History

Ministry was started in about 1998 as a program to visit inmates at Hamilton County Jail on a twice a month basis. The program grew to every week as more volunteers were recruited who were willing to be part of regularly scheduled visits. The Rev Tom Burton became a full time chaplain in the jail and instituted a series of programs to involve outside churches to be involved in conducting Bible Studies in the cell block. Originally we administered to both men and women but as more churches got involved we chose to only administer to the adult male population, we are not working with juvenile section.

Scope

We send two to three ministers to visit with male inmates on Tuesday night and it is conducted as a general discussion with the emphasis on getting the inmates to have an open discuss and ask questions about their belief of the bible. Most of the inmates are not Catholic and most do not have an active religious background and jail format does not allow teaching one church belief over another churches beliefs. It must be generic. 

Program

We use the three readings from the previous Sunday as a beginning to our discussion for that evening. There is no lesson book, homework or carryover lesson from visit to visit. This provides us the ability to make a discussion plan in advance of our visit and the ministers always know what the lesson will be for any given week if we have to make a schedule change. The Hamilton County Jail is considered a short-term facility so most inmates are not there for long periods of time. Our program is designed to be a DISCUSSION so we do not preach to them but try to involve them to open their hearts and minds to some sort of relationship with their God.

Requirements

We are in the jail with permission of the current elected Sheriff and work under the direction and control of the Chaplain. The requirements can be changed at any time depending on circumstances in the jail at the time of your visit and can even be changed while you are in the jail if conditions arise during your visit. All people who enter the jail are required to attend an orientation program of the dos and don't that apply to people who enter the secured jail common areas prior to be allowed access. A background check is required, written approval from your minister stating that you are a member of good standing and qualified to discuss bible doctrine. You must also be under the supervision of an experienced jail minister coordinator approved by your church and jail chaplain. To remain current in this program you must attend an Orientation Program at least once a year. At this time the Chaplain is requesting that we only recruit male volunteers to work with male inmates because of past problems with inappropriate contact between inmates and volunteers.

Volunteers

The type of individuals that we are looking for are people that have a very good ability to start and maintain a discussion with thirty men locked in a room for about an hour. Some of the inmates attend just to get out of the cell block, some come to show how much bible knowledge they have gained in just a couple of days of reading the bible. Each one comes for his own individual reason and you will probably not know what motivated his attendance. Since we do not preach, only discuss the best ministers are ones who can ask leading questions that require them to think before they answer and lead to further discussion. A real deep understanding of the bible and all of its messages is not required because in an hour's time you will not get that deep. As part of the team we try to steer all discussion away from food and living conditions, and their legal and family problem because we cannot address any of those items. We need people who can commit to this program on a regular basis so that we can make up a schedule for three months at a time.

If you are concerned about being locked in a secured facility in a 20 by 30 foot room with thirty male inmates for an hour, a little rough language and appearance and not being able to conduct a meaningful conversation then this is probably not the program for you. There are other services that you can provide for both women and men at the Hamilton County Jail without having to go inside the facility. If you have a relative or friend that is currently in the jail system or if you just want to try it for a short period of time to say that you visited the imprisoned then there are other options available to you. The biggest requirement is to be a good conversationalist and be willing to commit to an ongoing program that administers each and every week. If you should have any questions or require any more in depth details about this ministry please let me know and I will be happy to answer your questions.