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Church Implementation
Zachary Cushman
Liberty University
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Memorandum
To: Chief Prass
From: Officer Cushman
Date: 03/20/2022
Re: Church Implementation
Chief Prass,
In the past few weeks, it has come to my attention that we are not providing
the best help to our community. Many of our inmates have been doing nothing but
sitting in their cell, passing the time. If we were to implement a church into our jail,
many prisoners might be intrigued to go, getting them more active. Overall, this
could lead to significant benefits within the jail for not only the inmates but also for
the community and us.
Church implementation will benefit us in many ways. One of which is that it
can reduce the crime committed while imprisoned. This means our jail will be less
stress-producing. It will also help with how the community perceives us. Instead of
the inmates biding their time until they get out and can offend again, they will be
active in the church, causing them to become more productive and beneficial to
others. Some of our officers might even get involved in helping in labor costs and
office morale.
As far as helping the community, a church will provide inmates with
knowledge and truth. This will help them examine their lives and change how they
live. In turn, they will not offend again, or at least have a much less percentage to
offend again, making the community safer. We are called to guide our fellow
brothers and sisters to eternal salvation, and this is a great way to go about it. After
all, there is only one way to go once you hit rock bottom.
The following white paper will expand upon the importance to act for this
agency as well as the overall significance of the issue. Three potential solutions
along with a discussion of the benefits and pitfalls will be presented: do nothing, full
implementation, incremental approach. I thank you for your time in advance in
considering this proposal.
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Introduction
In the past few weeks, it has come to my attention that we are not providing the best
help to our community. Many of our inmates have only been sitting in their cell and serving
their sentences without getting adequately helped. If we were to implement a church into our
jail, many prisoners might be intrigued to go, and it could help them become better law-
abiding citizens. Overall, this could lead to significant benefits within the jail for not only the
inmates but also for the community and us.
Problem
Many jails across the country have chaplaincies and other religious organizations
within them. I have been researching the benefits and detriments of implementing our own
church or religious organization in the church. In addition, I have been observing our inmates
daily. Most inmates do not exit their cell except for meals and sometimes recreation. The
amount of crime inside the jail is high as well. This is not fair to them, the community, or us.
The inmates should be able to have a safe haven that helps rehabilitate them into society.
Significance
This is significant to not only us but also the community and the inmates. For us, it
will reduce our stress of having to worry about inner system crimes committed by the
inmates and officers. Having a solid religious-centered system will work in the hearts of
these offenders, which, in turn, means they are less likely to commit more crimes. As Kerley,
Matthews, and Blanchard (2005) states, “Thus, religiosity may operate as a protective factor
against negative behaviors such as crime and delinquency by creating and reinforcing faith-
based social networks and social bonds.” (p. 444). This leads to the community aspect; if we
keep doing nothing, these offenders will enter the community after their sentence ends and
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more than likely commit another crime. This will ultimately hurt the community and the
community’s opinion of us. As for the inmates themselves, right now, they are not happy.
They are not getting help with any inner emotions they are feeling, and if one of them feels
regret for what they did, there is no one to hear them out or provide a sense of security or
meaning. They are like animals being locked in a cage and occasionally being fed and let out
to play. Deuchar, Morck, Matemba, McLean, and Riaz (2016) claim,
In our study, participants felt that they could share personal issues with them, and
they would remain confidential, and that they offered a listening ear and the
opportunity to talk informally in a context which made them feel like human beings
rather than prisoners. (p. 142)
Solution
Below are three solutions I have produced: full implementation, incremental
implementation, and do-nothing approach.
Full Implementation
There are many ways we could go about a full implementation approach. To start, we
would need to build a chapel or have rooms designated for religious activities. We would also
need to be able to host many different religions. Beckford’s (2013) analysis “shows that the
growth of religious diversity in prisons is associated with problems concerning the official
recognition of religions,” (Abstract). Another way we could involve religion is through
tattoos. Perju-Dumbrava, Daniel, Gherman, Chiroban, Bonea, & Radu found, “Today many
people tend to associate tattoos with gangs and criminal groups. However, it is noticeable
that biblical tattoos are extremely popular.” (p. 339). Although they have these tattoos, they
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might not know what they mean. We could have someone interpret and explain what these
tattoos mean in a theological sense, and that could help them relate to religion more.
Policies
Some policies that could be implemented are mandatory church service two
days a month. This will allow the uninterested inmates to still receive an opportunity
to become interested while not being overbearing and pushing them away from the
idea of religion. We could either stream the service or have a separate service for the
more violent or dangerous inmates. We should also implement a mandatory small
group setting to form a strong community between the members.
Budget
The budget for this would be a lot right off the bat. According to Indeed.com,
the average salary for a pastor is $41,981. RSMeans data finds that the estimated cost
to build a chapel at 17000 square feet is $2,972,700. We could lower the cost of
church faculty by accepting volunteers and having some officers work as part of the
church faculty. We could also have a more relatable speaker or volunteer by them
being an ex-convict.
Public
The public could be hesitant to accept this transition, but if we show them the
progress made with our inmates, they will come around eventually and support us.
They could even start donating and help relieve the costs of upkeep with these
donations and by volunteering.
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Incremental Implementation
Since the cost of the full implementation is so high, we could do all the same things
but do it in order of importance over time. Start with transforming a room into a chapel rather
than building one and implementing religious activities once every year.
Policies
Most of the policies will be the same as the full implementation approach.
Instead of having mandatory small groups, we could encourage them to start their
own. Many religious-leaning inmates should want to connect more and will gladly do
this in their free time now that they know they are not alone. Oliver (2013) studied
Charles Colson and found while “Serving his sentence at a federal prison camp in
Alabama, Colson had formed a similar fellowship with other Christian inmates.”
(para. 3). Colson found this to be helpful in his recidivism and the other members.
Using this example, many current inmates can be inspired to make a change in their
life.
Budget
The budget will be much less since there will not be a complete chapel
construction and only a transformation. This means the only costs will be minor
staging and faculty costs. As in the full implementation, we can have volunteers be
most of our staff to reduce labor costs.
Public
The public may not come around as fast since we will not be introducing
religious activities, but we can still show them the progress eventually, and the same
thing should happen.
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Do Nothing Approach
If we do nothing, what will happen exactly? Recidivism will only rise, crime will
only worsen, and eventually, we could be overrun. Staffing may be a big problem currently
due to our inmate to guard ratio, but what will happen when that ratio grows even larger?
Some inmates could start a plan to overthrow us or even start a cult and act as God
themselves. Referring to Charles Manson’s Family, Sutton (2018) found one of the members
claimed she felt as though Manson was the second coming of Christ. This could cause
significant problems for our staff and community.
Policies
The policies implemented will be the ones we are using now; non-mandatory
recreation, uncontrolled officer/inmate relations, punishment for any minor slip-up.
Budget
Our budget will stay lowered up-front but will rise over time. We will need to
expand the jail as well as hire new staff. The upkeep of the jail will increase, and the
cost to combat the inner system crime will grow too.
Public
The public will eventually despise our jail because we fail to rehabilitate our
inmates to impact the community positively. Although we may be able to keep them
locked up for extended periods, they will usually get out and commit another crime
right away.
Christian Worldview
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As Christians ourselves, we are called to lead each other to Christ. Mark 16: 15-16
states this clearly, “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all
creation. The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has
not believed will be condemned.” This proves our requirement to spread His word. For if we
do not, the others will be condemned. What good is our faith and trust in Jesus’ salvation if
we do not share it with our brothers and sisters?
Conclusion
In conclusion, church implementation could be greatly beneficial to the welfare of our
community, inmates, and faculty. Without this church implementation, our community will
get more and more crime ridden. Not only is it essential to upkeep society, but it is also our
calling from God. Although there are cost and injury risks, I believe this is the right thing for
us to get out of this downward spiral. God will provide whatever we need to go through with
whatever plan you decide is best. Thank you for your consideration.
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References
Beckford, J. A. (2013). Religious diversity in prisons: Chaplaincy and contention. Studies in
Religion/Sciences Religieuses, 42(2), 190–205.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0008429813479293
Deuchar, R., Morck, L. L., Matemba, Y. H., McLean, R., & Riaz, N. (2016). ‘It's as if you're
not in the jail, as if you're not a prisoner’: Young male offenders’ experiences of
incarceration, prison chaplaincy, religion and spirituality in Scotland and Denmark.
The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 55, 131-150.
https://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12160
Indeed. (2022). Pastor salary in Virginia. Indeed.
https://www.indeed.com/career/pastor/salaries/VA
Kerley, K. R., Matthews, T. L., & Blanchard, T. C. (2005). Religiosity, religious
participation, and negative prison behaviors. Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion, 44, 443-457. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2005.00296.x
New American Standard Bible. (2020). The Lockman Foundation.
Perju-Dumbrava, D., Daniel, U., Gherman, C., Chiroban, O., Bonea, L. S., & Radu, C. C.
(2016). Biblically inspired tattoos in forensic examinations made on inmates' bodies
in prisons territorially assigned to the Forensic Institute of Medicine from CLUJ.
Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 15(45), 338-356.
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com
%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fbiblically-inspired-tattoos-forensic-examinations
%2Fdocview%2F1855298219%2Fse-2
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Oliver, K. (2013). "Hi, fellas. Come on in." Norman Carlson, the Federal Bureau of Prisons,
and the rise of Prison Fellowship. Journal of Church and State, 55(4), 740-757.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jcs/css054
RSMeans. (2013). Church square foot cost assuming decorative concrete block/steel truss.
Gordian. https://www.rsmeans.com/model-pages/church
Sutton, D. (2018). Durkheim, Totemism, and The Manson Family: Theorizing on the
relationship between religion and violence. In M. Deflem (Ed.), Homicide and violent
crime (Vol. 23, pp. 63–79). Emerald Publishing Limited.
https://doi.org/10.1108/S1521-613620180000023005
