The Church Behind The Gates

In this final essay on theology from a prison standpoint, I would like to talk about the prison church, or as I referred to in the volunteer training sessions which I conducted, "The Church Behind the Gates."  The title of this essay may come as a surprise to some, as many, if not most of us, are used to thinking of the Church as in institution of society and as a place where people gather together for fellowship, study, and worship.  I will not say that these concepts about the Church are wrong, but I will say that the Church is that and more.  

In the strictest sense of the word, the Church is a gathering of people of different backgrounds and walks of life who have been transformed by the liberating message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, international, and interracial community of people who have in common their allegiance to and faith in Jesus Christ.  It is also a community that consists of people who together with Christ, commit themselves to combat systemic and structural injustice wherever it may be encountered and manifested.

During the 17 years that I served as the Protestant Chaplain at the Groveland Correctional Facility in Sonyea, New York, the concept of prison ministry (at least for the Protestant community) was changed.  Initially, the volunteers who came to conduct Bible study, and to assist in the worship services by preaching, came with the attitude that they were there to "minister to the residents."  Over a period of time, they came to accept their role in the prison ministry as a partnership with the residents, rather than seeing the residents as "targets of mission." Initially, the residents were recipients of the ministry of the chaplains and the volunteers.  By the time I retired in 2009, they were considered fellow-workers.

In the last five years before my retirement, a program of theological studies was carried out in conjunction with Jesus the Liberator Seminary. This seminary was a Buffalo, New York-based organization that had a program where students would complete courses in biblical studies, church history, ministry, and theology.  This was a correspondence program that residents would complete independently.  The Groveland Correctional Facility served as the first prison to have an "on site" program, where several residents who had degrees in religious studies and in other areas, would together with me, teach the courses of the program.  Those who completed the ten courses would receive a Certificate in Theology and would be able to use the courses as partial credit towards an undergraduate degree with Empire State College, and independent studies program of the State University of New York.  One of the resident instructors had received a Master of Professional Studies degree from the New York Theological Seminary through a program that they conducted at the Ossining (Sing Sing) Correctional Facility.  Upon his parole two years later, he founded a church in Auburn, New York.

Some of the volunteers who came in to the prison with an attitude of paternalism and moral superiority, withdrew their services because they could not stand the idea that these residents were on an equal footing with them in terms of ministry.  They came in with the notion that they were coming to "bring Christ" to the prisoners.  When they realized that Christ was already there in the lives and ministry of the residents, it became challenging and difficult for them to continue coming.

Other volunteers gladly accepted the new structure.  They saw the residential leaders not as people who needed Christ, but as people who had already been transformed by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out the ministry of Jesus Christ in that environment.  When they witnessed and participated in the celebration of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, they came to realize that the Church of Jesus Christ is not geographically or physically bound to any one location, but exists "wherever two or three are gathered in Christ's name."  They also came to acknowledge the "Church Behind the Gates" as being an integral part of the world-wide Body of Christ where "the word is duly proclaimed, and the Sacraments duly celebrated."

One day before my retirement, the resident elders of the prison church and I gathered together in a special meeting to "dissolve" the pastoral relationship between the congregation and me. One of the resident elders, who possessed an undergraduate degree in Religious Studies from Syracuse University was commissioned as a resident pastor.  He continued to serve in that role with the new Protestant Chaplain until the day of his parole.

I will not say that this model of governance is the perfect model for the prison church.  I would, however, state, that if nothing else, there is an indication that there is a vibrant community of faith behind the gates.  Liberation Theology, which I alluded to in the previous essay, is the model which this church utilizes in its governance and ministry.  The prison church continues to live on in the midst of "fire, dungeon, and sword."  To God be the glory!

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Juan A. Carmona

Visiting Professor of Theology

Tainan Theological College/Seminary