The Minister as Spiritual Adviser to the Imprisoned
Requests have been registered for men fitted by special training and experience to give competent counsel on prison and reformatory work by ministers, especially as to the proper attitude they should sustain as ministers of God's grace in relation to the customary feeling of prisoners toward civil law and its penalties for infraction. Two of our able ministers, uniquely qualified by training and experience, here give the counsel sought. Elder H. H. Votaw, associate secretary of the Religious Liberty Department, was for some time Federal Inspector of Prisons of the United States. Elder E. L. Maxwell, recently president of the Austral Union in the South American Division, is also an attorney and a former justice of the peace. Such sound principles as presented will be helpful to us all in such special work.
L. E. F.
Prison Work
By H. H. Votaw
The heart of every Christian is moved by the unhappy condition of men who have broken the law and are suffering its penalties, and the desire to be helpful to those who are incarcerated in a penal institution is perfectly natural and most laudable. Among the things for which the Master commends those whom He places on His right hand in the judgment day is the visiting of those who are in prison. He counts such visitation as having been done unto Him, and of course every Christian delights to be of service to the Master.
Through what avenues of service is it possible to reach most effectively the inmates of penal institutions? is an inquiry frequently made. In reply, I would say that letters can be written, literature can be distributed, personal visits made, Bible studies can at times be given, and occasionally public addresses made.
How should such work be approached? First of all, the permission and approval of the prison authorities must be secured. These authorities are placed by their respective communities or commonwealths in charge of law violators. Their task is not easy. While some of those incarcerated are there for the first time, and experience all the shame and sorrow that accompanies the disgrace, others belong to a class who, outwardly at least, are hardened to their condition. The rules which govern the institution must be such as are demanded for the care of the latter class. These rules may seem somewhat harsh, when only the first offenders are considered, but a moment's thought will indicate that, considering the inmates as a whole, they are necessary.
Any one desiring to engage in prison work, should bear in mind the position of the men in authority, and carefully avoid making requests which would be embarrassing to them. It is my belief that practically every jailor will welcome any sincere effort to be helpful to his charges. There are doubtless some institutions where the prison keepers are cynical, unreasonable, and even brutal; but these are the exception rather than the rule.
The prison worker should be on his guard lest he see the prisoners' viewpoint only. Men who are incarcerated and kept in idleness are sure to brood over their troubles until they view their situation from a wrong perspective. To sympathize with a prisoner to the extent of considering him as being entirely in the right and that society has greatly wronged him, is sure to close the door to real helpfulness.
The most successful prison worker I have ever met, a woman of large heart and marked ability, told the prisoners that she had not come to talk to perfect men. She told them frankly that she knew they were lawbreakers, that they were sinners; and that if any were not of that class, she had no message for them. She assured the prisoners, however, that her aim was to set forth the full power of salvation available to all who had failed in their own. strength. She preached Jesus Christ, the friend of sinners, but never the friend of sin. In strong, stirring language, tempered with a kindliness of manner and speech which kept her from ever being misunderstood, she pointed out the sinfulness of sin, and how terrible it appeared in the eyes of a pure God. This woman has worked in all the larger prisons of the country, and in many of the smaller ones, and never yet have I heard her spoken of by prison authorities except in highest terms of praise.
In conclusion, I would say that the most important thing to do for prisoners is to bring into their thoughts something which carries their mind away from themselves, and awakens hope for the attainment of higher ideals than they have been able to reach through their own efforts.
Takoma Park, D. C.
Ministering to Law Offenders
By E.L. Maxwell
Many times our ministers and workers are called on to minister spiritual help and comfort to those unfortunate persons who for some infraction of the law of the land, have fallen into the toils of the law, and find themselves confined within prison walls, and possibly condemned to suffer the extreme penalty of the law. The question arises as to how we should relate ourselves to these unfortunates, and how we can give them the best assistance in their trouble.
It is a peculiarity of criminal psychology that almost invariably the convicted person either constantly asserts his innocence or greatly minimizes his guilt. This may be the result of autosuggestion, growing out of efforts to cover up his crime and the defense he has made in and out of court, or from a lack of appreciation of the enormity of the offense committed, or it may be from sheer untruthfulness. But whatever the motive, the spiritual worker will almost always find the incarcerated person in this frame of mind.
Sometimes the prisoner's principal occupation is centered on the terrible conditions of the prison where he is confined. Surrounded by constant reminders of the impossibility of enjoying b is liberty, he becomes gloomy and utterly sour on the world. If he has been condemned to die, his contemplation of the approach of the final day develops in his mind a thousand and one fanciful situations and circumstances, in all of which the injustice of the sentence predominates. Sooner or later, the condemned man will communicate these mental emotions to his spiritual adviser, and then arises the question as to how to deal with the varying mental moods of the prisoner, and to what extent it is consistent to accept his version of his trouble.
We should bear in mind that we are all members of society organized for the mutual protection of its members. The individual who violates the rights of others in that society, incurs the penalty which society has ordained for its protection, and justly merits the punishment indicated. Before any man, in this country at least, is sentenced to imprisonment or death, he is granted a trial, in which he is allowed to produce all the evidence in his defense; he has the advantage of legal presumption of his innocence till guilt is proved, and has the assistance of able legal counsel to advise him of his rights and to protect him in his rights. After all this, society, through its legal mouthpiece, the court, decrees his guilt and assesses his punishment.
Under such circumstances, with the established facts in hand, the spiritual adviser should close his ears to the criminal's protestations of innocence. His mission is to help the unfortunate in the condition in which he finds him. The condemned man needs the forgiveness of God, not partisans of his cause against society. The Christian worker should seek to lead the condemned man to recognize and confess his sins. It is not his task to join the prisoner in his struggle to regain the liberty which he has forfeited. And yet it may be possible really to help in securing the desired end, for the quicker the prisoner ceases to mourn his lot and begins in real earnest to co-operate with the prison authorities in a friendly way, the sooner will come the opportunity for parole or pardon.
All endeavor in behalf of the imprisoned should be aimed directly at the soul. Show the prisoner that his only hope for release or pardon lies in cheerful compliance with the rules and regulations of the prison, and that obedience to law, whether in prison or out of prison, is the basis for a happy and successful life. Tell him frankly that you, as a minister of the gospel and an advocate of law and order, cannot be a party to any schemes or plans that he may present for securing freedom before the expiration of his term, and seek to impress upon him that Christian manliness and integrity, in or out of prison, afford true liberty.
Hundreds of prisoners have been upheld in their opposition and bitter resentment against society, and thus encouraged in crime, as the result of misguided sympathy on the part of well-meaning but unwise religious workers. Some years ago a Christian lady, who had a burden to help the inmates of our penal institutions and had been at work along this line for some time, came to me in a heartbroken condition, to talk with me regarding the case of her sixteen-year-old daughter. I learned that a certain man who was confined in the State penitentiary for a sex crime, had been pardoned through the efforts of this woman. After his release, this Christian lady continued to befriend him, and her kindness was rewarded by the man's seducing her daughter. This sad case proves that there are men in prison whose apparent interest in Christianity is only for the purpose of gaining undeserved freedom.
But there are many condemned men, who, when brought face to face with death, truly desire the comfort of the Christian faith. This should not be denied them. Prudent workers may accomplish a great work with such persons.
A good rule for the prison worker is this: Let the law determine the guilt, and deal with the prisoner according to his deserts; but let the grace of God deal with the heart of the prisoner, and work a transformation which is beyond anything that man or man-made laws can accomplish.
Jesus did not say, "I was sick and in prison, and ye came and secured My pardon!" But He did say, "I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me." That is the legitimate work of those who labor in behalf of the unfortunate, and in doing so there is promise of rich experience and great reward.
Mountain View, Calif.
