Abolition as Faith Formation 

We are joining with our friends at the Church of the Larger Fellowship as partners in supporting the proposed Congregational Study Action Issue, Abolition is Faith Formation, for our Unitarian Universalist General Assembly this summer 2025.  To learn more, go here.

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Legislation we are supporting...

Illinois has a constitutional obligation to provide a vigorous defense to people who cannot afford to hire private lawyers—but it is one of only three states with no statewide body to ensure it fulfills this duty. Learn more here.

Did you know there is no parole in IL? Support a Second Look for IDOC Seniors, SB86/ HB 3509,

 Through reports from our CLF Worthy Now prisoner pen pals in Illinois, UUPMI leaders and volunteers know that prison conditions continue to be horrific.  This bill can save lives of seniors in IL prisons. The bill would provide a parole process for approximately 1,000 people in Illinois prisons who
are 55 years or older and have been caged at least 25 years. To view the wording of the bill go here.  

Follow Restore Justice IL

Get involved! Go to their website to sign up for advocacy opportunities. We are especially tuned into legislation that:

• supports and protects physical mail for those incarcerated in the IL Department of Corrections.
• seeks to end the use of solitary confinement

Follow Ending Permanent Punishments and the Clean Slate Coalition of IL

Support the passage of the Clean Slate Act

 Fall 2024: Pretrial Fairness and Ending Money Bond: One Year Anniversary

Staff members Rev Allison Farnum and Keith Talley at One Year Celebration at Leighton Criminal Courthouse next to where UUPMI does jail ministry

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We continue to celebrate pretrial fairness and they ways it has kept wealth in communities that need it the most  (over $140 million!) . Additionally, we are committed to partnering with others who want to see a decrease in incarceration.  At the One Year Anniversary gathering, we heard from amazing leaders like Yvette who shared her testimony about the impact of money bond in her life. She reminded us that when you incarcerate a woman, you incarcerate her family. We are so grateful for her testimony and her work in helping protect pretrial fairness.  Read for more from the IL Network for Pretrial Fairness at this blog post.

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Support Pretrial Success in Illinois!

Photo courtesy of the IL Network for Pretrial Justice

Read this latest report for A Vision for Supporting Communities After the End of Money Bond

Photo from Coalition to End Money Bond

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Learning together

Be sure to check out the Minns Lecture Series from Spring 2024 by the Rev Jason Lydon, including topics like: The UUSC National Moratorium on Prison Construction: A Stepping Stone Toward Abolition, The Prisoners' Friend: Universalism and Punishment, and more!

If you are curious about prison abolition, check out this wonderful resource from Abolition Journal. With six sessions, you can go at your own pace. 

Self-led Learning page lists historic offerings and more to help deepen your knowledge.

8-12-20_abolitionist_theologies_virtual_roundtable_transcript.pdf
File Size:	150 kb
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Download File

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Upcoming and Ongoing Events...

Join leaders from the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry.
​Register here for the two, 90-minute sessions on Saturdays May 10 & May 17 from 10am-11:30am. 

How is it that protesting Elon Musk at Tesla dealerships, or student protests against the genocide in Gaza gets one abducted by federal agents and detained without due process? This criminalizing of what should be constitutionally protected speech by the government is as puzzling as it is shocking. These actions join a list of previous activities over decades that are designed to silence the speech of people who advocate for the rights of vulnerable people by criminalizing and demonizing them. This criminalization preserves white supremacy culture and the worst of capitalism. Let’s learn about this system, a part of the prison-industrial complex, and figure out ways to resist, grounded in our UU values. Come to this two-session training on zoom. Our hope is you leave feeling empowered and uplifted.

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Video of the Panel Discussion “Reimagining Justice,” held on March 1, 2025 at Unity Temple’s Community Center, full series found on Youtube here.

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Introduction to the Prison Industrial Complex
...and how to change it.
​(Two sessions on Zoom)
Saturdays May 10 & May 17; 10am - 11:30am
​Register here.
​Feeling helpless in the face of the racial and economic injustice in our society? Join the UU Prison Ministry of IL and learn what we can do to change it.  
We will:

• Examine the prison industrial complex root: its reach, impact and our ability to transform it.
• Connect Unitarian Universalist (UU) values to the work to divest from prisons and police and invest in building new systems of safety, healing, and accountability.
• Build connections with organizations engaged in prisoner solidarity and restorative justice.
• Build connections with organizations engaged in prisoner solidarity and restorative justice.
• Learn about the UU Prison Ministry and how your congregation can join our work.

Register here

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Summer Community Picnic       
​August 9, 2025

DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church
1828 Old Naperville Rd, Naperville, IL

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End Death by Incarceration in IL!

Patrice Lumumba Daniels, Advisory Committee member of UUPMI

According to UUPMI Advisory Committee member, Patrice Lumumba Daniels, "Death By Incarceration (DBI) is "a prison sentence formally handed down by a judge of so called Life Without Parole.

• A prison sentence-relative to one's age/health-that exceeds what is doable & will not diminish one's capacity to be productive upon reentering society.
• A prison sentence that exceeds 20 subsequent calendar years.
• A prison sentence that has no allowance for earned early release."

​Additionally, bringing attention to death by incarceration reminds those in the free world to continue to counter these torturous policies and long-term sentences. Even though Illinois abolished the death penalty, the state is still executing Illinois prisoners through Death by Incarceration.  Part of this program is inviting our outside pen pals to visit their inside pen pals, share the words of their inside pen pals with legislators, speaking truth to power!

We are working collaboratively with the UU Pen Pals of Illinois program in gathering information and listening to our friends and CLF members inside Illinois prisons about their top priority issues so that we can leverage our power to address these harms collaboratively with other organizations.  The main concern of our inside pen pals is around substandard health care. If your organization or your congregation wants to be more involved, please fill out our contact form! We are working closely with our partners at the Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of IL as thought partners in this work!

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Click here for more information about events

Our Mission

We equip UU's in Illinois to ​transform institutions;  partnering with and supporting people harmed by the prison industrial complex.  Read More

We need your help! We can sustain this ministry only if we have the support of people who care about our shared humanity with people in prison. Your contribution will help fund staff salaries, benefits, and travel costs, plus the costs of our education offerings to congregations.

The In Prison Ministry works to create a spiritual space where all people can come as they are and be affirmed in their inherent worth and dignity, no matter their identities or past harm they may have caused. 

The outside work of the UU Prison Ministry focuses on preparing our congregations to become radically welcoming places for formerly incarcerated and convicted people. We embrace the call of Unitarian Universalism to make our congregations accepting of all people.

​The Prison Ministry will also connect Unitarian Universalists to local and state-level policy  initiatives that seek to build a world community of peace, liberty and justice for all.

Donate Now

UU Prison Ministry of Illinois is a 501(c)3 organization, so your contributions are tax-deductible.

​We are funded  by a large network of Unitarian Universalists,  as well as from grants from the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility and Crossroads Fund - and grateful for all their support.

​This organization is in part funded by the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility and the Crossroads Fund.