Feb. 28, 2008 - Rev. Raymond Swierenga says he sees a great need for Christian Reformed pastors and congregations across the country to get more deeply involved in prison ministry.
But Swierenga, who recently retired after serving more than 20 years as a prison chaplain, says he doesn't mean more people need to sign on as volunteers to hold services or Bible studies behind bars. Many churches are already doing that.
Rather, says the CRC chaplain, there is a compelling need for churches to work in whatever ways they can to help inmates adjust to life once they are paroled from prison.
In recent decades, in Michigan and elsewhere, the number of people in prison has skyrocketed. Post-release rehabilitation programs, however, have not kept pace, says Swierenga.
"When prisoners are paroled, they have a hard time finding a job and a place to live," Swierenga recently told a group of West Michigan CRC pastors. "It is a whole new world for them."
Swierenga spoke at the inaugural meeting of a group of eight pastors who are studying to work in some form of criminal justice ministry with the help of a grant from the Christian Reformed Church. The program is part of the denomination's "Sustaining Pastoral Excellence" network program.
Over time, the group will meet with former prisoners, families of prisoners, and corrections officials to learn what types of outreach are needed, says Richard Rienstra, coordinator of the group. "We want to become part of the movement of the renewal of the church by increasing care of those in prison," he says.
Swierenga worked for many years as the State of Michigan's chaplain at a prison in Muskegon. Years of experience, he says, convinced him that churches have a key role to play in prison ministry. He says he strongly supports the aim of Rienstra's group. "It's good that they are trying to see what being a chaplain is all about and the kind of things that are necessary to minister to prisoners," he says.
In his job he worked with men of all faiths, and of no faith, and often served as the go-between in the frequent conflicts that occurred between jail guards and officials and prisoners. "My job was to listen and let the prisoners vent," he says.
A former Navy chaplain, the CRC chaplain says he never worked as pastor of a church. Instead, his time was spent providing spiritual comfort to men in the military or behind bars.
Now that he no longer works in prison, he is trying to become an advocate for the men and women who remain there. He says they are a largely forgotten group of people, many of whom have repented and amended their ways while they are incarcerated.
"It's been hard to leave the job," says Swierenga. "I got to know some of the prisoners pretty well. I got to know about their lives. Often, they committed their crime when they were younger and are now law-abiding citizens."
That brought him back to his main point: The crying need for churches to show Christian love by opening their doors, in whatever ways possible, to prisoners. "If you are interested, you should contact local parole officers. They know who is getting out and what the prisoners need."
With Swierenga's retirement, there no longer are any CRC ministers serving as full-time chaplain in prisons anywhere in the United States, says Rev. Herm Keizer, director of the CRC's Chaplaincy Ministries.
Chris Meehan, CRC Communications
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Henry Hess
Director of Communication
Christian Reformed Church
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