Groups Inside and Outside the Walls

What You Will Learn

• Adapt group leadership to a correctional or residential facility
• Adapt group leadership to a church or community setting
• Plan a warm handoff from a facility group to a community group
• Complete the six-week group plan and practice facilitation

Lesson Notes

Groups Inside a Facility

I was in prison, and ye came unto me (Matthew 25:36). Groups inside correctional or residential facilities are a precious ministry with special responsibilities:

• Facility rules come first. The chaplain or program staff have authority over schedules, rooms, materials, and who may attend. Follow every security rule.
• Plan for interruptions. Counts, lockdowns, call-outs, and schedule changes happen. Keep sessions flexible and do not take interruptions personally.
• Confidentiality has extra limits. Staff may need to know about threats to safety or security. Explain this honestly.
• Materials may be inspected. Use paper materials approved by the chaplain. Members should keep journals general, with no details of cases, victims, co-defendants, other residents, staff, or security.
• No personal contact outside the rules. Do not exchange addresses, phone numbers, or money, or carry items or messages.
• Crisis goes to staff or the chaplain immediately, according to procedure.

Groups in Church and Community

Receive ye one another, as Christ also received us (Romans 15:7). In a church or community setting:

• Welcome newcomers with a greeter, a simple explanation of the guidelines, and no pressure to share.
• Choose a safe, accessible space with privacy and same-gender sharing circles.
• Know your local crisis plan: where the nearest emergency help is, 911 and 988, and whether naloxone is on site. Leaders should know how to use it.
• Partner with the church's leadership for oversight, child-safety policies, and reporting procedures.
• Build a referral list of local doctors, treatment programs, licensed counselors, and support services, verified and updated: ____________________.

The Warm Handoff

When Saul was new and the disciples were afraid of him, Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles (Acts 9:27). A warm handoff means personally connecting someone to her next source of support instead of just handing her a list.

Before release, a facility leader can help a member choose a church or community recovery group to attend in her first week, write down the meeting time and place, and, if allowed, let the receiving group know she is coming. The weeks after release carry higher overdose risk because tolerance drops, so the handoff also includes naloxone, continued medical care with no gap in prescribed medication, and crisis numbers. Community groups can welcome returning citizens without judgment and help them belong quickly.

Bringing It Together

Your final project is a six-week group plan and a 20-minute practice facilitation with a written self-evaluation. Your plan will show everything this course has taught: purpose, servant leadership and boundaries, the Safe Circle Guidelines, good prompts, a safe space, a plan for difficult moments, co-leading and self-care, and the setting where your group will meet.

RML 253 and RML 254 will build on these skills. Wherever you lead, remember: walk alongside, keep it safe, point to Christ, and refer out. God comforts us that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Key Terms

In-Class Activities

Inside or Outside?

Read ten composite group decisions (for example, exchanging phone numbers after group or having naloxone on site and knowing how to use it). Mark each I (fits inside a facility), O (fits outside), B (fits both), or N (not appropriate). Give a reason for each N.

Practice Facilitation Rehearsal

In groups of five or six, rehearse the first ten minutes of your 20-minute practice facilitation: welcome, guidelines, Scripture, and the first prompt. Members may share on the light prompt or speak as composite people. Observers use the Facilitation Checklist and give one strength and one suggestion.

Assignment: Final Project Submission

Submit your Six-Week Group Plan, complete your 20-minute Practice Facilitation, and turn in your Facilitation Self-Evaluation (see the Final Project section).

Graded with the Final Project Rubric.

Reflection Journal

Hebrews 13:3 says to Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them. Where do you hope God will use you to lead, inside the walls, outside, or both? What has this course changed about how you see leading others?

Prayer focus: Thank God for the people He will place in your care, and ask Him to make every group you lead a safe place where His comfort is passed on.

Barnabas Took Him

When Saul first came to Jerusalem after meeting Jesus, the disciples were afraid of him. Then Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles (Acts 9:27). Barnabas did not hand Saul a list of churches. He walked him in and vouched for him. That is a warm handoff.

Inside a facility, groups follow the chaplain's and staff's authority, plan for counts and interruptions, use approved paper materials, keep journals general, and never exchange personal contact information or carry items or messages. Any crisis goes to staff or the chaplain right away. I was in prison, and ye came unto me (Matthew 25:36).

Outside, in churches and communities, groups welcome newcomers warmly, keep sharing circles same-gender and private, partner with church leadership, know where emergency help is, keep naloxone on hand where possible, and build a verified referral list. Receive ye one another, as Christ also received us (Romans 15:7).

Between the two is release. Tolerance drops during time without use, so the weeks after release carry higher overdose risk. A warm handoff includes a group to attend the first week, naloxone, continued medical care with no gap in prescribed medication, and crisis numbers. As you finish this course, remember that God comforts us that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Think About It

1. Who has walked you in somewhere new, as Barnabas did for Saul? ______________________
2. Where do you hope to lead: inside, outside, or both? ______________________
3. What will you take from this course into every group you lead? ______________________

Daily Devotions for Week 8

Remember Them in Bonds

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.— Hebrews 13:3 (KJV)

We belong to one body, inside and outside the walls.

Reflect: Who in bonds or adversity do you need to remember?

Pray: Lord, keep my heart tender toward those in bonds.

Do: Pray for someone inside a facility by name or by role.

Ye Came unto Me

Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.— Matthew 25:36 (KJV)

Serving those in prison is serving Christ.

Reflect: How does this verse change how you see facility ministry?

Pray: Lord Jesus, let me see You in those I serve.

Do: Write a prayer for a group that meets inside a facility.

Barnabas Took Him

But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.— Acts 9:27 (KJV)

A warm handoff walks someone in and speaks up for her.

Reflect: Who could you walk in somewhere new?

Pray: Lord, make me a Barnabas.

Do: Write down one group or church you could connect someone to.

Receive One Another

Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.— Romans 15:7 (KJV)

We welcome others the way Christ welcomed us.

Reflect: How did Christ receive you?

Pray: Lord, help me welcome others as You welcomed me.

Do: Greet a newcomer or someone overlooked today.

Comforted to Comfort

Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.— 2 Corinthians 1:4 (KJV)

Every group you lead can pass on the comfort you have received.

Reflect: What comfort do you most want to pass on?

Pray: Lord, make every group I lead a place of Your comfort.

Do: Write a prayer for the first group you hope to lead.