Prisoners No More: a concert that could change lives

The Catholic tradition has always understood that the Holy Spirit moves where it will: across borders, beyond boundaries, and through vessels that do not always look the way we expect.

It is in that spirit that Jubilee Generation, a Catholic music ministry rooted in prayer and service, has extended its hand across the Christian family to invite 20-time Grammy Award-winning Gospel artist Kirk Franklin to Trinidad and Tobago to sing of a freedom that belongs to every soul.

On Saturday, March 21, at Queen’s Park Oval, that act of ecumenical faith becomes not just a concert, but something far greater.

Staged by Jubilee Generation in collaboration with CatholicTT, the Catholic Prison Ministry, and Axcess Events, Prisoners No More promises to be one of the most spiritually significant gatherings this twin-island republic has ever witnessed.

Jubilee Generation is a Catholic music ministry born in obedience. What began as a simple choir at St Ann’s parish in 1998 grew through prayer, fasting, and surrender into three spirit-led divisions, Jubilee Generation, Jubilee Holdings Limited, and Jubilee Catholic Community, all rooted in upholding the dignity of every human person.

From the start, Jubilee Generation’s charism has been in service to those on the margins: to go, to speak, to serve, and not to be afraid.

Since 2012, Jubilee Generation has ministered within the T&T prison system, bringing its music ministry to Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday Masses behind prison walls. That path of faithfulness now finds its fullest expression in Prisoners No More, an 18-month pilot programme dedicated to the rehabilitation of the incarcerated, the reintegration of formerly imprisoned individuals into society, and, by extension, the healing of their broken families (CN February 22, page 8).

Jubilee’s pastoral prison mission finds a powerful partner in Kirk Franklin, whose music has carried the message of God’s grace into prisons across the United States through God Behind Bars, a programme designed to “ensure that every inmate in the US has direct and personal access to the Gospel.”

In 2022, Franklin, along with Maverick Music Ministry, collaborated with inmates at Everglades Correctional Institution in Florida to produce the live album, Kingdom Book One. His witness is one of mercy lived out loud: that no person, no matter how broken, lies beyond the reach of God’s redeeming love.

‘Prisoners No More’, the name of the concert, is therefore deeply intentional, as it tells the story of two Christian ministries, separated by an ocean but bound by one calling.

As La Vaughn De Leon, Director of Jubilee TT, the umbrella organisation under which Jubilee Generation falls, noted, “Kirk Franklin doesn’t merely sing about freedom—he embodies it. His life and ministry testify that God’s grace can reach into our darkest places and bring light where the world has given up hope. For us, he is not just an artiste but a living witness that mercy is stronger than judgment and that redemption is greater than rejection. He has walked through his own struggles with honesty and humility, and in doing so, he shows not only incarcerated men and women but all of us that imperfection is not disqualification but the very place where God’s love begins its work.”

The praise and worship ministries assembled for this gathering of liberation reflect a strong sampling of T&T’s faith community.

Jaron Nurse, one of Trinidad’s most anointed worship voices, leads congregations into the presence of God with a rare anointing. Blessed Messenger has carried a ministry of song to thousands across the Caribbean. Derron Sandy’s gift as a performance poet brings the Word alive in ways that cut through and convert. Gates Praise, whose harmonies have become synonymous with authentic worship in this nation, will lead the crowd in collective praise.

And completing the worship ministry, carrying the pride and the devotion of their community, is the St Anthony’s Choir from Point Fortin, a spirit-led choir rooted in the Catholic tradition of Southern Trinidad whose presence at this Lenten gathering is both poignant and deeply fitting.

The Archdiocese of Port of Spain has given Prisoners No More its full endorsement, recognising that this work is not peripheral to the Church’s mission but central to it.

Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon has called the faithful to action in language that recalls the very heart of the Gospel: “Any programme that takes those at the edge of society and treats them like human beings, gives them dignity, and gives them hope to reintegrate into society in a meaningful way, that needs our attention, our support, and our care. Remember the Corporal Works of Mercy.”

Gates open at 4 p.m., with the evening of praise commencing at 6 p.m. Early-bird tickets are now sold out, but General, Kids, VIP, and Cabana tickets remain available online at www.axcesstics.com and islandetickets.com

In-person tickets can be purchased at authorised outlets: Living Water Community in Port of Spain, Santa Rosa RC Bookshop in Arima, Maranatha Open Bible Book Shop in San Fernando, St Anthony’s RC Church in Point Fortin, and at all Hakka Express Restaurants nationwide.

For information: Jubilee Generation

Email: jubilee7.tt@gmail.com

Instagram: @jubilee.generation

Facebook: JubileeTT (for direct messages)