Easton Hall Conference Center
Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP)
2451 Ridge Road, Berkeley
Continental breakfast will be provided.

Episcopal Charities is hosting their second annual symposium for Jail and Prison Ministries at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley on October 14. In Changing Faces, a panel of ex-inmates who were serving life sentences at Solano and San Quentin prisons will explore with us how their lives were changed by participating in the Victim-Offender Reconciliation Group (VORG) program. They will share their intimate stories of facing their crimes and their victims and of giving back to the community.

The Rev. James Tramel of St. Alban's in Albany, who participated in VORG, will join the morning's panel discussion and small groups breakout session to offer insights into the resistance, pain and peace that can be revealed in the redemption/ reconciliation process. The men will also speak about how through their formation of Inside/Out and collaboration with BAWAR (Bay Area Women Against Rape), they are becoming positive examples and practical support for other ex-offenders returning to society.

The trailer from the documentary film, Doing Life by Anne Rogers O'Hearn will be shown. What began as an effort by producer/director Anne Rogers O'Hearn to document the spiritual transformation of some of the many "Lifers" she met who were routinely denied parole, Doing Life is now slated to be a feature-length documentary film that examines the conflicting forces behind California's broken and burgeoning prison system and seeks to unite those in search of an inspired solution.

As space is limited, please register now. The program fee is $20 per person.