAME TO VISIT ME, a new film by Beaches Chapel in Neptune Beach, Florida, is a message from one pastor to pastors and church leaders everywhere. The film speaks to what they can do to awaken their congregations and mobilize them to assist prisoners in life changing ways. Pastor Steve McCoy and Beaches Chapel Church began their work with Florida’s Lawtey Correctional Institution in November 2002; the new all-volunteer Faith Based Dorm at Lawtey was dedicated on March 1, 2003. Then, based on that dorm’s effectiveness, on Christmas Eve 2003, Governor Jeb Bush rededicated the 30-year-old, minimum-security state penitentiary as the nation's first entirely Faith Based and Character Building Prison.

I WAS IN PRISON AND YOU CAME TO VISIT ME chronicles the creation of this church-sponsored faith based dormitory and its effective impact on the dorm members and general population of the entire institution. A companion for To Serve This Present Age, the film can help the faith community to understand the broader scope of prison ministry and the issue of restorative justice. It can be used to motivate pastors to mobilize their churches into prison ministry and to help former inmates reenter their communities.

The Reentry National Media Outreach Campaign anticipates being able to offer this enlightening production this fall. For information about Pastor Steve McCoy and Beaches Chapel Church, please visit http://www.beacheschapel.com.