Certificate In Prison Ministry

Overview

The Certificate Program in Prison Ministry provides clergy and lay volunteers who are interested in prison ministry with the necessary knowledge and experience to effectively lead and support people in prison. Join OCPM and St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary to be trained by the most experienced leaders in Orthodox prison ministry in the United States.

The program covers all essential aspects of prison ministry and combines theoretical knowledge with practical skills to ensure participants develop an Orthodox approach to the unique challenges faced in correctional settings. Through this program, students will also learn how to assist families in coping with the challenges of having a loved one in prison, as well as how to assist clergy by offering guidance to deal with the unique needs that their parish may face because of incarceration. Through the integration of Orthodox principles and practical skills, certificate participants will be prepared to engage in meaningful prison ministry. Besides gaining experience, graduates will obtain a unique certificate, allowing them to more easily find volunteer or career opportunities in correctional facilities.

What IS OCPM?

OCPM is an agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States. For Orthodox Christians who have been arrested for crimes, OCPM helps them return to the Faith, offering forgiveness and reconciliation with Christ. For both Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike, OCPM provides spiritual care, enabling people in prison to find hope and purpose in their lives.

What Does OCPM Do?

Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM) proclaims the love of Christ to men and women who are incarcerated. We do this primarily through our full-time Prison Spiritual Support Managers (PSSMs), who are committed to building relationships with a set caseload of Orthodox or inquiring people in prison for the duration of that person’s sentence and after his or her release. This means an Orthodox Christian in prison has a years-long relationship with someone from OCPM who is committed to maintaining their connection to the Church and helping their spiritual formation. The PSSMs not only connect with people personally through letters, emails, phone calls, and in-person visitation, but they also facilitate and coach Orthodox clergy and lay volunteers for face-to-face visitation.

As the national prison ministry of the Orthodox Church, we provide resources and training to local churches and clergy, enabling them to offer local solutions and fulfill Christ’s command to visit Him in prison. For those wishing to live an Orthodox way of life, we advocate on their behalf for correctional facilities around the country to recognize the Orthodox faith, so that priests can enter prison facilities and administer the Sacraments. Finally, OCPM publishes and provides newsletters, spiritual books, icons, catechisms, and study courses at no cost to men and women in prison.

As a result, families are reunited, marriages are healed, and thousands of incarcerated men and women have a new sense of peace and restored order in their lives.

Our Partnership

St. Tikhon's Seminary and OCPM have a longstanding relationship because the seminary is uniquely close to a state prison, SCI Waymart, where seminarians participate in a semester internship under the direction of Fr. John Kowalczyk. Over the past four decades, these institutions have grown to a mutually beneficial relationship: inmates are consoled by the frequent visits and services led by the seminarians, and the seminarians are spiritually moved by their encounters with those in prison.

St. Tikhon's Seminary is a fully accredited institution of professional Orthodox Christian theo­logical education, affiliated with the Orthodox Church in America. In a rural environment conducive to spiritual growth and academic study, the Seminary nurtures the theological vocations of its students and faculty, who share the unique opportunity of learning and teaching Orthodox theology in the framework of their daily experience of a rich heritage of Orthodox spiritual and liturgical tradition