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Criminal Justice Summit aims to address prison ministry needs

Aug. 23, 2005

NOTE: Head-and-shoulders photographs of the Rev. Patricia Barrett and
Paul Dame are available at http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Feature
By Vicki Brown*

Paul Dame lived and worked with prison inmates for more than two
decades, carrying a gun and enforcing discipline as a correctional
officer, then rising to the rank of captain and a job in prison
administration.

When he ventures behind bars again, Dame wants to bring hope.

"I can't say the aim is so much to change the prison system as it is to
reach out to those individuals who find themselves caught up in it,"
Dame said of his plan to become a prison chaplain.

"I found myself with a cynical attitude toward people and prisoners," he
said, recalling his years as a correctional officer, mostly in the
Washington, D.C., area.

Dame, now a student at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, will
be among seminary students, chaplains, and members of local
congregations gathering Sept. 16-18 in Atlanta at a Criminal Justice
Summit sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and
Ministry.

"It's my hope personally that I can make the connections with
individuals and programs that will allow me to get involved now," Dame
said.

The Rev. Patricia Barrett, an assistant general secretary in the board's
Division of Ordained Ministry, said making such connections is one aim
of the summit. Another is to get a handle on what's being done in prison
ministry and who is doing it.

"It's a mustard-seed summit," she said. The idea is to get people
together and see if there are local ministries that can be supported by
chaplains or vice versa. "We hope to build more effective partnerships."

Barrett and others involved in the summit also want to create awareness
about the need for increased United Methodist participation in prison
ministry and develop creative ways to increase local church and
community involvement in such ministries. With the need for prison
chaplains growing, they hope to start a dialogue among seminaries and
theological schools, community leaders, and prison chaplains about
equipping people for ministry inside the criminal justice system.

James M. Shopshire, professor of sociology and urban religion at Wesley,
said one of his goals for the summit is to get a clearer focus and set a
renewed direction for recruitment and theological education of students
for prison ministry.

"We hope to recover the Wesleyan vision for social holiness regarding
prisons, to promote critically relevant transformation and reformation
ministries, and to strengthen seminaries as vital resources for justice
ministry inside and outside of prisons," Shopshire said.

In addition, he said those involved in the summit hope to provide
leadership in forming ministries that can address injustices to the poor
and can participate constructively in changing the shortcomings of the
criminal justice system.

Shopshire said Dame is unusual in that he's already made up his mind to
enter prison ministry.

Although Dame feels a strong call toward prison ministry, he has mixed
emotions.

"I'm not so sure that I'm well qualified to be doing prison ministry,
but I do have the experience of being in the prison system. Being inside
doesn't intimidate me, since I've lived and worked with inmates for the
better part of a couple of decades," Dame said.

"The old adage, 'there but for the grace of God go I,' is true. I could
be in there with no option of leaving," he says. "I owe my life to the
Lord. I would not be here today if I hadn't learned to trust in him."

After his prison job fell to budget cuts, Dame began seminary. He
believes Christians must have a stronger presence in prison ministry.

"There were people who have been in prison for 20 years without seeing
any family or friends," he said.

When he finishes seminary, Dame hopes he can return to prison with a
less cynical attitude.

"I remember one young man who simply wanted to go home. Late one night,
he walked out of the housing unit and walked to the perimeter fence. I
arrived, shotgun in hand. As I covered this individual and waited for
internal security, I was thinking of the recognition I was going to get
for stopping his escape rather than of this young man, who just wanted
to go home to someone who loved him," he said.

"He simply wanted someone to talk with. I could have talked with him. I
didn't need to treat him as harshly as I did - formal, cold, detached.
To see these young men as anything less than needy, desperate human
beings, alone and lost, is to do disservice to the Lord who created
them," he said.

"I did my job well, but I didn't do the Lord's job very well."

*Brown is an associate editor and writer in the Office of Interpretation
of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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