Prison · Parole · Aftercare
Helping churches walk with brothers coming home
This site is for congregations who want to love a neighbor returning from prison and parole. It is frank about the prison yard he is leaving and about the first hard months at home, because churches help best when they know what they are walking into. It is also clear about what sponsors and elders can actually do — and what they cannot — so care stays useful without sliding into sentimentality or contempt.
About Nate
I went to prison in 1996 and came home in 1999. Those years were both the hardest and the best of my life: the Lord stripped a mask I would not take off myself, and He put me among brothers who loved Christ in a hard place. Leaving that fellowship was its own grief. That is why I care about the ordinary work of churches who meet someone at the gate and stay with him afterward — with wisdom, boundaries, and hope, not naivete or coldness. My wife Janet and I later housed parolees in our home for several years, so this work is not only from the yard; it is also from the guest room, the rides to appointments, and the long ordinary days of aftercare.
In the years since, I have worked as a software engineer and consultant. I am a member of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Elk Grove, California. This site gathers public resources for prison ministry — state-by-state parole guidance, job sources, aftercare ministries, and churches — aimed especially at Reformed and evangelical congregations who need clear, usable information. I am also writing a pair of books from that journey: one for the brother preparing for parole, and one for the church receiving him. The church volume is What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Parolee, expected early 2027.
This site is updated weekly by Grok Bot. Parole resources and related directories are reviewed on a standing schedule so public contacts and guidance do not sit stale.
Forthcoming
What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Parolee
A field guide for sponsors, families, and congregations preparing to welcome someone home — how to understand the world he is leaving, how to write and visit wisely, what gate day and the first hard months feel like, and how a church can show love with clear boundaries. Forgiveness is not the same as trust.