Prison Ministry work and services offered by Westgate Church of Christ             

 Three monthly worship services at John Middleton Unit—the first 2     Wednesdays and third Sunday of each month.

 Weekly on unit Bible studies:  Salvation 101, Faces of Anger (Anger Management), Old and New Testament survey classes.

 World Bible School correspondence courses: 5 courses in all—1. God has spoken,  2. Knowing Jesus,  3. Born of the Water and Spirit,  4. The Family of God,  5. This is Good News.

 Monthly Support Group to families from Taylor County with a loved one who is incarcerated (second Tuesday 7:00 p.m. of each month).

 Taylor County Jail worship and visitation—average 2 services a month on Thursday evenings.

 Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Big Country provides us with Lunch Buddies who are children of prisoners.

 Grocery pantry,  gas services, and bus passes to the families of the incarcerated as well as the newly released.

 Networking with various employers in the Abilene area to assist ex-offenders in finding work.

 Networking with and assisting other congregations in the Taylor County area to better meet the needs of the incarcerated, their families and parolees.

Support group for prison families

 Since the Abilene area is home to two major state prisons, the city is visited weekly by hundreds of family members, as well as families who are living here temporarily to be near their incarcerated relative.

 The spectrum of this situation is an ideal medium in which the love and concern of Christ can be shown and demonstrated to the families, via a support group.

 If you have any questions concerning this outreach program contact us.

 Our meetings are the second Tuesday of each month here at the building, at 7 p.m.  If we can be of assistance, please come and join us. 

Since 1992, Westgate has been actively involved with Prison Ministry work.  This work has taken place at the Price Daniel Unit in Snyder, the French Robertson Unit in Abilene, and the current focus of our efforts is at the John Middleton Unit in Abilene.  Aubrey Rodgers has been our Prison Minister for the better part of that time period, and Ed Alford has been leading much of this effort over the years.

The current activities involve teaching classes, leading and supporting worship services, correspondence with inmates, prayer for the ministry, and some after care involvement.  We desire to be open to the Lord’s leading in this very wide open ministry.

Some training is required in order to be actively involved on a prison unit. There is a one day class in which volunteer procedures are thoroughly covered, and this class is taught on a periodic basis at the Middleton Unit.  We work very closely with the Chaplaincy in all of our efforts, and Larry Mitchell is currently the Chaplain at the Middleton Unit.