Joe

It’s been a long time since we’ve had any posts on our LBJ Website! I hope it still works 😊. As you all know, due to the Covid19 pandemic, all religious services at the jail were stopped in mid March. The prospects of starting services back up is still unknown. However, we have been able to do some one-on-one video visits with guys at LBJ, and that is the topic of this post.

Hello all LBJ Jail Ministry Volunteers! This post is to pass along a note from Kevin, and an announcement of a gathering for all Jail and Prison Ministry Volunteers. I decided to use our LBJ website for this, rather than email. Let me know if you have any problems or questions.

I talked to the Chaplain, and have two news items that will impact all of our LBJ volunteers. I called the Chaplain to see if we need to continue to take attendance at our services. I caught him right after he had attended a 3 hour meeting with the Sheriff, Read more…

UPDATE on March 14, 2020: The banquet has been postponed until the fall of 2020. The new date will be announced later.

The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Prison Ministry Volunteer Appreciation Banquet will be held on March 21, 2020. RSVP to Kevin or Margo is requested by March 1. There will be a Mass, gifts, raffles, music, and lunch. This is for all of you LBJ volunteers, in addition to all other Prison Ministry volunteers. It will be a fun event, and gives us an opportunity to enjoy fellowship with our fellow Prison Ministry volunteers, in addition to a great lunch! Details are below:

I spoke to the LBJ Chaplain, Art Herrera, about the new roster system, and also about our weekly reports. This post will describe what I learned from him. It’s a long post, but please read it, because there is important information for you about our jail ministry.

It looks like changes are brewing at LBJ. If you’ve had a service recently, you saw the notice from Chaplain Art Herrera in the forms folder in the chapel. The notice says that they are moving to a roster system for our services. This means that, rather than the COs Read more…

I heard from Chaplain Art Herrera at LBJ. He said that we can’t do any services at LBJ for one week, starting on Friday, October 4th, and going through Thursday, October 10th. The reason is that they are upgrading their computer system. So, please don’t make the trip to the Read more…

There is a workshop scheduled for all Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Jail and Prison Ministry Volunteers. That means you! I included the invitation with this post: see below. Don’t forget to put it on your calendars, and RSVP. The RSVP info is on the invitation. Hope to see you there!

On Monday and Tuesday (8/12 and 8/13) we had over-ride in the Dorms, Level 2, and Level 3. The DOs have told our volunteers that the over-ride is due to staffing shortages. This post is just so you’ll be aware, and let you know you might want to call ahead before you go to the jail to check the status. The number to call is 602-876-6001. It’s not a perfect solution. The jail, or your pods, may go on or off over-ride after you call, but it’s most likely that if it’s on over-ride when you call, it will be when you get there.

You may know that priests and brothers from the Crosier Order serve at LBJ. Through a generous grant from the Order Of Malta, the Crosiers are making available to our Spanish speaking inmates a series of books from Catholic Home Study. There are a series of 9 books, and the first has been translated to Spanish, and copies provided to the Chaplain at LBJ, for distribution to men who request it.