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Staff
photo by Doug Koontz
From
right: Inmates Steven D. Ivory, Bernard Williams Jr. and
Anthony Earlrich Clarke graduate Thursday from Covenant
Theological Seminary.
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HAGERSTOWN -- Tall and trim, Steven D. Ivory covered his
prison denim with a black satin robe and straightened the
mortarboard on his head, ready to walk down the aisle.
Ivory, 37, of Baltimore, has lived behind bars since he
was 16 on convictions of attempted murder and armed robbery.
Last week Ivory and seven fellow inmates walked into Grace
Chapel at the Maryland Correctional Training Center (MCTC)
to receive their Master of Divinity degrees.
Four-part harmony from the inmate worship team echoed in
the chapel as light came softly through its blue
stained-glass windows. The windows are the only delicate
touch in an otherwise antiseptic chapel just behind the
razor-sharp prison fence near the main gate.
On Thursday, the sanctuary held about 100 fellow inmates,
family, friends, officials, volunteers and educators, there
to celebrate the first fruits of a three-year program
designed to provide inmates an intense course of study so
they can minister to other inmates.
Unlike Ivory, who could be released at the end of the
year, many of the new divinity graduates won't be preaching
on the other side of the razor wire for many years, if ever,
said the Rev. John Bayles, a Rockville pastor who has run
the program at the correctional center since its inception
in late 2002.
"My goal there is not to go get guys out of prison," he
said. "My goal is not to prepare them to get out of prison.
My goal was to go and enhance the ministry that's there."
Anthony Earlrich Clarke, 43, of Baltimore, thanked God
for the Prison-to-Pulpit program. Clarke isn't due to be
released until 2018. He was sentenced to 20 years after
being convicted on charges of importation of narcotics -- a
stiff sentence, he said, because he was a repeat offender.
"I have two grandchildren, two daughters, two sons. This
right here (being imprisoned) is not helping them," he said.
One inmate spoke emotionally of his years in the program,
and referred to "unspeakable acts" before being imprisoned.
The Rev. Bayles sat behind him and watched family members in
tears sitting in the audience.
A better life
Covenant Theological Seminary, a Tallahassee, Fla.-based
school that has a branch in Maryland, runs the
Prison-to-Pulpit master's program, which is funded by
private donations. The program is self-directed with regular
supervision by seminary staff, who prepare plans, grade
papers, and give periodic lectures and intensive seminars
throughout the course.
Acting Warden Paul O'Flaherty said inmates deserve credit
for bettering themselves behind bars. |
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"There's a
legitimate motivation for men and women inside prison to improve
themselves," Mr. O'Flaherty said.
The Rev. Jerold Banks of Frederick, chaplain at MCTC,
told the gathering he was pleased to see good things in prison.
"Not everything is prison's gang fights, and it's
nice to see people are improving themselves," he said. "It's been a
joy seeing guys leave, finding Christ in prison and ... walking in the
light of truth."
The Rev. Banks, who oversees a church with a
membership of almost 700 of the prison's 3,000 inmates, said the
Prison-to-Pulpit program gives inmates an insight they can use to help
other inmates.
"It's clear that their pasts are pretty horrifying,"
he said. "What we have seen is that this program, in particular, adds
is the dynamic of intense study ... They see things in scripture that
they didn't see in regular Bible study. It starts the process of
transformation. They hunger more for insight."
Bernard Williams Jr., 36, of Annapolis has been
locked up for an armed robbery conviction since 1999, and will not be
released before 2008.
"I've been in and out of incarceration all my life,"
Williams said. "I don't want to come back to prison anymore. And by
knowing Jesus, I know I won't come back no more."
In his turn to speak following the awarding of his
degree, Williams said he plans to pursue ministry when he leaves
prison.
"I plan on being used by God wherever I go," he
said.
Like the other graduates, Williams has developed a
preaching style of his own, his voice reaching a crescendo as he gave
thanks and praise.
Ivory, who punctuated his remarks with animated
gestures, told the gathering a seed had been planted within him early.
"While the seed did take root, it did not
immediately produce fruit, as is evidenced by my residence," he said.
Branching out
The Rev. Bayles said the new graduates who remain at
the corrections center long enough will help teach a scripture and
theology program in the fall for more than 100 other inmates.
The majority of 30 inmates who started the master's
program three years ago, but who have not graduated, will continue
study, he said. Some have been transferred to other institutions, but
continue their independent study.
The Rev. Bayles and the Rev. Banks have received
requests to start the program at other state prisons, but the Rev.
Bayles said there aren't yet enough funds to take the program beyond
Hagerstown. So far, money has been raised through golf tournaments and
donations, but the amount is not enough to cover the seminary's total
tuition.
Bob Rough, who has volunteered at the Frederick
County Adult Detention Center for years, said he became involved in
the Prison-to-Pulpit program after one of the county jail inmates he
was working with was transferred to the state prison. Since then, he's
helped organize golf tournaments to raise money for the program.
Mark Vernarelli, director of public information for
the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said
the work of chaplains in prisons is "critically important to the
department of corrections environment."
Mr. O'Flaherty said the prison's goal isn't to
instill religion in inmates.
"The net result for these guys is that they really
have their lives changed," he said.
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