Our Opinion: Message of faith included in interaction

News Tribune editorial

Large problems - including high crime and incarceration rates - sometimes must be addressed on an individual basis.

Church members in a neighboring community have adopted that incremental approach and are working to change the behaviors and lives of prisoners.

Members of the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church, both in California, recently engaged with 10 Tipton Correctional Center offenders who participated in the Inside Church Men's Group.

The program, which completed its 17th year, is a week-long alternative to work release that includes labor, conversations and spiritual sharing.

The formula is that building self-worth can change hearts, which then can change attitudes and behaviors.

"We feel like we can't go wrong by showing these fellows there are people who care about them," said Abe Rohrbach, a church volunteer. "They've given us a different attitude about prisoners and maybe we've given them a difference attitude about us."

Work projects have included improvements to public building and parks in Moniteau County.

Although public officials praise the improvements, Rorhbach said, "The work that gets done is not the most important part." He said faith is "what it's all about."

To that end, the week concludes at one of the host churches, where each participant receives a Bible.

Mike Staton, chairman of the Inside Men's Group, said the program is "about belonging." He added: "Some guys have never felt welcome anywhere. We give them a sense of home, a taste of family."

Staton said the program's message is "none of us can ever get so off course we can't get back on course. God created each of us for a unique purpose - not to live a long, miserable life and die."

The message of belonging - to family, to society, to God - is universal. But when someone gets off course, the best way to deliver and demonstrate that message is through one-on-one interaction.