
Although prison ministries can significantly impact everyone involved, research reveals many churchgoers aren’t engaging with these ministries.
By Tobin Perry
When Tanner Devereaux was sent to prison in 2017, he felt all hope was gone. Growing up with parents battling alcoholism, he spent most of his childhood fending for himself. But prison turned out to be a turning point for Devereaux. A conversation about the gospel with another inmate led him to see his own story reflected in the book of Romans.
“For the first time, as I read in Romans, I realized that I was a sinner, He loved me, and He died for me,” Devereaux said. “Then, if I call on His name, He’ll save me. And that’s exactly what happened.”
Devereaux prayed God would always put a man in his life to mentor and disciple him. And that’s exactly what God did. One of the first of those mentors was a local volunteer, Bob Shanks, who’d been involved in prison ministry for 50 years.
“He began to pour into me through these Bible studies they’d written. There was this crucial time I got to sit down with the Word of God in prayer,” Devereaux said. “I began to wrestle with doctrine, landing where God had revealed to me through His Word what was true.”
Thanks, in part, to the mentoring of Shanks and Chaplain Aaron Davis, Devereaux is now planting a church in Omaha, Nebraska.
“Prison was my seminary,” Devereaux said. “I had the stability; I had the time, and I had the freedom. I prayed for 30 minutes at a time; I studied chapters of the Bible every day. And I was close to God.”
“Prison was my seminary. … I prayed for 30 minutes at a time; I studied chapters of the Bible every day. And I was close to God.” — Tanner Devereaux, inmate turned church planter Share on XThe critical role of lead pastors
Although prison ministries can significantly impact individuals like Devereaux, a recent Lifeway Research report reveals many churchgoers aren’t engaging with these ministries. The study indicates that while 2 in 3 churchgoers think local churches should support incarcerated individuals in their communities, just 1 in 3 are interested in themselves participating.
Only 18% of Protestant churchgoers have ministered to prisoners in person. Karen Swanson, who founded the Correctional Ministries and Chaplains Association, says her organization hopes to see local churches take the lead in fostering more involvement from lay people.
“Most prison ministry work is conducted by individuals within a church rather than as an official church ministry,” Swanson said. “Ideally, we would like to see prison ministry (individuals or formal church ministry) be part of churches’ DNA where it’s talked about and supported from the pulpit.”
Devereaux, now a pastor himself, also believes it’s critical that pastors lead in involving their churches in prison ministries.
“I understand that if you want your church to go a certain direction, you have to steer that church from the pulpit,” he said. “There are a lot of pastors who are uneducated in prison ministry. If we had more buy-in from pastors to lead their congregations into it, we would see more people involved in jail ministry.”
Building effective partnerships
Debi Sharkey, a longtime Louisiana prison chaplain who now serves as the director of chaplaincy for the state, recommends churches work alongside chaplains and peer leaders on site at prisons. Peer leaders are inmates who take on leadership roles within the Louisiana prison system. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary offers a seminary program in both the men’s and women’s prisons to help train peer leaders in Louisiana. Sharkey coordinates the seminary for the women in the state.
Sharkey says outside volunteers play an important role in providing opportunities peer leaders can’t, such as providing resources and serving as sponsors for recovery programs.
When she served as a chaplain for a specific prison, she often had to play the role of a connector when churches wanted to come in and help. Because she didn’t have slots on the calendar for new churches to come in, she’d connect them with established prison ministries and peer ministers already serving inside.
“When you are listening to what God calls you to do, it'll be a blessing in ways that you cannot even perceive.” — Kenneth Herman, retired prison chaplain Share on X“We need volunteers, and we need peer ministers,” Sharkey said. “It’s not either/or, and the best thing a church could do is be willing to partner with these peer leaders. Too many times, a church wants to come in and host a special event. But if they were willing to see the bigger picture and that we’re called to not just make disciples but to make disciple makers, [they’d be willing to partner with] these peer leaders who are making disciples.”
The power of a long-term ministry
Like many other areas of ministry, a long-term commitment is key for working in prisons. Steve Brown began serving in Southern Indiana jails and prisons as a layperson during the Gerald Ford administration. Today, the 78-year-old African American pastor can point to nearly five decades of sharing Jesus’s love with prisoners.
During the past 48 years, Brown has repeatedly seen God do the impossible in prison ministries. For example, he remembers one time when a white supremacist walked into a sermon he was delivering about forgiveness.
Standing up in the middle of the aisle, the man told Brown: “I need to see you.”
“Sir, when I get finished, I’ll come down to see you.”
When Brown met the man in the middle of the aisle, he noticed a neo-Nazi tattoo on him. Brown braced himself for what could have been a dangerous interaction.
“Why did you stay?” Brown asked.
“You said something I’d never heard before,” the man said.
With tears in eyes, the neo-Nazi described his hunger for forgiveness. In time, he would turn his life over to Christ, and Brown would disciple him. Brown still carries around a Father’s Day card the former neo-Nazi gave him, calling him his spiritual father.
“When I got saved, the Lord saved me out of something for something. He took me out of darkness into His marvelous light,” said Brown, whose ministry Behind the Prison Walls Prison and Jail Ministry not only engages men in prison but shares stories of what God is doing on local radio. “He taught me that I might teach others; He loved me that I might love others. And He shared the gospel with me that I might share the gospel with other people.”
Steve Brown, a 78-year-old African American pastor who has served in prison ministry for almost 50 years, still carries around a Father’s Day card from a former neo-Nazi, calling him his spiritual father. Share on X‘How can we help?’
Kenneth Herman, who retired last year as a Southern Baptist prison chaplain in Arizona, urges pastors who are feeling called toward prison ministry to show up with open hands.
“How can we help? That is probably one of the better approaches,” Herman said. “Each state prison system has different ways volunteers can help, and some are more flexible than others about what volunteers can do and provide. However, when an organization approaches and asks how they can help, it opens the door for the chaplain to communicate their needs.”
Then, Herman adds, the local church will get an opportunity to witness, saying something like: “Because Christ met our need, we want to meet yours.”
Herman notes that every state is different when it comes to the paperwork necessary for getting into the prison as a volunteer. He recommends churches do whatever they can to follow the rules.
“It’s a God-directed ministry that God calls and places people into,” Herman said. “Not everybody can do it, and God doesn’t call everybody to do it. But God calls us to serve in some form or fashion in His work in His Kingdom. It doesn’t have to be in prison. It could be working with the [inmate] families or letter writing. Or, if God has blessed you with the finances, finding out how to financially support the work. When you are listening to what God calls you to do, it’ll be a blessing in ways that you cannot even perceive.”
For permission to republish this article, contact Marissa Postell Sullivan.
