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OBJECTIVES OF YOKEFELLOW PRISON MINISTRY
• To help serve the religious needs of residents in correctional and
penal institutions.
• To bridge the gulf between persons confined and those in the
outside community.
• To demonstrate a continuing concern for offenders in the process
of re-integration into society.
• To promote and cooperate in the establishment and operation of
local community-sponsored “halfway house” facilities.
• To minister to person on probation and those confined in city and
county jails, and to provide support and fellowship to those
involved in services to such persons.
• To initiate cooperative efforts to meet the needs of inmates and
their families.
• To participate in programs designed to improve correctional
methods.
• To bear concern for decisions made by those responsible for the
policies and procedures of rehabilitative efforts.
THE MARKS OF A YOKEFELLOW
COMMITMENT:
People need something to which they can be committed so thoroughly
that their lives are changed accordingly. What Christ calls for is
commitment above all. Christ was calling for a team effort when He
issued the invitation, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of
me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for
your souls.” A Christian is primarily one who seeks sincerely and
humbly to be a member of Christ’s team in the practical world.
DISCIPLINE:
The order we seek must be a disciplined order-a people of all walks
of life who engage in their regular practice of prayer, the study of
the Scripture, the use of time and the use of money. Those who wear
the yoke are no longer free to do what they like, but are free to
make great differences in the world. The price is high, but the
consequences are correspondingly great.
WITNESS:
A Yokefellow is one who knows that faith in Christ is not a private
affair. To be kept, it must be shared. To witness is not a choice
with us; it is inherent in Christ’s call to discipleship.
MINISTRY:
Perhaps the most revolutionary sentence in the entire world is this;
“The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. The
order which we seek is one in which each individual finds his or her
own ministry and dedicates himself or herself to it as long as life
lasts.
FELLOWSHIP:
Part of the value of Christ’s figure of the yoke arises from the
necessity of joint efforts. It is not possible to be a Christian
alone. Often the most genuine fellowship is that of a small group of
people who pray for one another and who share with one another in
both their hopes and their problems. The order we seek to establish
must encourage the growth of such small groups.
THE YOKEFELLOW DISCIPLINES
The Order of the Yoke is not a para-church organization. Rather, by
encouraging better discipleship, the Movement seeks to strengthen
the existing church. Commitment is the key. Yokefellow voluntarily
accept a common discipline.
The Discipline of Prayer To pray every day, preferably at the
beginning of the day.
The Discipline of Scripture Read reverently and thoughtfully, every
day, section of Scripture following a definite plan.
The Discipline of Worship To share, at least once a week, in the
public worship of God.
The Discipline of Money To give a definite portion of my annual
income to the promotion of Christ’s cause.
The Discipline of Time To use my time as a sacred gift, not to be
wasted striving to make my daily work, whatever it may be, a
Christian vocation.
The Discipline of Service. To try, every day, to lift some human
burden.
The Discipline of Study To develop my mental powers by careful
reading and study.
Disciplined commitment is the way of both the inward and the outward
journey. It is both the way to follow God and the way to God.
Members of a Yokefellow group discover that:
• The group experience triggers the will to do what the Christian
knew all along he/she should be doing with regard to daily prayer
and fellowship with God.
• There are others in the group with similar problems, doubts, needs
and failures.
• Sharing enables the individual to understand himself/herself better
and accept himself/herself more readily.
• Honesty and humility (the prerequisites for effective and powerful
prayer) and a closer walk with Christ are encouraged through the
group experience.
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