Serena is an opinion writer in the Fall 2024 Sojourners Journalism Cohort. Learn more about the program.
Serena Puang is a journalist from Rogers, Ark., currently writing features for the Baton Rouge Advocate. She previously interned at IndyStar where she wrote about things to do and the Boston Globe where she covered living arts. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, NBC, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Business Insider, Teen Vogue, among other publications. When she’s not writing, you can find her taking photos for her bookstagram or spending too much money on cafes.
Posts By This Author
How Do I Love My Incarcerated Neighbor?
A prison employee reads letters from inmates to their sons at San Quentin state prison in San Quentin, California June 8, 2012. An annual Fathers' Day event, "Get On The Bus" brings children in California to visit their fathers in prison. Sixty percent of parents in state prison report being held over 100 miles (161 km) from their children. Regular prison visits lower rates of recidivism for the parent, and make the child better emotionally adjusted and less likely to become delinquent, according to The Center for Restorative Justice Works, the non-profit organization that runs the "Get on the Bus" program. Picture taken June 8, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson.
As a Christian, I spend a lot of time meditating on what it means to love those who have been incarcerated. These people are a specific group Jesus names in Matthew 25:36-40, saying that when we visit people in prison, we’re visiting him. Throughout the Bible, God demonstrates a concern for the marginalized. When Christians meditate on what it means to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39), we shouldn’t only think of those who live next door to us, but also those who are imprisoned. But with literal walls and bars separating the incarcerated population from the rest of society, what does it actually mean to love your incarcerated neighbor?
The Fatal Flaw of the Multicultural Church Movement
Photo by Carolyn Franks / Almay via Reuters Connect
As an adult, I’ve been in many so-called “diverse communities” where there is a lot of racial diversity, but culturally and experientially, it felt very similar to the predominately white church I grew up attending for Sunday school. From the way we worshiped to the food we ate together afterward, these interracial churches seemed to only work because they were comfortable places for white people. In these integrated congregations, white people would often say to me, an Asian American, that they felt so grateful to have so many different experiences and viewpoints reflected in the congregation (“We’re learning so much from different communities”). But those viewpoints were never reflected on the leadership team.