Prison Care

Today was a rather overwhelming and eye-opening day. For my Pastoral Care class, we were required to visit a pastoral care site that is out of our comfort zones and then write a paper about it. Sam and I decided to visit the Marion Correctional Institution, and that visit was today.

When we drove to the prison, we pulled up to a small modern building with some barbed wire, but it looked pretty modern. We went inside and the woman at the desk told us that the prison was the next building over. When we went back out to the car, we looked over to see a huge building with two layers of barbed wire around it. The weather was cold and dank, which made the prison look rather scary. We drove up, parked, and walked in wondering what on earth we had just gotten ourselves into. We certainly succeeded in finding an environment where we were uncomfortable.

After we went through security, the chaplain met us and took us on a bit of a tour. We went through the doors, which are in a system of two doors that only one can be open at a time. The first place we visited was the visitors room. Here, we met the guards and listened to the interactions between the chaplain and guards. They joked around a bit, and the guards pointed out a man who was Muslim and was doing his daily prayers, which is against the rules in the visiting room. The guards and chaplain decided to not interrupt his prayers but just to say something to him as he left.

After the visiting room, we saw rooms for haircuts and many offices. We went through another set of doors and for the first time were in the presence of several inmates. They were walking up and down the halls, just as we were. When we went into the infirmary, the inmates who sat in the waiting room stared at us, which was a bit uncomfortable.

After this part of the tour, we went and sat with the chaplain in his office as he explained some of the ins and outs of prison ministry. We discussed ministry in general also. The chaplain we spoke to was the head chaplain of the prison, and several people come in for the many religious groups. They have services for Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews, Native Americans, Amish, Wiccans, Buddhists, and more. This chaplain, as head chaplain, interacts with all groups. He studied world religions at one time and knows enough about each group to speak to them from their world views. I was very impressed that through his inter-faith work, he NEVER compromised what he believes as a Christian. He can minister effectively to all groups. He can speak to them from their traditions and often knew more about the traditions than the practitioners, but he would never compromise his belief that Jesus Christ is the only way. He has always been drawn to the broken, and somehow God just gave him the gifts and led him to this type of ministry.

We also discussed some of the issues that come up in pastoral care in a prison setting. He explained that these people have done many things. They have murdered, stolen, raped, done drugs, and many other things. He ministers to people who have done things that he knows as abhorrent. He also said to us, "Everybody else has judged these people already. My job is for compassion, caring, loving, and healing." He explained that his job is often to be a peacemaker. He connects the offenders to their families through the phone and will do counseling to make peace. He helps them when they miss funerals of loved ones. He talks with them when they are once again denied parole. He has organized weddings and done funerals. He is responsible at least every other day to tell loved ones that a inmate has died or is dying. He even has done funerals where nobody from outside even felt the need to come. He deals with the hopelessness of everyday life, where parole is denied over and over, where they see the same walls day after day and become empty shells. He tries to give hope that is in Jesus to these people.

We also saw the chapel which has a curtain that is opened or closed over the crucifix for each type of service. It looked like and chapel that you might visit except that the pews were old. There is a garden which was beautiful even in February where the prisoners can work and pray. Some can even have vegetable gardens that they raise from seeds. This is part of the ministry.

One of the unique programs that they have is a 10 month program of inter-faith community living. It is a particular dorm where everybody is in this program. They have 8 cubicles in the room with 6 beds each. People from all religions can enter this program, and they have a community. They meet daily, often eat together, and live together. The rate of return to prison once somebody who went through that living space is released is only about 12 percent. When we visited this room, we spoke with two inmates who told us about the system and how it works. One of them positively glowed as he told us about it. He showed us the poster they designed for their group with all their names on a pillar above the name of Jesus as the foundation of the building.

As we walked up the halls to take the rest of our tour, people constantly greeted the chaplain as he greeted them. They would say "Hi Pastor" or "Hello Reverend Kola." He would greet people back, often by name. He explained to us that Jesus walked the streets; he did not sit in his office and wait for people to come to him. Because Jesus went to the people, to the broken, the chaplain is following his example. We visited the library, the computer classes, the television station, and many more places as we toured.

The last part of our time in prison was with a group in the chaplain's office area. The Catholic seminary down the street sends some of their students for several months to the prison to learn about that kind of ministry. A group of up to fifteen inmates meet with these three young men each week. These future priests learn about the people in the prison and learn about the ministries needed. How can you help somebody if you do not know them? Sam and I got to sit in on some of that session.

We sat with these men, some of whom have been there for longer than I have been alive. One of them just got told by his parole board that he has at least another ten years, even though he has done everything that they asked of him. As we listened, we heard about the many ministries that they have been involved in. We heard about the Christmas and Easter plays, the Bible studies, the worships, and the celebrity visitors. We sat and listened to men who seemed no different from a man I might talk to in the fellowship hall at church. This man, who got told he has another ten years, could very easily be my doctor or the usher. Ye, whatever he did was so bad that he has been there for a long time and will be for a long time yet. These are real people who can change, who have done something wrong, but can change and do. They are living proof of rehabilitation and forgiveness and hope.

We listened as the chaplain spoke about post-prison ministry. Many people, like these men, get released and go to the churches and the pastors, but they don't have the support that they need to stay out of the prison. They are broken and they need help, but the ministries don't really exist often. Why are we not helping those people in our churches? Why are we not giving them he resources they need to learn to be different? It does not good to put a bank robber in prison and let him out still a bank robber. This is what prison ministry is for. Someday, the five of us, three Catholics, on Baptist, and one Methodist, will be in a church where somebody is released from prison. How will we minister to them? How will we minister to the families who lose a child or father or mother to prison? We need to be thinking about these things, because it is very important.

I definitely learned a lot from this experience. I was a little uncomfortable with being constantly stared at by the inmates, but I learned a lot. I think this will be one of those days that I can look back at and know that it will have changed me. It will affect my future ministry. I will always remember the idea that they have already been judged by society and we are here for compassion, love and healing. They are the broken, and we are here to help with the healing and point to the hope that is Jesus.