St. Spyridon is home to Northern Colorado's local efforts in support of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM). We are working in conjunction with Larimer County to minister to those held in the Larimer County Jail.

OCPM is an agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States. For Orthodox Christians who have been arrested for crimes, OCPM helps them return to the Faith, offering forgiveness and reconciliation with Christ. For both Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike, OCPM provides spiritual care, enabling prisoners to find hope and purpose in their lives.

OCPM proclaims the love of Christ to men and women who are incarcerated. We do this by applying the teachings of the Orthodox Faith to correspond with thousands of prisoners, providing them personalized spiritual care, Bibles, books, icons, catechism, and study courses. For those wishing to live an Orthodox way of life, we advocate on their behalf for correctional facilities around the country to recognize the Orthodox faith, so that priests can enter prison facilities and administer the Sacraments.

As the national prison ministry of the Orthodox Church, we provide resources and training to local parishes and clergy, enabling them to offer local solutions and fulfill Christ’s command to visit Him in prison. As a result, families are reunited, marriages are healed, and thousands of incarcerated men and women have a new sense of peace and restored order in their lives.

StoryBook Connections Effort

In Matthew 25:35-40 Jesus says, “for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me”… They asked Jesus when they did this and Jesus said “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

Have you ever thought you would like to visit those in prison, but you didn’t know how to go about it. Well, come join us in the Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry and we will do this together.

Under the guidance of OCPM, St. Spyridon Church would like to reinstitute “Storybook Connections” at the Larimer County Jail. This program helps families torn apart by the incarceration of a parent stay connected by letting children hear a story in the voice of his or her own parent who is behind bars.

How does it work? Church volunteers bring children’s books and voice recorders into the prison and visit with incarcerated parents. Parents choose a storybook their children would enjoy, and the church volunteers record them reading the story aloud. Finally, the storybook with the recording is mailed to the children so they can hear their father’s or mother’s voice and know that they are loved and missed.

Contact Chris Finger to get involved.