Years in the making, OCPM is excited to announce the release of its first book intended not primarily for the prison audience but for those of us on the outside. Suffer with You: Lessons on Forgiveness from Prison is a collection of four essays from people on various sides of the U.S. prison system, all […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, “How did you get involved with this?” Almost any time I am representing OCPM somewhere, I am asked this question. As you can maybe imagine, I did not grow up with the Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry on my list of future careers, and when I began […]
“It felt like the whole world was there to celebrate. There was no time more joyous.” This is Justin’s childhood memory of Divine Liturgy on Pascha at his home church in Philadelphia. But life had many sharp turns for Justin. At 29 years old he committed a serious crime and was sentenced to 7 years in […]
This reflection was first shared as a letter from the Executive Director of OCPM, Nicholas Petrogeorge. Recently, I had the blessing to visit a rural prison in Virginia, alongside my priest. The prison is very far from any Orthodox church, but we made the time to visit two men, both serving life in prison, who […]
Fr. John Chagnon of St. Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church in Madison, Wisconsin, has had a heart for people in prison for many years, ever since he personally knew Fr. Duane Pederson, founder of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry. “I had a natural attraction to both him and his work. He clued me into what prison ministry […]
New York, NY. (August 11, 2025) – Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM) offers its heartfelt appreciation to the Elsie Skvir Ganister Foundation Fund at the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania for their generous support of The Weekly Letter, a key part of our ministry to those behind bars. These weekly letters remind incarcerated men […]
To welcome Mr. Nick Abdelahad to the Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM) team, OCPM Communications asked what brought him to the ministry and what he hopes for the future of OCPM. OCPM: What brought you to OCPM? What made you want to work in prison ministry? NA: For a long time, I worked in cybersecurity […]
When The Prison Policy Initiative, a team of experts on cutting-edge research around the U.S. prison system, released its annual “big picture” report in 2024, one statistic stood out to us more than any other: 113 million adults in the United States have an immediate family member who has been to prison or jail. Perhaps from […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, If the Church is a hospital, I have begun to think of OCPM as being the Emergency Room. Let me explain. Recently, I spoke to a woman whose husband had committed a serious crime. When she learned about the crime, she was absolutely shattered and afraid. She felt she […]
Madeline Cano served as OCPM’s first Social Media Intern from 2024-2025. When she was asked to write a culminating essay on her experience, we were so moved by her reflections on the heart of prison ministry, that we asked to share her thoughts with our greater community. Serving as a Social Media Intern at Orthodox […]