Prison Ministry
Resurrection volunteers currently work with prison ministry in two state prisons, Polk Correctional Institution outside Polk City, 25 miles from Resurrection Church, and Demilly Correctional Institution, about 2 miles from Polk Correctional Institution (CI).

At Polk CI, a prison of more than 1000 men who are classified as medium or close custody, our ministry consists of participation at Mass celebrated by one of our Lakeland priests, and fellowship with approximately 25 inmates before and/or after Mass. The time allotted for Catholic ministry is 7-9 pm on Saturday evenings.

At Demilly CI, a new prison of about 375 men who are minimum custody and within 3 years of being released, we have 3 inmates currently attending Catholic services. Our ministry takes place between 5:30 and 6:40 pm on Saturday evenings. We celebrate a liturgy of the word and a communion service, followed by a brief lesson on aspects of the Catholic faith. One of our men wants to become a Catholic, and we hope to prepare him for first confession and communion before his release in March.

VOLUNTEERS
To qualify for admission to a state prison, prospective volunteers must attend an orientation program presented by the chaplain. These are held at Polk CI in January, April, July and October each year, from 9-12 on a Saturday morning. At the training, volunteers provide the information necessary for processing through the National Crime Information Computer to check the records of the volunteers. This year it has taken some time to get this done, since state budget cutbacks have reduced the staff necessary to process this information. Be patient!

Recently some prospective volunteers have expressed interest in ministry in the county jail. Polk County has two jails, one in Bartow and one in Frostproof. We have not yet established ministries there, but hope to do so soon. Training for volunteers takes place at 9 am every month on the last Saturday of the month - 1.5 hours - at 2390 Bob Phillips Rd (Hwy 17 and Georgia St.) in Bartow. Volunteers are approved 7 - 10 days after the training.

CONTACT
In you are interested in prison ministry, please contact Sister Rose Christina at Santa Fe, 665-4188, or at home, 688-2579.