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Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM), the national prison ministry of the Orthodox Church, is very pleased to announce Diana Emry as the organization’s first Director of Programs.
To celebrate this appointment, OCPM sat down with Emry to hear what this position means for her and the future of the organization.
OCPM: Can you describe your new role as the OCPM Director of Programs? What is your unique contribution to the ministry?
DE: My role is to understand the OCPM vision: that the Church would be present in prisons so that people who are incarcerated can participate in the life of the Church and grow in their relationship to Christ. Our Programs staff are hard at work, cultivating relationships with people in prison to provide spiritual support and care, and engaging with churches and clergy to make sure the whole body of the Church is engaged in this ministry. My unique role is to provide planning, direction and feedback that is clear and well defined to help steer the team according to the high level vision and goals of the organization.
OCPM: What are you most excited about in taking on this new role?
DE: I’m most excited about building relationships with the staff and getting to see the fruit of their work directly. People in prison write to us every day, giving glory to God and telling us that they know His presence and His kindness to them through the faithful spiritual care they receive from OCPM. I’ve also begun to get out into the field and visit parishes where people’s lives are being changed by encountering Christ in prison. It’s more beautiful than words can describe and I’m always excited to see the growth and fruit that is yet to come.
OCPM: Since this is a new position, what does creating this role say about the state of OCPM? What is changing or growing in this ministry? (Or, to put it another way, how are OCPM Church Programs evolving to need a role like this?)
DE: OCPM has worked hard to honor the ministry of Fr. Duane Pederson by making this ministry a stable, sustainable organization. There is so much life in this organization, and the proof is in the growth we’ve seen over the past few years. In the beginning, OCPM’s primary focus was correspondence and faith formation through study courses. Now we’re staffed so that we can also provide additional services like coordinating clergy visitation, working with chaplains to establish Orthodox services and resources in their facilities and coaching and support for re-entry. On the church programs front, we now have a position dedicated to helping churches get programs started in correctional facilities nationwide for Orthodox faith formation (Christian History, Parables) and family support (Storybook Connections). All of this is takes an immense amount of strategic planning, organization, communication and collaboration – and that’s why the new position was created.
OCPM: How would you recommend a church discern how to get involved with OCPM? And once they are ready to take the next step, what should they do then?
DE: Every church is called to visit those in prison. We have a whole range of programs so that no church is shut out of this fruitful ministry. The first step is to reach out to OCPM so that we can get to know your church, provide resources, education and help with the discernment process. Fill out the form on our website https://theocpm.org/what-we-do/churchprograms/ and we’ll reach out to help you get involved.
