The Prison Ministry Commission of the Diocese of Lexington will host an ecumenical conference and workshop at St. Peter's Church in Paris, Kentucky, October 29-30.

Conference participants will explore the ways and means of providing help to the incarcerated and their families.

Workshops will cover topics such as getting started in prison ministry, volunteering on the inside, recognizing talents for ministry, ministering to families of inmates and handling pre-release and after care.

Keynote speaker will be Bo Cox, writer for Forward Day by Day, who began writing for Forward Movement Publications while he was an inmate in the Oklahoma State Prison system. He was paroled from a life sentence in 2003 after serving 18 years for murder.

Other speakers and presenters for the event will include: the Rev. Jackie Means, chair of the National Episcopal Committee on Criminal Justice; Gerard Howell, Chaplain, Fayette County Detention Center; the Rev. Corky Carlisle and Bishop Stacy Sauls of Lexington.

For further information contact Billie Stockton at 859-238-4123 or Jan and Jane Lee Courtney at 859-987-1407.

Note: The following titles are available from the Episcopal Book and Resource Center, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017; 800-334-7626; http://www.episcopalbookstore.org/

• To Read: GOD IS NOT IN THE THESAURUS: Stories from an Oklahoma Prison by Bo Don Cox (Cincinnati, Ohio: Forward Movement Publications, 1999; 153 pages.)
        From the publisher: “There is a tradition of powerful Christian testimony written from prison. These stories from an Oklahoma prison are part of that tradition. They speak of hope—behind razor wire and prison walls. They offer the promise of new life.”
        Bo Don Cox is known as one of the most revered writers of Forward Day by Day devotions in recent memory. He wrote this book while imprisoned at Oklahoma State Prison serving a life sentence for murder. He was paroled in 2003 after serving 18 years.

• To Read: COULDN’T KEEP IT TO MYSELF: Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution: Testimonies from our Imprisoned Sisters by Wally Lamb (New York, NY: Regan Books: An imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, 2003; 350 pages; $13.95.)
        From the publisher: “In his moving introduction, Lamb describes the incredible journey of expression and self-awareness the women took through their writing and shares how they challenged him as a teacher and as a fellow author. Couldn’t Keep It to Myself is a true testament to the process of finding oneself and working toward a better day.”
        Wally Lamb is the beloved author of She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True. Both books were Oprah’s Book Club selections and number one New York Times bestsellers. Lamb is the volunteer facilitator of a writing workshop at York Correctional Institution and is currently at work on his third novel.