What an amazing three-day Fall Chaplains Training Retreat! This year our theme was to relax, refresh, and renew your body, mind, and spirit. Our first devotional day and morning prayer was led by our WESTERN REGION God-fearing dynamic duo, Chaplain Cliff Cauthorne and Chaplain Daniel Theiben. Chaplain Cliff opened up with a powerful song by Homer and Gabriel: “ Pentecostal Power”:
Lord as of old at Pentecost Thou didst Thy power display, with cleaning purifying flame descend on us today. We need God’s continued Grace.
Then, Chaplain Daniel shared a testimony on an inmate who for years didn’t want any materials that had Jesus’ name tied to it. With Daniel’s loving patience and kind example, this inmate came around and wanted all the literature on Jesus.
With all the hard work that each of our Chaplain must do, including the challenges of each new day – we had a group come in from “The Well Collective” Ms. Vanessa Cowles, Director of Culture & Community with Mindful, was joined by Ms. Kiran Bhagat in describing tools and strategies to help our Chaplains do self-care. Sometimes when you can’t find “Peace in the Storm”, then you’re not aware of your surroundings. Vanessa and Kiran provided tips on awareness, connection, love, and liberating oneself before leaving home or finding a quiet space to center their well-being. This session was educational and enlightening.
At the beginning of the Fall Retreat, we paused to recognize our staff members for their years of service to GraceInside. Each employee received a certificate and a small token of our appreciation for being ambassadors to God’s 24,000 incarcerated men and women in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We also presented a plaque and flowers to Dr. Claudette Rodney (formerly Chaplain at Beaumont Correction Center and Supervising Chaplain for the Central Region) on her retirement after 36 years of service in VADOC mental health care and GraceInside ministry. Congratulations on your retirement and your new journey in Christ’s service. We will greatly miss you.
The afternoon session was “The Landscape of Our Spiritual Warfare” (HIV/AIDS Ministry). The afternoon session was “The Landscape of Our Spiritual Warfare” (HIV/AIDS Ministry), led by Lindsay Bryan, Community Coordinator for the Nia Community Development Corporation of Greater Richmond, and Rev. Eric King. Ms. Bryan gave a breakdown of what is “CHURCH” according to Rev. Dr. Lance D. Watson, Senior Pastor at St Paul’s Baptist Church, RVA. Dr. Watson is an advocate for the care and comfort of those that are affected and living with HIV/AIDS. This advocacy stresses that it is the Church’s role to handle HIV testing and counseling; unleash a volunteer force of compassion; reduce the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS; champion healthy behaviors; and help with nutrition and medication. Rev. King spoke on how the church didn’t see him until he had a conversation with some of the members who were suffering, after which Pastor Watson asked him to serve as the spiritual leader of this ministry and share the hard truths about this illness to the Richmond spiritual community.
On day two, Chaplain Janice Broadie, Central Virginia Correctional Unit, opened with a devotional prayer and words of encouragement on the theme of “We Are More Than Conquerors”. We ‘re children of the Highest and He knows our limitations and will put no more on us than we can bear. The adversary will try and knock us off our game, but ‘we have each other for support and we have God’s promise that he will keep us and protect us from the enemy. She sang “Goodness of God” by Cece Winans, a powerful song that reinforces the spiritual truth that no matter what we endure, God is still good.
Bernie Morris, Religious Advisor, Ms. Wendy Brown, Policy Analyst, and Mr. Malcolm Kennedy, Security Program Coordinator, Virginia Department of Corrections, spoke on the new app for Volunteers to log onto the DOC system and ensure that volunteers include the Chaplain’s name if they’re going to volunteering at that Chaplain’s facility. Having the Chaplain as the contact person on the application will speed up the approval process for Ms. Brown. Mr. Kennedy spoke about the Central Mail Distribution CMD) as the clearinghouse for mail and packages bound for the institutions. Every package or item ordered by a Chaplain must be posted first to the CMD and must be labeled with the Chaplain’s name and location. As a matter of security policy, all mail must to the CMD for comprehensive inspection before it is routed to the facilities. We also had two Lay Chaplains from Coffeewood, who assisted Nick Meyers, Mr. Ron Applegate, and Mr. David Berrymen. These two mentors spoke about their relationship with the inmates and how they love being available to serve these men.
Prison Fellowship Ministries has Academies at Fluvanna Correctional Center and Lawrenceville Connectional Center. The Academy program helps to shape inmates through three key dimensions: financial literacy and conflict resolution, learning through observation, and practicing biblically based values of good citizenship. Three Prison Fellowship representatives, Ms. Monica Ericksen, Ms. Karma Johnson, and Mr. David Alibi, shared PF’s hope for a great spiritual awakening for the prison community. They were followed by Mr. Phil Sparks, incoming State Chair of the Kairos Prison Ministry of Virginia. Mr. Sparks gave a history of Kairos and how volunteers are valuable to their ministry. Kairos has a weekend of appreciation for all inmates who complete their studies with the Kairos volunteers. Our last guests for the day were Mr. Martin Brown, Chief Diversity Officer, and Mr. Hendrik van der Vaart, Deputy Chief Transformation Officer, of the Governor’s Office. Chief Brown and Mr. Vaart are part of the Governor’s “Stand Tall” initiative to facilitate successful inmate re-entry into society. The Chaplains were informed that the Governor is trying to put more volunteers into the facilities in 2025 to assist with this project.
On the last day of the retreat, Mr. Todd Combee, Executive Director of the (Texas) Baptist Chaplaincy Relations (BCR), spoke on BCR’s endorsement program and the training resources they have available. We have two chaplains who want to be endorsed by BCR soon. We headed to the Chapel, to have a “Special Time of Worship” with Chaplain Tommy Armstrong and his ministry of “Building a Cross with Jesus”. Tommy blessed our hearts and refreshed our spirits on how we should view Christ on the cross. Each year, Tommy shares a little more of the wonder of Christ’s love for us. Thank you, Lee Hargrave, our Executive Assistant, for sharing his testimony on how Christ showed him love in his darkest hour, and to Randy, Lois, Claudette, and Vera for assisting with communion. Before closing out the service, we took a moment to remember those inmates that had transitioned to the other side of the pearly gate. Chaplain Lynn did a prayer and Chaplain Randy McDaniel, Chaplain Vera Rhyne and Chaplain William Moore read off each name.
Each year we do a closing challenge and charge to encourage our amazing Chaplains. This year, Rev. Dr. Herbert L. Ponder, Senior Pastor at Mount Tabor Baptist Church, gave that charge and the words were “Thank You”. Sometimes individuals forget to say these two powerful words. Rev. Ponder said if no one else says thank you for your service on this day as a Board member, Chaplain, or Executive staff – he wants to say Thank You for having a servant’s heart of compassion, understanding, patience, love, and empathy to the least of these. All your time and effort is well worth these words “THANK YOU”.
Special thanks to our guests JT and Terri Lee Clarke (of the “My Brother’s Crossing” ministry) for our wonderful snacks and to Jim Baily, Esq. (Acting Board Chair/Board Vice-Chair), Sherwood Bowditch, and Tyler Johnson, Esq. (our pro bono Attorney), for taking time out of their busy schedules to spend time with us and for sponsoring new t-shirts bearing our “orange guy” logo for the GraceInside Family. We certainly want to thank Rev. Randy Myers, Executive Director, for this opportunity to reflect, refresh, and renew our body, mind, and spirit. Randy’s enthusiasm and love for this ministry, its staff and all the lives touched in the process is proof positive of God’s love in action.
