Midwestern brings biblical, accredited education to the penitent

posted on Mar 07, 2011 by Austin Mayfield

In early August, 2010, L. Dale Sutton, a chaplain at the federal penitentiary located in Leavenworth, Kan., contacted Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in hopes of arranging a meeting with the Seminary president, Dr. R. Philip Roberts.

Sutton had seen prisons and state penitentiaries cooperate with educational institutions to bring undergraduate-level instruction to inmates, and he descried opportunity for a similar program at U.S. Penitentiary, Leavenworth. The chaplain envisioned a program that would give incarcerated individuals an opportunity to discover true Christianity – a program dedicated to making disciples and preparing the forgiven to defend their faith.

Soon thereafter, Sutton gained an audience with Roberts, along with the Seminary’s then-vice-president for academic development, Dr. Jerry A. Johnson, and a fellow chaplain, Mike Crowell. “We ate lunch and discussed this opportunity,” Sutton recalled. “We left feeling directed and excited.”

The visionaries believed that, given the government’s predilection for education, a partnership could be formed between Leavenworth and the Seminary. “Education is something that is very much backed by the federal government, especially in regards to inmate re-entry,” Sutton said, explaining the measures the government takes to ensure a former prisoner’s successful re-assimilation into society. “We took this idea and invited Christian education into the institution so as not just to make a difference in re-entry, but also in eternity.”

In October, the vision came to flesh and, in the context of Midwestern Seminary’s Contextualized Leadership Development program, courses began at U.S.P., Leavenworth with 24 students enrolled in the first class.

Dr. Rodney Harrison, Midwestern’s vice president for Institutional Effectiveness, discussed the uniqueness of this particular on-site (contextualized) approach. “The C.L.D. program provides undergraduate-level training in a contextualized setting,” he said. “Leavenworth is one of several C.L.D. centers in the Midwest; however, it is unique in that it is the only center in a Federal prison.”

            Sutton, too, affirmed the program’s exceptional nature, expounding on the qualities that set it apart from similar collaborations. “There are many prisons that do correspondence classes, and some even have people come into the institution to teach classes. The only problem with this is that they aren’t accredited. Anyone can teach, and there is no accountability of what is being taught,” Sutton said. “There are currently only two institutions that we know of that are doing a program like this…us and Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. [But] we are the only Federal prison that is doing such a program.”

Another rare facet of the courses is the cost of tuition: there isn’t one. While Harrison expects that, in the future, additional courses will be instructed by students and faculty of Midwestern’s doctoral program, right now Chaplains Sutton and Crowell volunteer their time, teaching classes on-site at the penitentiary in traditional semesters that coincide with Midwestern’s academic calendar. Sutton says the results are worth the effort. “A sense of accomplishment does more to these men than you or I could possibly imagine,” he said. “It lifts them up and gives them hope that they can do more than commit crimes. We see it as a venue to help them do what Christ wants and not be guided by sinful desires or negative peer pressure.”

Students of the C.L.D. center can take classes such as the Old Testament and New Testament Surveys, Biblical Interpretation, Baptist History and Practice, Personal Evangelism and Discipleship, the Pentateuch, the Gospels, Christian Doctrines I and II and Worldviews.

After pairing 15 credit-hours of foundational core with 15 credit-hours in a Biblical Studies concentration, students will receive a diploma in Christian Ministry transferrable to the Bachelor of Arts program at Midwestern. The diploma will also give Christian inmates who are due for release an opportunity to further their education once they re-enter society. “We are encouraging them to take this step of getting a diploma to see the benefit of Christian education,” Sutton said. “Some feel called to ministry, others are excited about their faith and just want to learn all that they can.”

According to Sutton, the courses minister to and equip a wide range of students. “We have quite an eclectic group—from pastors’ children to men who have never been inside a church,” he said. “Ages range from mid-20s to early-60s; ethnic groups include Black, White and Hispanic.”

As a whole, the program is geared toward Christian inmates, both those who had previously accepted Christ but experienced a period of backsliding, as well as those who trusted the Lord after their incarceration. “Some of the inmates trusted Christ as children in Vacation Bible School, Sunday School or a youth ministry and yet were never discipled in the Word of God,” Harrison noted. “These classes provide students with the biblical foundation for life and ministry.”

Sutton said that, in addition to the invaluable gift of hope and the material reward of credit-hours, the C.L.D program ultimately affords the students a more complete picture of Christianity.  “All of the men in classes and all of the men who come to church here embrace the idea of forgiveness, but counting the cost of discipleship is another story,” Sutton said. “I believe that, through this educational experience, men will be afforded the opportunity to consider all of what Christianity entails.”