BRENT, Ala. (ABP) — Six inmates in an Alabama prison recently graduated from a Baptist seminary program designed to train them for ministry.
The six men, all inmates at the Bibb County Correctional Facility in Brent, Ala., received certificates of ministry from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary after completing eight classes in the seminary's Extension Center System. The credit hours could be applied toward an associate's or bachelor's degree after the men are released, providing they already have high school diplomas or the equivalency.
“This was an historic occasion,” said Jimmy Dukes of Atlanta, dean of the seminary's Extension Center System after the May 27 ceremony. “It was a very positive day for the inmates and for their families.”
The prison classes, which enroll up to 25 students, include surveys of both the Old and New Testaments and intensive studies in a number of individual books. Each student is asked to raise money to pay for the courses, according to prison chaplain Eddie Smith, and many rely on funding from their families and churches.
New Orleans Seminary, a Southern Baptist school, has a similar program in Angola Prison in Louisiana.
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