Seminar Held on Prison Ministry to Sex Offenders 
By Heather Elizabeth Peterson
Philia

Two workshops on sex offenders were part of a one-day seminar held in Winter Park, Florida, for people involved in prison ministries.

The seminar was co-sponsored by Eleutheros and Mastering Life Ministries, two Florida ministries for people overcoming homosexuality, and also featured a workshop by Connie Cox of the Episcopal Counseling Center of Orlando on overcoming sexual abuse.

Bob Van Domelen of Broken Yoke Ministries in Wisconsin conducted the workshops on sex offenders. Mr. Van Domelen is himself a recovering offender, and he edits a newsletter on ministry to child molesters.

"Several different agencies [were] represented, and I got to meet some wonderful people doing wonderful things in Florida prisons as well as assisting those released," says Mr. Van Domelen. "My talk was something of a surprise, I think, because they weren't use to someone standing in front of a group of people talking about the dark sides of his life. Fortunately, God brings light to all situations, so for me the trip was really good . . . just hard to pinpoint in terms of recognizable outcomes."

David Kyle Foster of Mastering Life was also pleased by the presentations at "Hard Time: Ministering to Sex Offenders, Sexual Abuse Victims and Homosexuals in Prison." 

"Looking back now, I see our conference as a seed-planting effort," he says. "Neither of our ministries [Mastering Life and Eleutheros] were well-known in the prison chaplain/ministry population locally so we achieved that exposure even though it was not well attended. Those who came seemed deeply interested and grateful for our efforts. Hopefully, our follow-up conference in Jacksonville in February will bear some of the expected fruit in higher attendance. It will focus on sexual addiction and include Laurie Hall (author of An Affair of the Mind) as a guest speaker."

Related Links 

Mastering Life Ministries 

Broken Yoke Ministries