Antonio Gomez was stunned when members of a Seattle church he didn’t know cared for his family while he was in prison and supported him when immigration agents detained him moments after his 2022 release. Stepping so quickly from incarceration…
Prison tables and the Lord’s Table
Note: This is the second in a three-part series by Chris Caldwell about his work in Kentucky prisons. When I was preparing to teach in prisons, I thought about a lot of things: bars, windows, cells, towers and fences, to…
Author explores contradiction of evangelical support for prison ministry and tough-on-crime laws at same time
It’s hardly surprising that evangelicals have a passion for jail and prison ministries in order to bring comfort and conversion to the incarcerated, historian Aaron Griffith noted during a recent webinar hosted by the Equal Justice USA Evangelical Network. But…
The annoyance of unwanted experiences
Have you ever encountered a situation in which you were made to feel “less than” by someone? The incident may have occurred on a subway, in a restaurant, in the workplace or even at a worship service. The place where…
How second-chance hiring works for business
When I began my studies of people with criminal records as a potential workforce, I quickly learned that employment is a “necessary but not sufficient” condition. Even low-paying employment reduces recidivism by more than 20%, so a paycheck is critical…
What I learned working in a Texas prison: Retribution, not reformation
I served as a pastor for 33 years and then worked nearly six years as a counselor at the most high-profile maximum-security prison in Texas. There, I ran the mental health department, nestled in the prison infirmary, which serves all…
New book connects views on crime and punishment to faith perspectives
Donald Trump’s infamous Bible photo-op in front of a church last June was an appeal to white evangelicals’ belief that crime, punishment and faith are intertwined, author and historian Aaron Griffith said. That worldview came into even starker relief when…
Secularist group raises red flag over Baptist seminary inside Arkansas prison
A secular group opposed to excessive entanglement of church and state says a new prison seminary program set to begin this fall in Arkansas may be unconstitutional.
Churches struggle to serve those behind bars, study finds
Christ’s disciples are called to serve the least of these. But that may not include the least of those in prison and jails, a new study finds. LifeWay Research surveyed 1,000 Protestant senior pastors and found that most of them…