The Local Church in the Local Jail: A Discipling Ministry from the Inside Out

By Dr. Ray Mitchell

Every county in every state has two buildings in common: a church and a county jail. Inside every jail are individuals who will eventually be released. Some will want to make a successful re-entry back into society. Meanwhile, in churches are individuals who may be interested in reaching those in jail with the Good News of Jesus Christ and helping them succeed at re-entry and growth in the Christian life. How will an inmate's desire to change and the church's desire to help an inmate change become a reality? How does a church begin the process of discipleship? The Local Church in the Local Jail provides a simple and biblical model designed to equip any person with the "how-to" of jail discipleship. Writing from the perspective of a pastor and a jail chaplain, Dr. Mitchell has the pulse of what the church needs for a powerfully effective discipling ministry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449739997

Dr. Ray Mitchell

Dr. Ray Mitchell, DMin, has been in the pastoral ministry since 1995 and active in jail ministry for more than ten years. He has served as the lead chaplain of the Chautauqua County Jail (New York) since 2005. One of the greatest concerns that Dr. Mitchell has is that more than 80 percent of men and women released from county jails will fail to have a successful re-entry into society and will return to jail. His desire was to write a book in simple laymen's terms in order that churches seeking to be involved in jail ministry might have a resource to use as an effective ministry tool. Dr. Mitchell is also the director of IN-STEP Ministries, a counseling and consulting ministry specializing in jail ministry, anger management, and biblical counseling centered upon cognitive renewal. He and his wife, Lisa, live and minister in western New York; they have been married for more than twenty-seven years and have three grown children and two grandchildren.

Book preview

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Section I

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Section II

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Bibliography

Notes

Preface

I have spent time in jail for the past several years. Before you get the wrong idea, let me explain. In June of 2000, just after arriving at First Baptist Church in Mayville, New York, I paid a visit to the chaplain at the county jail. As a new pastor in the community and being only a block from my church, I simply wanted to find out if there were any needs that I might be able to help out with at the local jail.

The chaplain at the time asked me if I would like to lead the weekly men’s Bible study because the current leader was retiring. I accepted his invitation, and for several years, I had the privilege of leading this study and teaching God’s Word to many men who voluntarily chose to sign up for the weekly studies. Currently, I am serving in the ministry of Lead Chaplain at the same jail, and in that role, I continue to strive to meet the spiritual needs of the men and women that are incarcerated. Whether their time in jail is short or extended, whether they are first-time or repeat offenders, and whether or not they have any religious background, has no bearing on our desire to minister to the spiritual needs of any inmate.

As chaplain at the jail, there are three words that best explain the dynamic of a weekly men’s Bible study—and the other ministries that takes place in a county jail: transient, access, and recidivism.

By transient, I mean that the jail population is continually changing, and from week to week, it is hard to know who will return to the Bible study or other support groups offered due to either being released or sent to another jail or prison. This makes it extremely challenging to have any long-term ministry with any of the men. The weekly study, while not rising to the level of discipleship in the classic sense of the word, is an opportunity to teach the truth of God’s Word while at the same time seeking to make it relevant through personal application into the lives of the men. The best that is hoped for in this type of environment is that the Seed sown through the teaching of God’s Word will fall upon fertile ground in the hearts of each of the men. Also, that they will begin to live out the truths learned while incarcerated and that spiritual habits will have begun to take shape before they are released back into society.

The second word that describes the dynamic of the jail is access, meaning that because the jail is considered medium-to-maximum security facility, access is very limited in a number of ways. As a chaplain at the jail, my access to the men is limited to the weekly Bible studies and Sunday services (for those that are interested). It is also possible to interact with the men during the regular block walks and one-half hour one-on-one counseling appointments when requested by an inmate. Limited access in a correctional facility coupled with the transient nature of the population means that while Bible studies are possible, the dynamic of a personal discipling relationship is difficult.

Limited access also means that the inmates experience this as well. These men are removed from the environment that fueled their lusts and made them vulnerable to temptation, and to ultimately breaking the law. Being incarcerated at the county jail, there is the absence of the obvious: tobacco, drugs, alcohol, women and other temptations. Without availability and opportunity, there is not going to be the same quantitative battle against the flesh in the lives of these men concerning these vices. The result of such limited access is a good one. These men are, temporarily, living free from their addictions. Of course, there is no guarantee that most will not return to their previous lifestyle when availability and opportunity is theirs once again, but for many, their time in jail allows us to reach them when normally we could not.

An important factor to understand concerning those that are incarcerated is that it is the environment of these men that has changed, not necessarily the heart. This leads to the rather obvious: the issues of the heart are still present in these men’s lives. If there is going to be hope for change in lifestyle, the heart needs to be changed first. This change takes place through the redemptive work of Christ, through the power of the Gospel, and through personal commitments to make the needed changes.

The weekly Bible studies and religious services are beneficial and foundational for the men to understand how they might know true change. Both learning and obeying, the truths of the Word is what they hear are essential to making positive change. But no access means those areas of life that might be addressed through the accountability of a discipleship program may not be fully dealt with. All too often, when the men are released—even those who attend Bible studies and religious services—fall right back into the old patterns of living.

I am not advocating access to drugs and alcohol in jail in order for men to deal with their addictions. Yet what I have begun to realize over the course of time while ministering to the incarcerated is that when these men are released and access is once again theirs, local churches must also be accessible to provide spiritual accountability to any man that is looking for help. Sadly, the majority of men that are incarcerated will not seek out a church to attend upon release. Sadder still is that the same majority is very likely to accept help from a church if such were offered by a church or a pastor. Limited access to discipleship in jail for men who want to change through Christ is a real challenge, but it is a greater problem if a discipleship ministry is not accessible to them through the church.

The third word that helps to describe the dynamic of ministry in a jail is recidivism, or the return of ex-offenders to jail because of variable factors including violating parole, committing another crime, or not meeting the conditions of their probation. This leads many of the corrections officers at the jail to view the religious activity offered through the chaplain’s office with a healthy level of skepticism. They see the inmates being having little more than jail house religion. The reason for skepticism is not concerning the chaplain’s ministry, but due to the men who become involved with the religious opportunities at the jail. There is a high rate of recidivism or a habitual return to crime and, ultimately, a return to jail. Even among those men who attend the weekly Bible study, failure is prevalent, and to see men return for a second or third period of incarceration is very common.

Why do these men who attend Bible studies, who know the Word (some very well), who strongly desire not to return to jail, fail? I believe one of the biggest contributing factors is the lack of accountability to remain faithful in spiritual disciplines, and subsequently the pull of the old lifestyle becomes stronger than the desire to stay out. The lifestyle that is forced upon an individual in a controlled environment, that may include habits being broken, does not mean freedom from those habits is permanent. A return to destructive habits might happen when the power of freedom is once again realized. It is for this reason that I stress to the men the importance of finding a church to attend that teaches the Bible and has a pastor to whom they can make themselves accountable.

Without accountability, the truth that Jesus spoke to his disciples becomes a painful reality in the lives of these men. Watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). So for those who fall to the temptations of the flesh, they return to jail and to the Bible studies (the skeptics’ jail house religion), hoping to return home again without repeating the same mistakes. We at in the chaplaincy ministry welcome the men back to the studies and other religious opportunities, hoping and praying that eventually true spiritual victory might be experienced in each of their lives.

But the environment of the jail as well as the transiency of the population limits the opportunities for true discipling and effective follow-up. As true as this statement is, it does not mean that there are not those men who serve their time, are released from jail, and never return. Not too long ago, a man called out to me from across a parking lot. I did not recognize him, but he knew me from the weekly Bible studies at the jail. In the course of our brief conversation, he told me that he had been out of jail for a few months and was doing well. He was actively involved in a church, was working, and was reunited with his family. He is one of the individuals who followed my advice and found a church to attend and a pastor who was willing to help him grow increasingly in his Christian life. We went our separate ways, but before we did, this young man told me, Not to give up going to the jail and teaching God’s Word. It makes a difference in the lives of the men who attend the weekly studies and allow the Word to get into their hearts.

The presence of a chaplain’s office in a jail is critical to provide hope, acceptance, love, and forgiveness through Jesus Christ to the men who are incarcerated. The weekly Bible studies and religious services are necessary for the men to learn God’s Word. But the chaplain’s office is not the church; it is more of a para-church ministry to expose men to the importance of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration through Jesus. It is for this reason that importance of the local church’s ministry of making disciples becomes more and more strategic, especially in the area of helping men who want to stay out of jail and who want to live their lives pleasing to the Lord.

It is with this understanding of the important role that churches, pastors, and spiritually mature laypersons can play in discipling the formerly incarcerated that I desire to produce a discipling tool to be utilized in local churches. We may not think of this fact too often, but according to the National Institute of Corrections, ninety-seven percent of the 1.4 million inmates will at some time be released from prison. When these men and women are released back into society—many with no supervision or accountability—they move into neighborhoods and some just might look for a church to worship together with God’s people. Some of these individuals just might want a pastor to hold them accountable to continue to follow what they learned through a jail’s Bible study or religious services. Some might find a pastor who does not feel equipped to step into the role of a discipler. This should not be the case. But in all honesty, had I not become involved in the chaplain’s ministry at the jail and gained some experience over the past years, I would not be as equipped as I now am to disciple men who have lived a part of their life behind bars.

It is my hope that the pages that follow will be able to provide the how to for those pastors who want to help the formerly incarcerated live as followers of Jesus Christ. What may be missing from the mindset of those in local churches is that Jesus’ command to make disciples includes the fallen from society who are seeking their place, not only in a community, but also a community of faith.

Acknowledgements

It may seem strange to acknowledge first and foremost my wife, Lisa, and our three children, Felicia, Katie, and Tim, when writing a book focusing on a practical approach to ministry and discipleship in a local jail. But had it not been for us obeying the leading of the Lord Jesus Christ and moving as a family to Mayville, New York in June of 2000, this door of ministry opportunity would have never opened. Before accepting the call to Mayville First Baptist Church, the Lord confirmed our decision with this verse: I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it Revelation 3:8. Now I know that this is not a typical verse that one might read as a confirmation concerning ministry, but the day that I read it, we knew that God was leading us to Mayville.

While our thoughts were on the open doors at our new church, the Lord had additional open doors for us to walk through, including one at the jail. This became evident while getting settled into the ministry of First Baptist Church. A simple inquiry at the jail opened this door of working as the Jail Chaplain. My wife will tell you that it was unsettling for her to think of me going weekly—and now daily—into a jail setting, but she also knew the Lord had given me the ministry and would watch over me.

My primary call was to pastor the people of First Baptist Church, which has been my joy over these years. I also want to acknowledge them, because without their support and understanding, I would not have this important ministry at the jail. Our church family has always been ministry minded and view the hours spent at the jail during the week as an extension of the ministry of First Baptist Church. The jail is not only under the shadow of our steeple; it is also viewed as an opportunity for outreach