1K Church Initiative Project 

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Trenton, NJ

Unemployment is at a record high for returning citizens/formerly incarcerated in the city of Trenton. Felony records prevent these citizens from obtaining the capital that will allow them to grow a sustainable business to avoid unemployment but to also build the wealth that can eliminate the risk of returning to prison.

At Westminster Presbyterian, our image of God reflects how we do church. This helps us imagine missional possibilities. This project resonates with our understanding of God as love, and we are called to love our neighbors especially the ostracized and rejected. The following excerpts from Westminster’s Ecclesial Imagination Profile reveal how our 1K Church Initiative Project to serve returning citizens/formerly incarcerated has been inspired by the Holy Spirit to respond to God’s will and purpose: “racial reconciliation, dismantling mass incarceration, seeking justice, reinvestment in resources locally, three main qualities of WPC: their deep and loyal love of Trenton; their working and serving attitude and their call to action on issues of social, economic, and racial justice.”