Community Corrections Ministry

The Community Corrections/Prison Ministry at New Covenant Community Church is dedicated to helping those who have made some very detrimental decisions in their past find and accept Christ and the freedom a new life with Christ can bring. Most of the people we encounter are at the Community Corrections Center - Lincoln - a co-ed, minimum security, state work-release facility - after spending various amounts of time at other medium to maximum security facilities like the Nebraska State Penitentiary, the Omaha Corrections Center, and the Nebraska Corrections Center for Women. We reach out to the unconvinced and also to believers who happen to be "guests of the state" in hopes of providing them Christ-centered tools to help them adjust to a new lifestyle once they are released back into mainstream society.

Right now, there are in the neighborhood of 6-10 people attending New Covenant that bring CCC-L inmates to our worship service, Adult Connections class, Celebrate Recovery small group, monthly work days, and other special and holiday events.

There are several different ways that inmates have been introduced to New Covenant. Some have become members or regular attendees because they volunteered to help on a work day. They felt comfortable and welcomed by the members and decided they wanted to check out our worship service and Connections Class. Some have had their first experience at New Covenant by first coming to a Celebrate Recovery meeting. Some wind up coming for a visit due to word of mouth. One thing is for sure, if they come to New Covenant, they will hear the Gospel and have a chance to know the truth and decide for themselves what to do with the Good News. Since this ministry was started in 1996, we've seen a number of inmates make a decision to trust Christ and follow that up by being baptized.

It's our desire for these inmates to get a taste of what it's like to be a member of a church family like New Covenant. We believe its a large piece of the puzzle to help them realize that there is a different way to live and a different type of people to associate with once they leave CCC-L to go back to their home.