by Steve | Jun 30, 2023 | In the News, Perspective / News
The Best and Worst of Disaffiliation —
By Thomas Lambrecht —
As we reach the end of the regular annual conference season, the prospect of over 20 percent of United Methodist congregations disaffiliating from the denomination has aroused varying responses, from highly positive and gracious to extremely negative and punitive.
Most annual conferences experienced a relatively low-drama vote on congregations disaffiliating. As far as I know, no additional churches that voted to disaffiliate have been blocked. My own bishop in Wisconsin, Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, took care to create an atmosphere of grace and caring for one another that minimized conflict. The only difficulty came when lay members asked what could be done with the fact that they had not known about the option to disaffiliate until the deadline to start the process had passed. The answer was that, unfortunately, those churches would be unable to pursue disaffiliation at this time.
In other conferences, emotions were more raw. Several annual conferences made changes to their retirement health plans to prevent retired clergy who leave the denomination from participating in retiree health benefits. Some have wondered whether these benefits are earned benefits under federal law that cannot be taken away. In any event, it struck many as a punitive move that lacked grace. The Alabama-West Florida Conference tightened the qualifications for disaffiliation that some observers felt “put a nail in the coffin” for churches still wanting to disaffiliate. A newly-elected delegate to General Conference is quoted as saying in an email, “The days of mass and easy disaffiliation, under false pretenses, are over.” With fewer traditionalist members in most annual conferences, the trend is to become stricter and more punitive in some places.
Nordic-Baltic-Ukraine Area Bishop Christian Alsted, left, and the Rev. Robert Tserenkov, Estonia District superintendent, sign an agreement of mutual recognition between the Northern Europe and Eurasia Central Conference and the Estonia Methodist Church. The 23 United Methodist churches in Estonia are leaving to form the Estonia Methodist Church, which Tserenkov will lead alongside an elected council until the new denomination elects a bishop. Photo courtesy of Bishop Christian Alsted via UM News Service.
The Northern European Example
Contrast that with what happened in the Northern Europe and Eurasia Central Conference. According to a UM News story, in March this year, the conference approved a special process that would allow the local churches in Estonia to exit the denomination this year. The UM Church in Estonia is a district of 23 churches and about 1,500 members. They voted last year to seek disaffiliation from the UM Church due to “deep concerns with the direction they see the denomination heading with regards to homosexuality.”
Annual conferences outside the U.S. can withdraw from the denomination to become an autonomous Methodist church. Such a process, however, takes several years and requires General Conference action to approve it. That is the direction currently being taken by the four annual conferences in Russia and Eurasia, who have also asked to disaffiliate.
However, there is no provision in the Discipline for individual churches or a district outside the U.S. to disaffiliate. The Council of Bishops has taken the position that Par. 2553 allowing individual churches to disaffiliate does not apply outside the U.S.
Reportedly, “under Estonian civil law, the church in Estonia could simply leave with property, [Bishop Christian] Alsted said. But Estonian church members wanted to leave ‘in a peaceful and respectful manner.’”
Accordingly, the Northern Europe and Eurasia Central Conference used its power under the Discipline to “adapt” provisions to its local context to provide a process allowing the Estonian churches to disaffiliate. The process adopted required a two-thirds vote by each Estonian congregation, with at least 30 percent of a church’s professing members present for the vote. It also required the church to be current in apportionment payments but added no costs to that amount.
Bishop Alsted’s attitude toward this process has been gracious and affirming. He is quoted as saying, “Personally, the disaffiliation grieves my heart – I find it unnecessary, and I believe it is a loss to the Methodists in Estonia as well as to the entire UMC. Nevertheless, I respect and honor the decision made by the Estonia Methodist Church, and I stand with my commitment to help all annual conferences, districts and local churches in the Nordic, Baltic, and Ukraine episcopal area to live into a future where they believe they can serve with integrity.”
The bishop’s actions meshed with his words, resulting in a sober, but constructive engagement in the process. Because of the gracious and respectful spirit expressed by all parties to this process, the Estonian Methodists were willing to sign an agreement of mutual recognition between themselves and The UM Church. The agreement states, “Each recognizes in one another that they are constituent members of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church as expressed in the Scriptures, confessed in the Church’s historic creeds, and attested to in our common doctrinal standards.” Reportedly, “the agreement also commits the central conference and [the Estonian Methodist Church] to collaborate wherever possible in mission and ministry and to welcome each other’s members.”
The point here is that Bishop Alsted and the conference leaders did everything they could to make the process respectful and to honor the desires of the Estonian churches. In June, the Estonian district voted by 97 percent to affirm the 23 churches’ decisions to disaffiliate. The Estonian Methodist Church will be an independent church on July 1.
Church Closure and Lawsuit in North Carolina
At the other extreme of graciousness (or lack thereof), Bishop Connie Shelton of the North Carolina Conference handled one church’s request for disaffiliation much differently. The Fifth Avenue UMC of Wilmington formally requested to have a vote on disaffiliation in February of this year, asking the district superintendent to call a charge conference as required by Par. 2553.
The district superintendent informed the congregation that there would be an “informational meeting” on March 26 regarding disaffiliation. When parishioners arrived for the meeting, the bishop and district superintendent informed them that the conference had declared “exigent circumstances” and closed the church, effective March 24, two days before the “informational meeting.” There was no consultation with the church’s members or pastor, and the church was given no recourse. The next day, the conference changed the locks on the church, excluding the members from the building and preventing them from conducting any church activities.
The conference gave two reasons for closing the church:
- The “recent” decline in membership and missional activity of the church, which had 205 members and a weekly attendance of about 20.
- The fact that the congregation initiated the process for disaffiliation.
In their resolution of closure, the conference indicated an interest in using the facility to provide for “the basic needs of unsheltered persons, a gathering space for senior adults and persons with disabilities, space for providing shelter and other assistance following major storms, and a welcoming space for worship and study for one or more new United Methodist faith communities.” It is unknown at this time whether there are any concrete plans or funding in place to implement any of these ministries.
The congregation notes that its attendance fluctuated between 20 and 33 since 2017. (Many churches have experienced a dramatic decline in attendance because of the pandemic shutdown, as well.) The church was keeping up with paying its bills and had enough money in the bank to pay for its disaffiliation expenses. According to published UM data, Fifth Avenue’s 20 worship attendance was higher than 235 of the annual conference’s 785 churches, yet only Fifth Avenue was targeted for closure.
It appears that Bishop Shelton and the North Carolina Conference trustees, district superintendents, and board of building and location were reluctant to see Fifth Avenue’s property leave the denomination and determined to take it over, rather than allow the church to disaffiliate. This is an example of the very top-down, heavy-handed leadership style that prioritizes conference goals and minimizes the self-determination of the local church. The disregard for the faithful, historic congregation, in ministry for 176 years since 1847, is stunning. Their church was closed and taken from them without their knowledge and without any consultation or input from the congregation. There was not even the chance for a closing ceremony or worship service.
The way this was handled displays a marked lack of grace, respect, or honoring of a congregation’s wishes. It is the exact opposite of how the Nordic-Baltic-Ukraine Conference and Bishop Alsted handled their situation. Of course, one big difference in the circumstances is that civil law allowed the Estonian churches to disaffiliate with or without UM approval. North Carolina civil law may or may not redress the injustice done to Fifth Avenue Church. The congregation has just filed suit in North Carolina alleging breach of contract, broken promise, fraud, and collusion. (The facts cited above come from the legal complaint filed by the congregation.)
The disaffiliation process has shown the true colors of people on all sides of the spectrum. Some on all sides of the spectrum have responded with Christlike patience, grace, and respect. On the other hand, some traditionalists have behaved badly and made unsubstantiated or exaggerated claims. Some on both sides have followed deceptive or underhanded strategies. Some centrists and progressives have done all they can to block congregations from disaffiliating, disregarding the wishes of congregants. This has not been Methodism’s finest hour.
It must be remembered that all of this could have been avoided, had the signatories to the Protocol maintained their promised support, and had the General Conference been held in 2022 as envisioned. The amicable separation plan embodied in the Protocol would have allowed a uniform process giving all churches and annual conferences the ability to make conscientious decisions about where they might be most fruitful in ministry. Tens of millions of dollars would have been saved to spend on ministry, rather than squirreled away in a potentially unnecessary pension fund. Dozens of lawsuits would have been avoided. Respect could have been maintained between the UM Church and disaffiliating congregations that could have allowed mutual recognition and potential continuing partnership in ministry.
It must also be reiterated that the denomination holds most of the cards. Local churches are at the mercy of the bishop and annual conference leaders. Those leaders can choose to act graciously and honorably, like Bishop Alsted did – and some have. Or they can choose to act punitively and arrogantly, like the leaders in North Carolina – and some have. As the above examples show, where there is a will, people can usually find a way, whether it is a way to be gracious or a way to be punitive.
Leaders can use their power to build up or tear down. Unfortunately, quite a few U.S. church leaders have used their power to tear down. And the cause of Christ is the worse for it.
Thomas Lambrecht is a United Methodist clergyperson and vice president of Good News.
by Steve | Jun 28, 2023 | Home Page Hero Slider, In the News
John Wesley Birthday Reader —
John Wesley’s birthday is a bit unusual. While the great evangelist and founder of Methodism was born on June 17, 1703, according to the Julian Calendar in use at the time. Midway through his life (in 1752), however, Britain shifted to the Gregorian Calendar, adding 11 days. From 1752 and for the rest of his life, Wesley celebrated his birthday on June 28th.
In recognition of the special celebration within Methodism, we draw your attention to a few of our favorites from the archives.
• Jason Vickers – “Don’t Take My Word for It, Read Wesley Yourself.”
“Over the last half century or so, scholars have written dozens of new books about John Wesley. There is now vast secondary literature on virtually every aspect of the founder of Methodism’s life and thought. And there is no shortage of disagreement over how to interpret Wesley. After all, that’s how we scholars make our living. We critique and challenge prevailing views in the name of complexity and nuance. Intentionally or not, this can give the impression that Wesley himself must be difficult to read. Some people might even be tempted to forego reading Wesley in favor of one of the new scholarly books about Wesley.
“An additional factor that can discourage people from reading Wesley for themselves is the simple fact that Wesley wrote a lot, including letters and diaries, occasional treatises, edited volumes, commentaries or ‘notes’ on the Bible, and sermons. With so much material at hand, it can be hard to know where to begin. The good news is that Wesley intended the overwhelming majority of what he wrote for the theological and spiritual edification of the people called Methodists. To be sure, he occasionally had other motives for writing, but his main concern was to develop and publish materials that would help people come to know God more truly and to love God and neighbor more fully each day. He wrote to educate, challenge, encourage, and inspire his readers in their journey with God and with one another. With this in mind, one could almost start reading anywhere.”
• John Singleton – “Wesley Finds His Place In History”
“After returning to London, he attended various Moravian meetings, and during one of these, on May 24, 1738, he had a conversion experience. “I felt my heart strangely warmed,” he wrote. “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” He was then 35 years old. The experience had such an effect on him that he devoted the rest of his long life to bringing the same message of salvation to others.”
• David F. Watson – “What Does it Mean to be a Wesleyan Christian”
“In other words, we need to recommit ourselves to some of the core beliefs and practices that characterized early Methodism. For Wesley and his followers, the Methodist movement involved a commitment to holiness lived out in several ways. Holiness was rooted in Scripture. It was lived out in community. It was facilitated by the means of grace, and it was expressed in solidarity with the poor.”
• Winfield Bevins – “Lessons from the Wesleyan Revival”
By the time of John Wesley’s death in 1791, Methodism was an international church movement with more than 70,000 members in England and more than 40,000 in the new United States, with even more among the mission stations scattered around the world. The seeds of the Methodist movement would continue to grow and spread well beyond Wesley’s lifetime. Just a few years after his death, Methodism in North America had grown to 200,000, with more than 4,000 Methodist preachers. By 1830, official membership in the Methodist Church had reached almost half a million people, and attenders numbered six million. From 1880 to 1905, American Methodism planted more than seven hundred churches per year on average.
• Kenneth C. Kinghorn – “Wesleyan Family Tree”
“John Wesley invented no new theological doctrines. “Whatever doctrine is new must be wrong,” he wrote, “and no doctrine can be right, unless it is the very same ‘which was from the beginning.’” Mr. Wesley said, “If Methodism…be a new discovery in religion…this [notion] is a grievous mistake; we pretend no such thing.” Far from being narrowly sectarian, John Wesley was a catholic Christian. He stood firmly in the mainstream of historic Christianity, and drew from many of the tributaries that fed into it.”
• James V. Heidinger II – John Wesley and United Methodist renewal
“At the time of the birth of Methodism, eighteenth century England was in a period of both spiritual and moral decline. John Wesley was preaching at a time that observers would consider Anglicanism’s “glacial” era – cold, stiff, and uninviting. Poet Laureate Robert Southey went so far as to say, ‘There never was less religious feeling either within the Establishment, or without, than when Wesley blew his trumpet and awakened those who slept.'”
• David F. Watson – “The Wesleyan Way to Read Scripture”
“For Wesley, the way in which the church had interpreted a passage of Scripture through the centuries was in large part determinative of that passage’s meaning. In other words, the church’s consensus helped to establish the plain sense of the text. Reading the Bible was not simply an individual undertaking. It was an ecclesiastical undertaking. In fact, without the guidance of the church, it was not possible to understanding the Bible correctly. For Wesley the Bible had one purpose: to lead us into salvation, and therefore reading it apart from the church’s theology of salvation would be futile.”
Photo: Bust of John Wesley by Enoch Wood. The piece was once on display at the World Methodist Museum at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. Photo by Steve Beard.
by Steve | Jun 28, 2023 | In the News, Perspective / News
Freedom Fugitives —
By Shannon Vowell
I write on June 19th or “Juneteenth,” the newest federal holiday.
Juneteenth commemorates the day – June 19, 1865 – when news of Union victory and universal emancipation finally reached Galveston, Texas, by way of Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and 1,800 federal troops.
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was, at this point, two and half years old. The Civil War had been over nearly two months; emancipation had been the law of the whole land since April.
But it was news to the enslaved persons of Galveston.
The whole world had changed – their whole world had been liberated – and they had had no idea.
Contemplate that a moment, if you will: People whose entire lives had been held hostage to a demonic lie – that they were less than people, that they could be “owned” by people, that there was no hope of escape – remained hostage to that lie even after it had been repudiated at the cost of 620,000 war dead (including one assassinated President).
Freedom had been hard fought and hard won, at astronomical costs in blood and tears… but they had persisted, week after week, in slavery.
It strikes me that there is a corollary to this tragic paradox in Christianity today.
People whose entire lives are held hostage to various demonic lies – that they are less than other people, that they can be “owned” by their own appetites and emotions, that there is no hope of escape – remain hostage to those lies even though they were repudiated at the cost of the crucified Messiah.
Freedom has been hard fought and hard won, at astronomical costs in blood and tears… but some persist, week after week, in slavery.
Jesus’s words, “it is finished,” were the Emancipation Proclamation for the whole of humanity.
Jesus’s resurrection was the decisive victory on behalf of all of humankind.
But many – too many – live like the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, lived between April 9, 1865 (the end of the Civil War) and June 19, 1865 (the arrival of the news of that ending):
Our absolute freedom has been won; it is the law of the universe. Our shackles and our despair are completely out of alignment with reality. But we live like we have no idea.
News travelled slowly in 1865. Long distance travel, particularly in the west and the deep south, was dangerous for all kinds of reasons – including lack of water, wild animals, and hostile people armed with effective weaponry.
But Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his 1,800 federal troops made the long, hot, dry, hazardous trip to Galveston because the news that they carried was a matter of transcendent importance and urgent application.
They brought truth that literally set people free! Such truth made the challenges of bringing it look negligible by comparison.
That, too, has a Christian corollary: Are those of us who understand we are free willing to face the challenges of bringing that good news to those who are still under the impression they are enslaved?
What challenges do we face, friends?
Mockery, perhaps.
Hostile people armed with effectively weaponized words.
But we have the Living Water – and we have the full armor of God! How can we falter, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his 1,800 federal troops did not?
Many of us are familiar with the story of Japanese Lieutenant Hiroo Onada.
He was stationed on the island of Lubang during the final months of World War II. After evading capture by American troops, he remained in hiding in the jungle – determined to hold the island for the Emperor, as ordered, and convinced that the war was still in process – for thirty years.
Thirty years.
Declared dead in 1959, Onada finally returned to Japan in 1974. He received a hero’s welcome and was eulogized as recently as 2021 (in the film Onada: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle).
My guess is that he would trade all the attention and acclaim to get back even a few of those precious years wasted in the jungle.
Several Christian corollaries here, too, intricately entangled with the Juneteenth truths:
- Can Christians inadvertently engage in wars that are already won?
- Can we mistakenly hunker down in jungles, pouring out our lives in defending territory that doesn’t matter a bit to our King?
- Can we operate under such anachronistic assumptions that even our noblest sacrifices amount to, well, a waste of time?
I think we can. I think sometimes we do. And I think the single biggest reason that Onada stayed stuck as long as he did is also the single biggest reason that we stay stuck as long as we sometimes do: isolation.
Onada was all by himself in the jungle. There were no voices besides his own to offer alternative perspectives or to argue from a different logical vantage point. A monologue rarely reveals new insights.
One conversation with his Emperor – a few words! – and Onada would have caught up with reality and been free to go live his life pursuing purposes that actually mattered. In the absence of that one conversation, thirty years wasted, off task.
We Christians can achieve similar effects by isolating ourselves – in person, online – so that the only voices we ever encounter are those whose perspectives and logical vantage points mirror our own. Like monologues, echo chambers tend inexorably toward exaggeration and obsolescence.
One conversation with King Jesus – a few words! – and we can catch up with reality and be freed to go live life pursuing purposes that actually matter. In the absence of such conversation, we cannot help but waste our time and substance, off task.
Onada had no idea the war was over. The whole world had changed, and he had had no idea.
The enslaved people of Galveston had no idea that they were free. The whole world had changed, and they had had no idea.
What about us?
Do we understand that we are free? Do we live as free people – demonstrating and declaring the goodness of the One Who purchased our freedom?
Do we understand that the war is won? Do we fight the good fight in that knowledge?
Juneteenth matters so much.
It matters because it’s an opportunity to celebrate the principles of freedom and justice for all, which this nation continues to strive to perfect.
It matters because it’s history – and we have to remember accurately who we have been, if we are going to vision effectively who we want to become.
It also matters because it points beyond American freedom, to the freedom Christ purchased once, for all, on the Cross.
We have heard the unbelievably good news: we are free!
Let’s live into our freedom, share the news of that freedom with everyone else, and stay in constant contact with our King, so that we can align all our efforts with His orders.
Praise God for Juneteenth!
And praise God for the freedom that lasts beyond any and all holidays and transcends any and all borders…
Freedom for now. Freedom forever. Praise God!
Shannon Vowell, a frequent contributor to Good News, blogs at shannonvowell.com. She is the author of Beginning … Again: Discovering and Delighting in God’s Plan for your Future, available on Amazon.
by Steve | Jun 26, 2023 | In the News
Good News Archive: Methodist Heritage: Peter Cartwright (1785-1872) —
By Edmund Robb III
Good News, March-April 1976
In the fall of 1818, Peter Cartwright was invited by one of the prominent Presbyterian pastors of Nashville to preach in his church on Monday evening. As usual, a great crowd of people gathered to hear the famous frontier Methodist preacher.
Cartwright’s sermon text that night was, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”
As Cartwright was reading his text, General Andrew Jackson walked up the aisle to the middle post and gracefully leaned against it. There were no vacant seats.
“Just then,” Cartwright recalled, “I felt someone pull my coat, and turning my head, my fastidious preacher – whispering a little loud – said, ‘General Jackson has come in! General Jackson has come in.’
“I said, “Who is General Jackson? If he don’t get his soul converted, God will damn his soul as quick as He will a Guinea [slave].’“
The host preacher was, needless to say, highly embarrassed. He tucked his head down low and would have been thankful for leave of absence. But the congregation – General Jackson and all, burst out laughing.
The next day General Jackson met the Methodist preacher and said, “Mr. Cartwright, you are a man after my own heart … I highly approve of your independence. A minister of Jesus Christ ought to love everybody, and fear no mortal man … If I had a few thousand such independent, fearless officers as you were, and a well-drilled army, I could take old England.”
Andrew Jackson had sized up Peter Cartwright correctly: He was fearless and he was independent. In this respect he was right for the times.
Our nation, our church, and Peter Cartwright grew up together. In 1783, the treaty was signed in Paris recognizing the United States of America’s independence. In 1784, the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Baltimore. In 1785, Peter Cartwright was born in Amherst County, Virginia.
The times were marvelously favorable for the nation, the Church, and the boy. The principles of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” which in Europe were beginning to assert themselves in the mad struggles of the French Revolution, were in America established upon a firm basis of a constitutional democracy.
For the infant Church, also, the times were auspicious. The Methodists, with their missionary spirit and matchless organization, were superbly fitted to meet the needs of those pioneer days – to carry the Gospel message into the remotest hamlets, and to organize the scattered converts into the disciplined life of Christ. And for the boy, born into a home of poverty and hardship, grappling from early childhood with problems of frontier life, these, too, were times of promising hope.
While Peter was growing up, there were two strong influences contending for him. One was his father, who was not a Christian. The other was his Christian mother.
Peter’s father gave him a race horse and a pack of cards and encouraged him into a wild life. “I was naturally a wild, wicked boy,” Cartwright later wrote, “and delighted in horse-racing, card-playing, and dancing. My mother remonstrated almost daily with me, and I had to keep my cards hid from her; for if she could have found them, she would have burned them ….”
In the end, it was his mother’s saintly influence which prevailed. In the spring of 1802, Peter Cartwright “found peace with God.” That same year he received a license “to exercise his gifts as an Exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal Church, so long as his practice is agreeable to the Gospel.”
Speaking of his call to preach, Cartwright later wrote, “If I had been seeking for money I would not have traveled, for I knew that I could have made more money splitting rails than I could traveling a circuit when I started. It was not honor, there was no honor about it. It was to fulfill my own convictions of duty.”
Peter Cartwright rose to fame as a campmeeting preacher. Both Methodists and Presbyterians held campmeetings in those days. They were, in fact, the great events of the entire year. Thousands of people from miles around would gather. Ten, twenty and sometimes thirty ministers of different denominations would come together and preach – night and day. At times these meetings lasted three or four weeks.
Amid such scenes as this Peter Cartwright, as a preacher, was almost without a peer. He had a clear, strong bass voice which he seldom strained even in times of strongest emotion. He could sing, preach, and pray day and night for an entire week. His own soul kindled with the flame of his message, and sinners often fell before him like soldiers slain in battle.
Here is a description of a scene which followed his preaching one Sunday morning: “Just as I was closing up my sermon, and pressing it with all the force I could command, the power of God suddenly was displayed, and sinners fell by scores through all the assembly. We had no need of a mourners’ bench. It was supposed that several hundred fell in five minutes; sinners turned pale; some ran into the woods; some tried to get away and fell in the attempt; some shouted aloud for joy.”
At times strange physical manifestations and self-delusions and even impostures were associated with the revival meetings. Cartwright gives us a quaint description of a violent affliction known as “the jerks,” which at times would sweep through a congregation.
He says: “A new exercise broke out among us, called ‘the jerks,’ which was overwhelming in its effects upon the bodies and the minds of the people. No matter whether they were saints or sinners, they would be taken under a warm song or sermon and seized with a convulsive jerking all over, which they could not by any possibility avoid. The more they resisted the more they jerked … I have seen more than 500 persons jerking at one time in my large congregations. Most usually persons taken with the jerks, to obtain relief, as they said, would rise up and dance. Some would run but could not get away. Some would resist; on such the jerks were usually very severe.”
Cartwright was a thundering preacher, whose bluntness and fervor suited him ideally for the frontier where the pulpit was often a stump, or a rude log platform in a clearing, or even a dance floor!
One Saturday night he stopped to eat at a frontier inn. A fiddler started playing, and a beautiful young woman walked up and asked Cartwright to dance not recognizing him as the preacher who thundered against dancing.
But Cartwright calmly took her hand and walked to the middle of the dance floor. Recalls Cartwright, “I then spoke to the fiddler to hold a moment and added that for several years I had not undertaken any matter of importance without first asking the blessing of God upon it. … Here I grasped the young lady’s hand tightly and said, ‘let us kneel down and pray’ and instantly dropped on my knees and commenced praying ….
“The young lady tried to get loose … but presently she fell on her knees. Some of the company kneeled, some stood, some sat still and all looked curious. … While I prayed, some wept and wept out loud, and some cried for mercy.
“I rose from my knees and commenced an exhortation, after which I sang a hymn. The young lady lay prostrate, crying for mercy ….
“Our meeting lasted the next day and the next night, as many more were powerfully converted. I organized a society, took 32 into the church and sent them a preacher.”
Several of the converts became ministers of the Gospel, and Cartwright later observed, “In some conditions of society I should have failed; in some I should have been mobbed; in others I should have been considered a lunatic.” The reason for Cartwright’s triumph on the dance floor – and, indeed, the triumphs of his ministry: “the immediate superintending agency of the Divine Spirit of God.”
Probably Peter Cartwright is as widely known for the strength of his right arm as for his preaching. His was a muscular Christianity. The great crowds which thronged to the camp meetings included not only the devout and curious but also the lawless. Often scoffers and other ruffians tried to break up the services.
For example, in a campmeeting he was conducting “in the edge of Tennessee” about the year 1824, a group of local hoodlums armed themselves with clubs and vowed they would ride their horses through the camp and break up the meeting.
The next day when they invaded the camp, Peter Cartwright was ready. He recalls, “Their leader spurred his horse and made a pass at me; but fortunately I dodged his blow. The next lick was mine, and I gave it to him and laid him flat on his back.”
The rest of the mounted rowdies, seeing their leader knocked down, wheeled around and fled. Such were the campmeeting battles during those pioneer days.
Like most frontier preachers, Cartwright had little formal education. “A Methodist preacher in those days,” he says, “when he felt that God called him to preach, instead of hunting up a college or Biblical institute, hunted up a hardy pony of a horse, and some traveling apparatus, and with his library always at hand, namely, a Bible, hymn book and Discipline, he started.”
Cartwright, however, was no enemy of education. He was an eager reader of books and was a patron of good reading in the many homes he visited. He claimed that during the first 50 years of his ministry he had distributed $10,000 worth of literature through the scattered hamlets of the frontier.
“It has often been a question that I shall never be able to answer on earth,” he wrote, “whether I have done the most good by preaching or distributing religious books.” Furthermore, he was a supporter of schools. Both Illinois Wesleyan University and McKendree College boast of him as one of their founders.
Peter Cartwright was a constant and earnest student of the Bible. In his early years, especially, he hankered for debates and theological foes. With wit and subtleties of argument he would castigate Arians and Calvinists and demolish Baptists and Campbellites. Cartwright was simply caught up in the times. The robust individualism of the frontier fostered this type of rampant sectarianism.
Looking back 150 years, we realize Cartwright sometimes squandered his energy on petty conflicts. But more often he fought mightily against spiritual deadness prevalent on the American frontier. And on the vital social problems of his day he had no hesitation to speak out and take action.
He was, for example, uncompromising in his hatred of slavery. That’s why in 1824 he moved to Illinois – to “get clear of the evil of slavery” and so his children would not marry into slave families.
But the slavery dispute moved to Illinois, too, so Cartwright entered politics to oppose it. In 1828 he was elected to the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. And in 1832 he beat another anti-slavery candidate – Abraham Lincoln. “I was beaten,” Lincoln later wrote, “the only time I have ever been beaten by the people.”
Cartwright later ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. This time, however, he was defeated by Abraham Lincoln.
For 65 years Peter Cartwright served in the active ranks of the Methodist ministry, 50 of these years as a presiding elder. He was elected to General Conference 13 times.
Within his ministry he had seen in American Methodism growth unparalleled in Christian history. He had also seen an army of Methodist preachers come out of the homes of common people to win the West, societies springing up in the wilderness, and churches rising in new villages. Cartwright had seen the small and despised people of his mother’s church grow to be one of the mightiest of Christian denominations.
Peter Cartwright was Mr. Methodist of the 19th century!
Edmund Robb III was the contributing editor to Good News at the time of this article’s publication. This article appeared in the March-April 1976 issue of Good News. Dr. Robb went on to be the founding pastor of The Woodlands United Methodist Church in The Woodlands, Texas.
Portrait of Peter Cartwright is public domain (unknown artist – A Youth’s History of Kentucky for School and General Reading by Ed Porter Thompson, 1897).
by Steve | Jun 16, 2023 | Home Page Hero Slider, In the News
Facing Your Jericho
By Stephen A. Seamands
Jericho is staring Joshua in the face, with its imposing, impenetrable walls towering over him. This was a fortified city if there ever was one, armed with all the sophisticated weaponry of that day. It was in lockdown because they knew the Israelites were going to attack.
More than any other obstacle, Jericho was standing between Joshua and the people of God, preventing them from taking over and occupying the land God had promised them. (You can read the story in the book of Joshua.) If they could take Jericho, the rest was sure to follow.
What is the equivalent of Jericho in your life today? What’s keeping you from your promised land? We all have them, don’t we? Imposing obstacles that stand in the way. Yours may relate to your job, your finances, your ministry, your marriage, your children, your family, your physical health, your relationships, your stage in life. But we all have them, don’t we?
Well, as the old African-American spiritual said, “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down.” They certainly did. The Bible says, they “fell down flat” (Joshua 6:20) – like a pancake.
But what about your Jericho? The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8 that in all things we can be “more than conquerors” through Christ. What do you need to do to win the battle?
Well, let’s look at what Joshua did.
1. Look up. “When Joshua was by Jericho,” the Scripture says, “he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand.”
The first thing Joshua did was that he “looked up.” But notice where he was when he did this. He was “by Jericho.” It is not looming in the distance, but right there in front of him. Jericho – staring him in the face.
Yet he looked up. Don’t miss that. Because your Jericho is like that too, isn’t it? You can’t get away from it. You can’t help thinking about day in and day out. It gets your attention. It’s in your face.
Ultimately, whatever gets your attention gets you. It has a way of consuming you. The more you think about it and focus on it, the bigger it gets, the more overwhelming it becomes. The more it weighs you down. And the more it keeps you from thinking about anything else.
But now notice, Joshua “looked up and saw.” That means he turned his eyes and his attention away from Jericho. And if he hadn’t done that, Jericho wouldn’t have fallen.
I wonder if that’s what you need to do right now. Is your attention so fixed on your Jericho that you’re not looking at anything else? Turn away from it right now. Look up and see.
The reason I attend worship services, and read the Bible every day, and pray, and meet with other Christians in a small group is because it helps me to look up.
2. Fall on your face. Joshua looked up and “he saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand.” Who was this man, anyway? We’re not told his name, but he was armed and dangerous.
But who exactly was he? As Christians we read the Bible backwards, reading the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament, in the light of Christ. Christian writers and commentators of the Bible have suggested that what we have here is an appearance of Christ, the pre-existent Son of God.
As the Son, the second person of the Trinity, he existed from all eternity, and so he could appear like this to someone. Theologians have a word for this, they call it a “Christophany,” an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ, that is, before he became flesh and dwelt among us.
Joshua saw a man standing before him. He didn’t know who he was. He just knows this guy is ready to fight. Now he wants to know whose side is this guy on? Is he on our side or their side? But Joshua doesn’t get the answer he was hoping for or expecting. Instead, Joshua gets a push back that stops him in his tracks. “Neither,” says the man, “But as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”
In other words, “Joshua, you wanted to know if I was on your side or their side. And you were hoping I’d be on your side because you know you need help. You’re in over your head and you know it.
“You’ve got Jericho facing you, and you were hoping I would come along and help you with it. Then you could tell me what to do because you’re the commander in chief of Israel’s army and I would help you fix it, make it go away. And we would all live happily ever after.
“But no – that’s not what I’ve come to do. I haven’t come to serve you. I’ve come to take over. Forget about whose side I’m on. The real question is whose side are you on. I haven’t come to put myself at your disposal, so that you can use me to accomplish your agenda. I’m here to accomplish MY agenda. I want you at my disposal. You’re not in charge here, Joshua. You’re not the commander in chief anymore, I am.”
That answer stops Joshua in his tracks. He realizes he’s asked the wrong question.
So what about you? Have you been asking the Lord God to fight for you, to help you with your Jericho. “You need to fix this for me, Jesus. You need to make this Jericho go away. Here’s what I want you to do.”
We do that with Jesus, don’t we? Use him to get what we want. Jesus becomes the divine pharmacist we use to fill our prescriptions when we have aches. He’s the interior decorator we turn to whenever the house needs a makeover.
Jesus stands before us today and he says, “No. That’s not why I’ve come. Not so you can tell me what to do, but so I can tell you what to do. As the Commander of the Army of the Lord I have now come.”
How does Joshua respond to the abrupt, jarring answer he got? Here is what the Scripture says: “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and he said to him, ‘What do you command your servant, my Lord?’” (Joshua 5:4).
Joshua fell on his face. He surrendered. He said, “Not my will, Lord, but Thy will be done.” His question changed from, “Are you here to help me?” to “What can I do to help you.” Do you need to fall on your face? Your Jericho is before you. Christ, the commander of the Lord’s army is here. You’ve been praying, “Jesus help me to solve this problem, to fix it, to resolve it the way I think you should.”
“Forgive me, Lord. Today, I’m changing my prayer. Not my will, but let your will be done. Take my Jericho. You fix it, you resolve it as you see fit. Use me, Lord to accomplish that.”
Do you need to stop telling God what you want, and start asking God what he wants? Joshua fell on his face. Before the walls of Jericho could fall down, Joshua had to fall down. Do you need to fall on your face, to surrender, to stop praying my will be done and start praying “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?
3. Take off your shoes. In the presence of the man with the drawn sword, Joshua fell on his face. But notice what he did next. “The commander of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.’ And Joshua did so” (Joshua 5:15).
First Joshua looks up, then he falls down, now he takes off his shoes. This is interesting. And again, not what Joshua expected. He’s just said, “What do you command your servant, my Lord.” In other words, “I’ll do whatever you ask. Just tell me, I’ll do it. You’re the commander in chief now.”
And if you’re a military man, like Joshua was, and you know there’s going to be a battle to fight, you’re probably expecting to be given an order to carry out that has to do with preparing for battle. But instead of being told to get his boots on and put the troops on high alert, the first order Joshua gets is, “Soldier, take off your boots. The place you are standing is holy.”
Oddly, the commander of the Lord’s army calls Joshua to worship first, not to war – to adore, not to attack. He calls him to wait in the presence of God. “Slow down, Joshua, take your shoes off. I am here. Be still and know that I am God. Jericho can wait.”
This is always the order in spiritual battle. First we ascend into worship. Then we descend into war. Worship causes our God to get bigger. Of course that’s not literally true, but God does appear bigger in our eyes. We see him for who is always is and was and is to come! We are captured by his overwhelming beauty, his loveliness, his power, his goodness, his strength, his love.
And after we’ve been in his presence, gotten a fresh glimpse of who he is, then instead of telling our God how big our problems are, we start telling our problems how big our God is!
4. March and Shout. To conquer Jericho, Joshua had to look up, fall on his face, and take off his shoes. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See I have handed over Jericho to you” (Joshua 6:2). Now march around the city for seven days, and on the seventh day, march around it seven times, and after you’ve done that have everyone shout – for the Lord has given you the city.
In the face of Jericho, God calls Joshua and the people to exercise faith. As it says in Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter of the Bible, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled seven days” (11:30).
So God says, “I’ve handed over Jericho to you. It’s a done deal. I have given you the city. Take me at my word. So as an act of faith, march around it because the city is in your hands. No, you can’t see it yet. It hasn’t become actual yet, but make no mistake, it’s real, it has happened.
“And keep marching. Be patient – march around for seven days until the circle of time is completed. It may look like nothing is happening. The novelty of marching around the walls may have worn off. The people of Jericho, looking down on you from inside the walls, may ridicule you and tell you you’re crazy. But don’t stop.”
According to Hebrews 11, “faith is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot see” (NLT). Stay at it until the unseen real (what God’s word says) becomes the seen real (what you can actually see). Stay at it until your faith becomes sight.
And when you’ve marched around the city for the very last time, for the seventh time on the seventh day, shout in anticipation of what God’s going to do. Don’t shout after the walls fall down. That’s what we would expect. We shout after the batter hits the home run or team scores a touchdown. No, do it before in faith as bold anticipation of what God’s going to do.
He’s here with you at this moment, the risen and reigning Lord Jesus – the man with the sword in his hand – standing by your Jericho. So look up and see, fall on your face, take off your shoes, march around the city, and shout.
Stephen Seamands is professor emeritus of Christian Theology at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He is the author of several books including Wounds That Heal: Bringing Our Hurts to the Cross and Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service. This article appeared in the January/February 2014 issue of Good News. Cover art: Wesley21 Art.
by Steve | Jun 14, 2023 | In the News, May-June 2023
Prison Ministry Transformation
By Joey Butler (UM News) –
“I was in prison and you came to visit me.” — Matthew 25:36
When he was 18, Dusty Merrill decided that he wanted to go to prison. Of course, that decision was made a little easier because he could leave whenever he wanted.
Merrill is part of a team from LIFE United Methodist Church in Fairmont, West Virginia, that participates in Kairos Prison Ministry, an international ecumenical ministry that addresses the spiritual needs of incarcerated men, women, youth, and their families.
After that first experience, he went back twice a year for the next 12 years. “It’s easy once you’re in there to forget that you’re in a prison, then something will happen that reminds you really fast where you are,” said Merrill, a video specialist at LIFE.
Similar to The Upper Room’s Walk to Emmaus, Kairos begins with a weekend of structured talks, meditations, and individual and group activities led by a volunteer team. That introductory weekend is followed by monthly continuing ministry visits from the team while the inmate participants hold weekly group prayer meetings.
“We try to build the groups inside the prison so they can start sharing prayer without us there. A lot of them know more about the Bible than I’ll ever know because they study so much,” said David Merrill, Dusty’s father.
“Kairos was special – just to see the love from those guys and to see them every week, every month,” said Brent, a resident at St. Mary’s Correctional Center and Jail in St. Marys, West Virginia. Brent said he had a Christian upbringing, but he had “one foot in the church and one foot in the world.” He spent the next 17 years in and out of prison and rehab. He recommitted himself to God following a failed suicide attempt – around the same time he was indicted for murder.
He began pursuing a religion degree through Catalyst Ministries, a prison ministry based in West Virginia. In a partnership with Appalachian Bible College, Catalyst was able to establish Mount Olive Bible College, an accredited school inside the Mount Olive Correctional Center.
Upon his graduation in 2020, Brent was transferred to St. Marys, where he serves as part of Catalyst’s peer mentor program. The program sends the incarcerated Bible College graduates into the mission field of West Virginia’s prisons to tend to the spiritual needs of other inmates and administration members.
“Our peer mentors came in and tried to encourage others, which is exactly what we wanted. We hoped they would come in and change the culture, and they’re doing it a person at a time,” said the Rev. C.J. Rider, deputy director of reentry & offender activities for the West Virginia Division of Corrections & Rehabilitation.
Peer mentors have privileges to go into any part of the facility, and may be called to minister to anyone, be it inmates or staff, at any time. They also pray over the administration during daily meetings.
“People are dealing with issues inside here, and I’ve seen Brent get up late at night and talk to someone who’s going through something,” said Anthony, a fellow resident at St. Marys. Though not a certified peer mentor, Anthony tries to serve as a role model for other prisoners and encourage them to attend church. He said he grew up in the church, but after losing his father when he was 13, he also lost his faith walk. At 19, he received a 35-year sentence. Things turned around for him after accepting another inmate’s invitation to a worship service.
Now he tries to reach new inmates and let them know that he once was “that angry guy with the tough persona,” but that it got him nothing but trouble. Anthony said he also benefited from the Kairos weekend experience. “You hear about how good the food is and it attracts people, but by day two, they want to come not for the food but because they enjoy themselves,” he said. “I’ve seen a few affected to where they started going to church. I’ve seen that transformation.”
Brent said his goal as a peer mentor is to help eliminate recidivism. “I used to get out with the best intentions and always wound up back here,” he said. “I want these guys to get it before they come back with a life sentence.”
Brent is eligible for parole in 2025, and feels called to preach and to continue working with Catalyst. He said he’s been in contact with a local pastor in his Ohio hometown and wants to make good on a promise he made to his father before he passed that he was done with the life he’d been living. “I want to come back, just not in (a prison uniform). I want to share my experience with the guys still here,” he said.
The Rev. Tim Meadows, chaplain at St. Marys, considers peer mentorship to be the discipleship process in action. “These guys are highly respected. They carry themselves as Godly men, and they’re genuine,” he said. “People can tell the love of Christ, and that is what attracts them.”
Meadows’ assistant, Thomas, said the atmosphere at the prison makes all the difference in the experience for the inmates. After receiving a 53-year sentence for a serious crime he insists he didn’t commit, Thomas said he constantly had a chip on his shoulder.
“I heard what they were doing at St. Marys and knew I had to get down here,” he said. “I see the impact and the trust the mentors have with others here, crying with them and praying with them. Once you’ve been to the bad places and you get to somewhere decent, you can see the difference.”
Meadows said he credits the “genuine Christian heart” of the administration with creating an environment where these ministries are allowed to flourish. Not all facilities or their administrators have been open to allowing such programs.
The Rev. Mike Coleman* was serving as the acting warden at Mount Olive when Kairos events began at the prison. He said the previous warden he’d served under had approved everything but was forced to retire for health reasons before it could come to fruition. Coleman worked with the ministry partners to get the program off the ground.
“The first weekend was such a success that we committed to doing a new one every six months, plus all the reunion stuff in between,” said Coleman, who is now director of the Division of Administrative Services for the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security. He retired from also serving as a United Methodist pastor in 2022.
He traveled with a leadership group from the West Virginia Department of Corrections to Louisiana to observe the workings of the prison ministries at the state’s maximum-security penitentiary, known as Angola. This led to the formation of the Mount Olive Bible College. “We were making sure that we were using all the tools that God was giving us,” Coleman said. “One of the goals that corrections rehabilitation has is to make you a better citizen, whether you’re leaving or not.”
J.D. Sallaz, superintendent of Lakin Correctional Center and Jail in West Columbia, West Virginia, shares Coleman’s sentiment. “It benefits everybody to send the inmates out a better person than how they came in,” he said. “For those serving life without mercy, this is their home and they’re not leaving. They want things to go smoothly.” Lakin is the only women’s prison in the state, so it has a mix of minimum- and maximum-security inmates, with about 40 members of the population of 540 serving life sentences.
Rebecca is one of those serving a life sentence without mercy (possibility of parole), for murder. She has been incarcerated for 30 years. When she arrived, she frequently acted out of anger and fought with other residents. After repeatedly being sent to a segregation unit, Rebecca said, “God said to me, ‘I told you to be still and since you won’t listen, I’m making you still.’ Now I understand that I’m doing all this time in segregation because God wanted me to listen and I wouldn’t.”
Now, she serves as one of several peer mentors at Lakin. She cites a Kairos weekend as life-changing, saying that “it’s the first time in my life I ever felt loved, and I was probably 35.”
Michelle, another of the peer mentors, said the “unconditional love” from the Kairos volunteers left an impression on her as well. She’s 12 years into a drug-related sentence, and said that pursuing the peer mentor certification taught her to help herself and others. “I have an associate’s degree in human services from before I got in trouble, and I like to teach and help,” Michelle said. Now she leads classes on dealing with depression and low self-esteem. She also leads Celebrate Recovery 12-step services and is studying at the Mount Olive Bible College.
A common theme among the inmates United Methodist News interviewed is the inability to forge or maintain healthy relationships. The peer mentors at Lakin had to learn how to have them and now try to teach those lessons to others.
If you speak to anyone who’s been through a Kairos weekend, you will learn about the “forgiveness cookies.” Kairos volunteers bake many dozens of homemade cookies to send with the teams going to the prisons. One dozen is given to each inmate participant to eat themselves, but they are given another dozen and instructed to give that bag to someone for whom they need to either seek or grant forgiveness. “It’s amazing what God does with a bag of cookies,” said Coleman.
The Rev. Dianna Vinscavich, chaplain at Lakin, said the leadership of the peer mentors helps to create unity at the prison. “I’m seeing those walls come down, and it’s because of the mentors. If they hear of someone with a grievance, they try to help keep the peace,” she said.
Dee, one of the peer mentors, said that two years ago, the prison’s segregation unit stayed full all the time, but “since the mentorship program started and we can counsel and pray with them before they get to that point, segregation stays almost empty. God is really using individuals in here to grow a church instead of a prison.”
Since coming to Lakin, she’s earned associate’s degrees in both Christian leadership and Christian ministry, became an ordained minister and is working on a bachelor’s degree in communication. “My passion is preaching,” she said.
A former nurse, Dee has served almost 20 years on drug charges that took everything from her. She lost her house and because of the length of her sentence, she gave her young children up for adoption so they could have a more stable family environment. She said she felt the anger that many prisoners do, and now she tries to help those she sees struggling with the same issues. Dee is eligible for release in about six years. For now, she said, “My goal is to help change Lakin from the inside out, so I want to get to the ones coming in and start that change in them.”
Amber, a peer mentor serving a life sentence without mercy, said she was one of those who arrived with anger and resentment. “The more I bucked, the worse life got and that led me here,” she said.
Amber is another for whom Kairos was life-changing. “It was great to know people outside our families cared,” she said. After her weekend, she got more involved in church at the prison, and that’s how she found out about peer mentorship. “It’s been rewarding to mentor to ladies who come to you for advice because they see the walk you’re on,” Amber said. “I’ve had girls come to me and ask how I could be so happy, knowing the sentence that I have, and I say, ‘Why not? I’ve got God.’ Just because I’m spending the rest of my life here doesn’t mean that I can’t live a rich and fulfilling life doing God’s work.”
Rebecca sees her life sentence as a sort of mission field. “God gives us a cross to bear, and because we’re gonna be here a long time, Amber and I can reach 500 girls a year,” she said. “Just think how many people we see in five years. You can work through God that way.”
After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, volunteers have begun to return to prisons. David Merrill acknowledged that the Kairos model prepared inmates to continue their ministry in the absence of visits from volunteers.
“They support themselves. They still hold prayer groups, and we’re available to answer questions they may have,” he said, “but there are some ways they don’t get to participate because we’re not there.”
Vinscavich said that when COVID-19 prevented volunteer visits, the peer mentors were able to lead church themselves. “They’re essential parts of our church services. They preach, lead singing, share devotionals – they do it all,” she said.
“When we didn’t have opportunity to have church on the inside, we were out in the rec yard having prayer circles,” Dee said.
Vinscavich sees parallels between the peer mentors and Christ’s life. “Jesus died for something he didn’t do and he embraced it. These girls who’ve had their lives transformed are having to serve a sentence for something done by the person they used to be,” she said.
Not everyone shares this grace-filled view of rehabilitation. There is certainly a segment of society that adheres to the belief that a convicted person is in prison to be punished, not rehabilitated.
Cheryl Chandler, director of offender services for the West Virginia Division of Corrections, understands this view. In her role, she works both with inmates and with crime victims and their families. She’s heard complaints about some of the opportunities available to inmates, such as culinary classes and yoga, that may not be readily available to the general public.
“Sometimes the public will get frustrated that there are all these programs,” she said, “but I have to ask whether they want to live next to a lady who gets out of Lakin who’s angry and been mistreated and kicked down, or one who’s gotten to train in yoga and knows how to control her temper.”
As a pastor, Coleman said he initially got pushback when he encouraged his congregation to become involved in Kairos. “They were like, ‘You want us to do what with those prisoners? Why would I want to bake cookies and give it to a bunch of murderers?’” he said.
However, Coleman said, they bought in once they saw the impact they were having. It even became a competition between churches to see who could bake the most cookies.
Dusty Merrill said he still struggles to speak about Kairos to his congregation because he doesn’t know who in the pews may have been harmed in some way by a criminal act. “It’s a really sensitive thing if you’re not the person who’s experienced this wrongdoing or hurt,” he said, “but if you’re helping people who need to be helped, they’ve probably hurt someone along the way.”
He does try to remind people to consider the life circumstances that may have led someone to commit a crime or surrender to substance use. “I’m blessed that I had all the opportunities to make the right choices. Some of those guys didn’t get that opportunity.”
Joey Butler is a multimedia producer/editor for United Methodist News. Editor’s notes: *The Rev. Mike Coleman, who was interviewed for this story, passed away shortly before it published. UM News offers condolences to his family. By request of the West Virginia Division of Corrections & Rehabilitation, only the first names of incarcerated individuals have been used.
Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News. Anthony (foreground), who is incarcerated at the St. Mary’s Correctional Center in St. Mary’s West Virginia, says he tries to serve as a role model for new inmates at the facility after seeing the transformation brought about by the Kairos Prison Ministry.
