BLOG
Spring 2022 Spiritual Care Training
On April 24-27, 2022, Baptist Chaplaincy Relations (BCR – a partnership between Texas Baptists and Virginia Baptists) offered a special training for various types of Chaplains (including a Correctional Chaplaincy Training Track). The following GraceInside Chaplains and Staff were able to participate: Dawson Bailey Janice Broadie Ashton Brock Clifton Cauthorne Oscar Grant Patrick Jones Toni Mayes William Moore Jerusha Moses Claudette Rodney Randy Myers (GraceInside Staff) Lois Carter (GraceInside Staff) The event started off with a Worship/Welcome Service on
Jerusha Moses: A Light in the Darkness
Our very own Chaplain Jerusha Moses has had a journey of hardship, but God had a purpose for her life. A little introduction on Jerusha Moses: Jerusha is from India. Her grandparents worked as prison administrators and institutional wardens. Her parents served as medical missionaries and pastors. As young teens, both Jerusha and her little brother contracted typhoid and jaundice, and Jerusha almost died. Jerusha believed that the Almighty had healed them both because they were Christians. But she had
Not a Movie or a TV Show: Chaplaincy at Virginia’s Largest State Women’s Prison
Let’s face it. Movies and TV shows about women in prison have become a popular genre and actually a cultural phenomenon in America. Much of this “entertainment” centers around salacious and unseemly (and highly sexualized) content. The female inmates portrayed tend to be stereotypes and caricatures, usually NOT the women one would encounter in an actual jail or prison (since – after all – every human being is utterly unique). The storylines focus on “relationships” between inmates, between inmates and
It’s the Little Things That Mean a Lot: Retired Prison Chaplain Returns for New & Challenging Ministry
Did you know that Virginia’s state correctional facility come in ALL SIZES??? Well, it’s true. There are HUGE facilities that are “packed to the gills” with incarcerated men or women. There is the “super-sized” (three-prisons-in-one complex) Greensville Correctional Center that houses nearly 3,000 inmates at a time! Large prisons like Augusta Correctional Center and Nottoway Correctional Center both hover around nearly 1,400 inmates at any given time! There are medium-sized facilities like Baskerville Correctional Center and the Virginia Correctional Center
Former Inmate Celebrates 35 Years as a Religious Volunteer and Prison Chaplain
by Hasan Zarif, GraceInside chaplain My journey as a Chaplain began when I gave my life to Jesus Christ many years ago while I was incarcerated. I remember that my Prison Chaplain gave me a book and told me to read it, think about it and pray about it. The name of the book was One Bad Dude. It was written by a man named Ted Jefferson. Jefferson had led a life of crime, committed a number of felonies, and
From Prison Food to Cajun Fried Chicken & Biscuits: Former Female Inmate Becomes Restaurant Franchise Director
The following letter was recently received by Chaplain Claudette Rodney (currently serving as GraceInside’s Chaplain at Beaumont Correctional Center in Powhatan, VA and as our Central Region Supervising Chaplain). At one time Dr. Rodney served as Chaplain for Brunswick Women’s Work Center and for Deerfield Women’s Work Center. It was during that timeframe that she met and ministered to the (now former) female inmate. This woman wrote to Chaplain Rodney to update her on her life and her progress. We
Chaplain Helps Heal an Incarcerated Mother’s Grief
by Chaplain Janice Broadie, Central Virginia Correctional Unit The pandemic was life altering for everyone, but it packed an especially powerful punch for the men and women incarcerated in Virginia’s state prisons. Every facility was placed on a special emergency lockdown status. Virtually all movement out of cellblocks, dorms and living units was halted. Inmates could no longer go to dining halls to eat. Instead, they ate their meals in their cells (or on their bunks in open dorm settings).
Returning Chaplain Receives a Hero’s Welcome
by Chaplain Nick Meyer, Coffeewood Corretional Center I’ll never forget the day I was allowed to arrange a one-time trip to my office in the middle of our 16 months of telecommuting. I made my way through five controlled gates into the prison yard, and as I strolled to the building where my office is, I heard an inmate joyfully shouting, “Chaplain Meyer! Hey! Is that you?!! God bless you Chap!” I grinned, waved, and yelled back, “God bless you,