The ministry in prisons is not an independent activity but is under the aegis of branch churches. When kept in perspective so as not to detract from any other church activities, this work uplifts both institutional workers and those being ministered to; and it extends the healing power of churches.
Irving C. Tomlinson, at the request of Mrs. Eddy, succeeded in having Christian Science services started at a particular jail. Mrs. Eddy was delighted and commented: "I am glad you have begun the C. S. mission with faith that you can open the prison doors and set free the captive. God will bless us in this way of His appointing. . . ."
1Today, blessings are seen in accounts of characters uplifted and reformed by this ministry of our church.2
Powerful—but always uplifting— demands are made on the spiritual understanding of those who contribute to this ministry. I realized after a few visits to a prison that before I could help others, / first had to gain my own freedom from belief in the misleading, mortal sense testimony evidenced there. Persistent claims of sin, discord and divisions, breeding depression and despair, had to be put out of my thought. It was a clear case of "Physician, heal thyself." 3
