Jail and Prison Ministry Conference Slated for October 22-23
Plans are being finalized for the 2015 biennial Jail and Prison Ministries Pastors and Workers Conference to be held at the Church of God International Offices chapel, October 22-23, 2015. The event is being coordinated by the Church of God USA Missions office.
The event begins on Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m. and concluded after the Friday night service, The conference will provide both information and inspiration to delegates who attend.
The opening service will feature the ministry of Pastor Gerald McGinnis, senior pastor of Park West Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, a 2,000 member congregation that he and his wife Dawn started with 26 people in 1980. McGinnis is a chaplain with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and several other agencies, and a pastor with multiple benevolent outreaches. McGinnis will speak from first-hand experience on “Ministering to the Families of the Incarcerated.” McGinnis’ own father was incarcerated throughout his impressionable formative years.
On Friday morning, October 23, two sessions will be featured. The first will provide an open forum discussing “Current Challenges in Prison Ministry” with a distinguished panel consisting of Chaplain Eugene Wigelsworth, Divisional Director of Religious Programs and Volunteer Services for the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Chaplain Dean Yancey of the Arkansas State Department of Corrections, and Mary Washington, former NYPD officer and NYPD Parole Commissioner. All three are credentialed by the Church of God.
The second session will be led by Dr. Donnie Smith, Executive Administrator of the Division of Care and Director of the Church of God Chaplain’s Commission, along with Dr. Jake Popejoy, Coordinator of Community Service Chaplaincy training for the Church of God. Smith and Popejoy will address “The Path to Certification,” and will assist those who wish to be certified by the Chaplain’s Commission as well as any who may be contemplating a career in prison chaplaincy.
A noon luncheon to be conducted in the Leadership and Communications Center on the International Offices campus, and will feature a special message from Mr. Eric Watson, Bradley County (Tennessee) Sheriff. Himself a devout Christian, a former state representative, and sought-after motivational speaker, Watson, since becoming Bradley County Sheriff, has been on the cutting edge in the development of innovative faith-based initiatives throughout the Bradley County Corrections system.
On Friday night, the conference concludes with a session to be led by Pastor R. C. Hugh Nelson, pastor of the East Flatbush Church of God in Brooklyn, New York, who will address “The Power of God to Change Lives in Prison.” Pastor Nelson serves a congregation with more certified chaplains than any other congregation in the greater New York City area, and with outreaches to the formerly incarcerated as well as in scores of jails and prisons. He will be assisted in the session by Dr. Mary Washington, NYPD Parole Commissioner, and by Tim Bryant, a young man whom Nelson led to Christ in jail through prison outreach. Following his release, a reformed Tim Bryant developed, grew, and now operates one of the largest janitorial services in the metropolitan Nashville, Tennessee area.
According to Dr. James E. Cossey, Executive Administrator of USA Missions, this conference is designed for local pastors and individuals who engage themselves, or who desire to become engaged in volunteer jail and prison ministries in their local communities. The conference is open to all who wish to attend, including those not affiliated with the Church of God. Cossey states that there are presently 2.5 million persons incarcerated in federal, state, and county jails and prisons in the United States, a number comparable to the entire population of the State of Mississippi, making prison ministry one of the ripest evangelistic opportunities of our day.
For additional information, call USA Missions at 423-478-7103 or download the registration form atwww.usamissions.com. Registration cost is $59 per person.
