Roll Away the Stone
Dear LFP Church Family,
Our One Parish One Prisoner team (OPOP) and our elders are inviting the congregation to help support Rachel as she takes important steps from prison toward life in the community.
Rachel’s full release is expected in 2028, but hopefully this fall she will enter a work-release program, and then into a graduated release program next spring/summer. These are meaningful transitions—and ones that come with significant practical barriers. Transportation, identification, work clothing, housing, and everyday necessities can all stand between a person and the fresh start they are working hard to build.
To help meet those needs per the wisdom and advice of Underground Ministries, we are establishing the
Roll Away the Stone Fundraiser for OPOP.
Gifts to this fund will be used to help Rachel with expenses such as:
An ORCA card and public-transit fares for getting to work and appointments
Driver’s-license renewal costs
Work-related needs, including things like food-handler permit, uniforms, and personal items
Housing costs after work release, including deposits and the first month or two of rent
A vehicle, insurance, etc.
Our OPOP team has been building a relationship with Rachel—not as a project to be fixed, nor as someone to be “saved,” but as a sister in Christ with whom we are called into genuine relationship. This work invites us to practice resurrection in an age of mass incarceration: to recognize that God’s transforming grace is at work not only in Rachel’s life, but in ours as well.
In John 11, resurrection for Lazarus began with the community rolling away the stone and unbinding his grave-clothes. Through this fund, we have a tangible opportunity to help remove some of the obstacles Rachel will face in the months ahead—and to walk alongside her with encouragement, friendship, and practical support.
Please consider making a gift to "Roll Away the Stone" for the OPOP team to do this work. Together, we can help make room for a hopeful and sustainable new beginning.
Questions? Please speak with a member of the OPOP team: Susan Adissono, Joe Draper, Alex Gephart, Jeff Gephart, Steve Isley, Anne Kalkbrenner, Tom McNeil, or Melissa Robertson.