Corrections_Today_November_December_2022_Vol.84_No.6

Correctional Chaplain Perspectives

two-day event, asking questions and discussing messages during breaks, and sharing meals. In partnership with the Global Leadership Network, and as part of our community engagement initia tives in Tennessee, Fourth Purpose asked three organizations to host the GLS across the state. Faith Promise, a multi-campus church in Knoxville, has been hosting the GLS for years. They also have a thriving prison min istry led by Campus Pastor Lisa Cole. The Church partners with God Behind Bars, a national faith-based non-profit, to stream their Sunday worship experi ence into Bledsoe and Morgan County Correctional Complexes in East Tennessee. Along with the services, Faith Promise volunteers lead small groups and classes inside the facilities, support Tennessee Department of Cor rections (TDOC) chaplains and staff, and provide support to citizens return ing to the community and families impacted by incarceration. “I’ve attended the

The Summit has demonstrated the ability to influence culture change over time as participants assimilate content into new pro-social ways to identify and live in the context of sentence and circumstance.

“Being a chaplain and in charge of introducing inmates to various avenues of hope feels like I am holding a flash light directly on someone that has been stuck in the dark for the better part of their life—but now they can find a way to hope. Given the right opportunity, those individu als create their own light and shine, giving proof to what programs like the GLS can achieve inside institutions.” — Chaplain Dwight Burch, Franklin Correctional Institute Several State Departments of Correction also use the Summit for leadership training purposes with their staff. The most successful and impact ing Summit experiences in prisons are hosted by community and/or faith-based organizations, often a local church. This model brings volunteers into the facility that are already known to the population. Volunteers and mentors can interact with participants throughout the

been hosted in 200 prison and jail facilities since 2014; over 15,000 incarcerated men and women have participated. For inmates, Summit speakers and messages are positive, pro-social, and inspiring. “It was an amazing blessing on its own to be in the presence of such great leaders. I obtained many jewels that made a great impact in my life and gave me that drive I needed to continue to want to do better. This world needs more positive leaders that are going to stand for some thing, not for our own self gain, but for the better of this world.” — Luis, Century Correction Institute The Summit has demonstrated the ability to influence culture change over time as participants assimilate content into new pro social ways to identify and live in the context of sentence and circumstance.

Global Leadership Summit for years at church. Last year, there was a story of a prison hosting it. I was inundated with texts asking why we didn’t have it inside one of our [prison] cam puses. I was thrilled when Fourth Purpose asked if we would be willing to help. Our first hosting experience at Bledsoe was amazing! The participants really enjoyed it, they took notes and are still talking about it a month later.” — Lisa Cole

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