Gov. Deal asks churches for help with criminal justice reform at Gainesville service

GAINESVILLE - A prison ministry came full circle when the choir from Lee Arrendale State Prison in Alto sang at Sunday morning's worship service at Gainesville's Riverbend Baptist Church.

Riverbend Pastor Matt Wethington said his church choir has had the opportunity to minister at the prison several times over the past two years. This week, the prison had the chance to reciprocate, traveling to the church on Cleveland Highway to lead worship for the congregation.

Wethington said to his knowledge, having a prison choir sing outside the prison walls is rare.

"I'm in my 17th year of vocational ministry and this is the first time I've ever seen a prison choir come into the church to lead worship," said Wethington. "I don't think it happens very often."

Among those in the congregation who came to see the rare performance were Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and his wife Sandra. After the choir performed and the prison's volunteer chaplain Rev. Johnny Jett delivered the sermon, the governor spoke for a few minutes.

With great emotion, he addressed the choir first.

"I'm proud of you ladies," he said in a choked voice.

Then, the governor challenged the congregation to take up his goal of criminal justice reform for Georgia.

Noting that the state legislature has taken steps to create alternative means of punishment for both juveniles and adults with programs such as drug courts, the governor said the third step in reform was the successful re-entry of former prisoners into society.

"Individuals who are incarcerated in our prison system - some 60,000 that we have now roughly, in round figures - most of them at some point in time will come back into our community, and it is a difficult task," said Deal.

The governor told the congregation he believes the church can play a key role in helping former prisoners not only find places to worship, but also they can assist with helping them find places to live, with counseling and ministry to families as they reunite, and with finding gainful employment.

"For someone who has a felony record...they probably never even get a job interview," said Deal. "So, that means that Christian people have to say 'I'm willing to give you hope' and step up."

Wethington said he thinks his congregation and others will take the governor's challenge to heart.

"I'm excited about what he's challenged us - and what he's challenged other faith-based organizations - to do," said Wethington. "I'd like to see our church and others in our community come together and figure out how we can invest in the lives of these individuals.

"The warden was telling me that 98-percent of our inmates will find their way back into society and so we need to figure out how we can be a part of helping them get acclimated - finding a job, finding affordable housing, those kinds of things."

As far as Riverbend is concerned, he said, the church will continue to minister to the women who are inmates at Lee Arrendale, especially now that more church members have had the chance to see the faces of some of those women.

"I think our congregation had a great day of worship and celebration," said Wethington. "The reality is as men and women who've been redeemed by the same shed blood of Christ, there's no difference in God's eyes between us and them."


NOTE: Lee Arrendale State Prison Warden Kathy Seabolt said the Voices of Hope choir, made up of 30 members, tries to accept every invitation it gets to perform, but she acknowledged it isn't easy to coordinate the trips. She noted that participation, particularly outside the prison, is predicated on good behavior on the part of the inmates.

The Voices of Hope choir is directed by Chaplain Susan Bishop, who has directed the inmate choir for more than two decades. And, while most of the singing is done behind bars, the choir members have released one CD already and another is in the works.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/6/262369