Posts tagged Inside Out Network
From Tablets to Transformation: ION Reaches a Major Reentry Milestone
From Tablets to Transformation: ION Reaches a Major Reentry Milestone

The Inside Out Network’s Spring 2026 newsletter highlights a major milestone: its reentry platform is now available on correctional facility tablets, expanding access for thousands preparing for release. With strong growth in Arizona and beyond, ION continues to connect returning citizens with critical resources and support.

Alongside this progress, the newsletter shares powerful stories of congregational ministry, personal transformation, and acts of care. Read the full newsletter (available as a PDF and online) to explore how this work is unfolding—and how you might be part of it.

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Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardPrison, Inside Out NetworkComment
Change of Plans: January Reentry Ministry Workshop Canceled, Online Options Being Explored
Change of Plans: January Reentry Ministry Workshop Canceled, Online Options Being Explored

The “Effective Reentry Ministry for Ordinary Congregations” workshop scheduled for January 17, 2026, at Grace Lutheran Church in Phoenix has been canceled.

Organizer Fred Nelson of the Inside Out Network is exploring the possibility of offering this training in an online webinar or alternate format in the future. Updates will be shared as plans develop.

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Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardPrison, Inside Out NetworkComment
When God Says “Wait”: How ION Turned a Red Light into New Ministry
When God Says “Wait”: How ION Turned a Red Light into New Ministry

The Fall 2025 ION Newsletter explores how moments of waiting can lead to unexpected growth. From a new reentry video podcast to a faith-driven smartphone donation project, ION continues to connect returning citizens with hope and community. Read stories of transformation, fresh data insights, and updates from Arizona and Oregon in this inspiring edition. Read the full newsletter online or in this PDF.

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Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardInside Out Network, PrisonComment
Inside Out Network Launches New Reentry Vodcast for Arizona Prisons
Inside Out Network Launches New Reentry Vodcast for Arizona Prisons

ION’s Summer 2025 newsletter is out now! Highlights include a new vodcast partnership with Arizona prisons, expansion to Oregon prison tablets, and growing momentum in Arizona and Montana. Meet new board member Sarah Estes, celebrate Maddi Briguglio’s ASU award, and check out ION’s new book on reentry ministry for congregations. Read the full ION Summer Newsletter.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardPrison, Inside Out NetworkComment
Inside Out Network: Empowering Second Chances in Arizona and Beyond
Inside Out Network: Empowering Second Chances in Arizona and Beyond

The Winter 2025 Inside Out Network Newsletter is here, packed with inspiring stories of transformation, reentry partnerships, and ways congregations can support returning citizens. Highlights include the Men in Orange program, the Color Me Yellow fundraising campaign, and exciting reentry ministry models for churches. Read more and explore how you can be part of this work: Read the full newsletter or download the PDF.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardInside Out Network, PrisonComment
Arizona, Oregon, and Beyond: Inside Out Network Expands Support
Arizona, Oregon, and Beyond: Inside Out Network Expands Support

Inside Out Network’s Fall 2024 newsletter highlights significant developments, including expanded access to ION’s platform in Arizona prison libraries and a new fundraising goal to support reentry resources. Discover updates on ION’s outreach in Mississippi and Oregon, impactful community events, and inspiring success stories that showcase ION’s ongoing mission to support returning citizens. View the ION Fall 2024 newsletter online or view/download this PDF.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardPrison, Inside Out Network Comment
Inside Out Network Updates: Internship Success, Reentry Initiatives, and More
Inside Out Network Updates: Internship Success, Reentry Initiatives, and More

The Spring 2024 ION Newsletter highlights key initiatives, including the impactful work of ION interns, the Reentry Congregation Initiative, and the progress of deploying the ION platform on inmate tablets. Learn about Fred Nelson’s six guiding words and the success of our “Color Me Yellow” campaign. Read more about our efforts to support returning citizens and foster community connections. Read the full newsletter as PDF here or online here.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardInside Out Network, PrisonComment
Inside Out Network’s Fall-Winter 2023 newsletter
Inside Out Network’s Fall-Winter 2023 newsletter

The Inside Out Network’s Fall-Winter 2023 newsletter is available, with great news; “After several years of on-again, off-again discussions and negotiations with Securus Technologies, we finally have a path forward to integrate our online ION website with the 600,000 tablet computers they supply to inmates across the country. This is the breakthrough moment we’ve been working and praying for and that inmates, corrections staff, and reentry service providers have been waiting for.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardPrison, Inside Out NetworkComment
Mission Support Memo July 2023: ELCA's Joyous Reunion at the Rostered Ministers Gathering
Mission Support Memo July 2023: ELCA's Joyous Reunion at the Rostered Ministers Gathering

The ELCA mission support memo for July, 2023 is available as a PDF, as a Word doc, or in this blog post. Join ELCA Mission Support in reflecting on the 2023 Rostered Ministers Gathering in Phoenix. A melting pot of leadership, faith, and inspiration, this gathering fostered connections and reinforced the importance of Mission Support. Learn about the enlightening messages, workshops, and the ongoing mission work that is made possible through the generosity of ELCA members.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardMission Support, Stewardship, Inside Out NetworkComment
2023 Inside Out Network (ION) report
2023 Inside Out Network (ION) report

Thanks to support from the Grand Canyon Synod and many others, the Inside Out Network (ION) continues to provide our one-of-a-kind online platform that connects people leaving incarceration with the service providers and ministries ready to provide the help and support they need.

If you haven’t heard about us before: ION is like eHarmony for reentry. Returning citizens and service providers can find each other and message back and forth, even prior to the inmate’s release.

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Region 2, News, Grand Canyon SynodBrian Flatgard2023 Assembly Reports, Inside Out Network, PrisonComment
Inside Out Network: ION newsletter for winter 2023
Inside Out Network: ION newsletter for winter 2023

We share the latest newsletter from the Inside Out Network (ION), our synod’s prison and reentry ministry. Read the winter 2023 ION newsletter online or view/download as PDF, featuring: Desistance, leaving the minefield; looking ahead; reentry congregations survey work continues, returning citizen spotlight; state updates; spiritual survival guide, and how you can help.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardInside Out Network, PrisonComment
Inside Out Network: ION newsletter for fall, 2022
Inside Out Network: ION newsletter for fall, 2022

We share the latest newsletter from the Inside Out Network (ION), our synod’s prison and reentry ministry. Read the fall 2022 ION newsletter as PDF, featuring an expansion into Oregon, board member Justin Benjamin, returning citizen spotlight, and Arizona updates. As of late September, there are 2695 returning citizens enrolled in Arizona and 163 providers across the state.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardInside Out Network, PrisonComment
Inside Out Network seeks input on Reentry Congregations Initiative Survey
Inside Out Network seeks input on Reentry Congregations Initiative Survey

The Inside Out Network (ION), a ministry birthed in an ELCA congregation and identified as a strategic ministry by the Grand Canyon Synod, is seeking input from congregations that intentionally minister with and to people leaving incarceration. Click here to take the Reentry Congregations Initiative Survey, which takes no more than 10 minutes to complete.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardInside Out Network, PrisonComment
Inside Out Network helps people leaving incarceration
Inside Out Network helps people leaving incarceration

Inside Out Network, with Rev. Fred Nelson (New Spirit, Tucson) as Executive Director, is a new strategic ministry of the Grand Canyon Synod, helping reshape reentry for people leaving incarceration with their ground-breaking, invisibility-busting ION online platform that allows returning citizens and service providers to communicate directly with each other. Think of ION as "eHarmony for reentry."

Learn how you can help and more about this ministry in this post, this front-page AZ Daily Star article, and the ION website.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardInside Out Network, PrisonComment