From September to December in 2024, a multi-faith group of correctional chaplains, community clergy, lawyers, scholars, and reentry professionals convened at the University of Chicago to discuss the purpose and place of religion in correctional facilities and in the broader arc of incarceration and re-entry. Every meeting had a guiding theme, dedicated curriculum, and specific discussion goals—all of which resulted in dynamic reflections and recommendations regarding the carceral system at large and participants’ individual work. Moreover, a Scholar Guide joined the group each meeting to lend analytic expertise and provide additional context on each of the four major topics.

Across the Kitagawa Library table at the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, Chicagoans dedicated to ameliorating and preventing the harms of mass incarceration joined to break bread, share a diversity of professional and personal perspectives, and lend support to peers and colleagues working towards the same goals of promoting equity and dignity for those involved in the criminal legal system.