Since 2012, Summit has had a campus inside the 33rd Street Jail, expanding to include the women’s dorm as well in 2014. Volunteer teams have since been going into the jail weekly to lead worship services as well as our recovery ministry, reGROUP, all the while seeking to make connections with inmates that encourage them to take their next right steps with and toward a God who loves them unconditionally. We have seen so many lives touched by individuals committed to the vision of being the church with a population that can so easily feel forgotten.
In early 2020, COVID-19 brought about many changes in our lives and our community including our interactions with the 33rd Street Jail. Due to the jail’s health and safety regulations for this vulnerable population, we have not been able to bring any volunteers into the jail for Summit worship services, Bible studies, or reGROUP for more than 18 months now.
As a result, we have decided to put the Summit 33rd Street location on hold for the entirety of 2022. You might be saying to yourself, “If the jail is ‘closed’ anyways, what difference does it make?”
In the spirit of stewarding our resources well, we need to enter into a phase where we can wait and see what will happen without keeping our volunteers perpetually on hold—maintaining clearances, setting aside volunteer time, and preparing materials each week.
If at the end of next year, the jail is comfortable with allowing volunteers to enter again, then we will begin to prayerfully explore what a relaunch might look like. No matter what happens, we must continue to thank God for the work that has been done, and as we wait, we must ask him to move on our behalf again.
And as we wait, continue to keep the men and women inside the jail in your prayers as well as the corrections officers and medical and support staff.
Stories from 33rd Street
