Correctional chaplains to meet in Raleigh

Michael F. Easley Governor		Theodis Beck Secretary
North Carolina Department of Correction

For Release: IMMEDIATE	Contact: Betty Brown
Date: April 8, 2005	Phone: (919) 838-3625

Correctional chaplains conference set for Raleigh RALEIGH – The American Correctional Chaplains Association (ACCA) will hold its Southeastern Region Conference at the Clarion Hotel on Hillsborough Street from April 25 – 27. Prison chaplains from North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia and Tennessee have registered and are expected to attend. The conference is hosted by North Carolina’s correctional chaplains, with Betty Brown, the Director of Chaplaincy Services for the North Carolina Division of Prisons, serving as conference director. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker is scheduled to welcome participants to the conference on Monday, April 25th and State Senator Eleanor Kinnard will deliver the keynote address at the banquet on Tuesday evening. “We will come together for a few days so that we might explore and discuss ways we may work as a team to Build Bridges for a New Day,” said Brown. The conference planning committee has chosen a theme of “Correctional Chaplains Building Bridges for a New Day” Correctional chaplains are facing rising prison populations and more ethnic and religious diversity among inmates. “We have been called by God, compelled by our passion to do ministry and empowered by the Mighty Spirit to be present for such time as this,” said Chaplain Brown. The conference will seek to educate and support chaplains, community volunteers and criminal justice workers to meet the challenges they face in their efforts to rehabilitate inmates and reduce recidivism. Another objective of the conference will be to close the gap between the general community and the criminal justice system. More information about the workshops, speakers and registration can be found at www.ncchaplainsprograms.com. Contacts: Chaplain Betty Brown (919) 838-3625 bba07@doc.state.nc.us Chaplain Oliver Muhammad (919) 838-3626 mos01@doc.state.nc.us