More than 30 years ago, when Terrence Minor was incarcerated, a young man began speaking to him about Jesus. Minor cannot recall the man’s full name but does remember the influence he had.
“Today, I couldn’t point to him in lineup,” Minor, said, “but he went by Mr. Walker.”
Minor originally faced a staggering 120-year sentence for multiple counts of drug trafficking in Madisonville, Ky. His attorney was able to negotiate a plea bargain that reduced the sentence to 20 years and ensured Minor’s girlfriend would not be charged, allowing her to return home to care for her four children. At the time, Minor felt like he was finally doing something good. He called it “manning up.”
Paul Seebeck
Before sentencing, Judge Charles Boteler asked Minor if he wanted to speak. Minor expressed his desire to help young people and teach them about the dangers of drugs if given another chance. However, he was met with these words, “You are a nemesis to society.”
Minor recalls knowing everyone believed he was saying these things to get out of prison.
The influence of faith
In jail, Mr. Walker wouldn’t stop talking with him about Jesus. He told Minor Jesus got beat, nailed to a cross and could’ve called legions of angels to get him off that cross but didn’t. Minor remembers jokingly telling the young man, “He must not have been a Black man then; a Black man would’ve called for help.”
“He must not have been a Black man then; a Black man would’ve called for help.”
At the time, Minor was still plotting revenge against Judge Boteler and those responsible for putting him in prison. Despite this, Mr. Walker remained steadfast, consistently sharing stories about the resurrection of Jesus.
Minor admits that Mr. Walker, a young white man, was not annoying; otherwise, there might have been a fight. Eventually Minor, who was baptized as a child, decided to try getting saved. After giving his life to Christ, he and Walker began reading the Bible together. Although Minor was still contemplating how to get out of jail to get revenge, he was unknowingly beginning a journey that eventually would lead him home as a pastor, rather than a drug dealer.
“It’s very strange,” he said. “I never dreamed it. People remembered that I’d done drugs, but I’ve been received well.”
Return to community and reconciliation
Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Earlington, Ky., is where I met up with Terrence Minor on a Sunday morning in May. The now-retired Judge Boteler was scheduled to speak at Minor’s church about peace and reconciliation. Through an imaginary conversation between Jesus and Abraham Lincoln that focused on the need to overcome the desire for revenge, he drew parallels between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the American Civil War. Boteler, who has made numerous trips to the Holy Land, appreciates hearing stories of how people turn their lives around through forgiveness.
As Minor began reading the Bible with the young man he now cannot recognize, he was transferred to the La Grange Correctional Facility — the place prisoners went before being sent to a penitentiary. Minor describes La Grange as crowded and isolating. Prisoners were evaluated: A low score sent them to a penitentiary behind the fence, while a higher score placed them a facility without a fence.
Terrence Minor and Judge Charles Boteler
“Even though there were people everywhere, I was all alone,” he said.
During his brief stay in La Grange, Minor met Bobby Carneal, who also was committed to learning from the Bible. Just as they began supporting each other, Minor was transferred to the Marion Adjustment Center in Marion County near Campbellsville. The facility, which closed in 2013, is now a Jesuit Center. At the fenceless penitentiary Minor meditated on a Scripture Mr. Walker had shared— Timothy 2:15, “Study to show thyself approved for the glory of God, with no need to be ashamed,” is how Minor recalls it.
Slowly, his life began to change: “I was starting to grow in grace for the Holy Spirit was being revealed to me.”
At the Adjustment Center, Minor met Chaplain Browning, who visited every Monday night to minster and talk with prisoners. He calls Browning and the others who prayed for him faithful men of God. He also gives a shout out to the Gideons for providing Bibles for the prisoners.
Bobby Carneal soon rejoined him at Marion, and together they conducted nightly Bible studies. Through these sessions, forgiveness began to flourish in Minor’s life.
“When I got to that point I recognized that everything that happened to me was my fault.”
“God let me know, if you accept my forgiveness, it’s for yourself,” he said. “When I got to that point I recognized that everything that happened to me was my fault. It wasn’t Charles, or the attorneys, or the police department.”
The call to preach the gospel
One morning, Minor fell asleep in his bunk in Marion County, when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, startling him. He jumped out bed. Checking his surroundings and finding no one, he returned to his bunk. When he woke up again he heard the words, “Will you preach the gospel?”
Initially skeptical, Minor began to pray, asking for forgiveness and to be worthy of what he felt was God’s call on his life.
After four years in prison, Minor went before the parole board, expecting release, but was told to return the following year. This setback motivated him to study more and pray saying, “I trust you, God.”
Upon release after five years, Minor met David Parker at First Baptist Church in Madisonville, Ky. He started attending church there and was mentored by Robert Cottoner of Oak Grove Missionary Baptist in Louisville. Minor began his first pastorate at First Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Ky., serving for 18 years before returning to Earlington, his home community.
When Judge Boteler ran for reelection in 1999, Minor attended one of his rallies to support and speak in favor of him. This marked the start of an ongoing friendship that deepened when Minor became a pastoral leader in Greeneville. Now, after more than 20 years, Minor no longer views himself as a criminal before a judge. Instead, he experiences friendship, love and care.
“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It matters what you do after what you’ve done.”
“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done,” he said. “It matters what you do after what you’ve done.”
In his message about that fictional conversation between Jesus and Abraham Lincoln, Judge Boteler emphasizes that reconciliation is the only way forward: “We must reject retribution. The summary of the peace process, whether in the time of Civil War or in the Israeli-Palestine conflict, is to navigate differences with great humility, believing perceived enemies can become friends.”
“I’m going to include Terrence’s story in future presentations about Lincoln and Jesus,” Boteler said, “for his journey of letting go of the desire for revenge and retribution is a perfect example of what necessary to reduce conflict and violence by moving towards peace.”