Nebraska Synod of the ELCA: Prison Ministries

Pastor William Barth

The Rev. Dr. William Barth has served neighborhood churches and also was a marriage and family counselor for many years. Most recently he served three years as called pastor of Rejoice in Gering.

"He's still a pastor, but now his congregation is made up not of families and children but of inmates at the Nebraska State Penitentiary," wrote Reporter Bob Reeves in a September 16, 2006 news article in the Lincoln Journal Star.

Pastor Barth is the new director of our Nebraska Synod Prison Ministries, an outreach program that partners Followers of Christ congregation inside the Nebraska State Penitentiary (NSP) with:

Nebraska Synod, ELCA,

the Bridge, a prison aftercare ministry operated by Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska,

the FEAST ministry of Our Saviour's in Lincoln,

the Rolling Hills cluster prison ministry near Tecumseh, and

the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Pastor William was introduced as the new director at Assembly 2006 in June at Kearney. Bishop David L. deFreese installed the Rev. Dr. Barth at Followers of Christ inside the penitentiary this summer, and that installation was lifted up in a worship service at Our Saviour's in Lincoln, where Ron Lisenby, a Corrections Center inmate, delivered the sermon.

"In my short time as pastor of Followers of Christ Church at NSP, I have met a number of men who through scripture, good counseling, and worship on Saturday night are slowly but surely turning their lives around. I have to admit there is a spirit of love, devotion and gratitude among these men that I often found wanting in the many parishes I have served over almost 40 years of ministry.

It is most certainly true: God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform," said Pastor Barth.

Moving from parish ministry to the prison is a whole new world, but Barth said he's enjoying getting to know the penitentiary inmates and offering "a ministry of listening." His doctoral degree in human development from the University of Maryland plus years of counseling experience are serving him well.

"Often the inmates need help in preparing for parole or release," he said. He offers practical advice and directs them to The Bridge.

Sometimes they want to talk about things they're carrying - painful parts of their past life. Often they just want someone to talk to, who will listen and not increase their prison sentence.

Barth said he approaches each prisoner with the attitude that "we're all doing time," that everyone has made mistakes and needs God's forgiveness.

That's also the philosophy behind The FEAST, which is led by a core group of lay members at Our Saviour's. FEAST stands for Friends Eating, Singing, Studying and Sharing Together. This outreach ministry welcomes ex-prisoners and workrelease inmates from the Community Corrections Center.

The church members take a bus every Sunday morning to pick up inmates who want to come to church. For every eight inmates, there must be a church member to act as a sponsor. Between 30 and 40 prisoners and former inmates from The Bridge attend the 10:30 a.m. worship service at Our Saviour's. Following the service, prisoners and their friends share lunch, Bible study, prayers and fellowship.

"They just blend right in with the congregation," Pastor Bud Christenson said. "They might be a greeter, a reader, helping someone with communion." Pastor Christenson decided this year to retire from the demands of fulltime prison ministry after heart surgery.

He will continue to offer support to the ministry as he takes on an interim ministry position in Omaha this fall.

Christenson launched the Nebraska Synod prison ministry in 1997 after serving nine years as pastor of Lincoln's Sheridan Lutheran Church. He had a grant from the ELCA's Division for Outreach Support and support from the congregations of Nebraska Synod, ELCA, to start a church inside the prison walls. Later, Bud and his wife, Muriel, also started The Bridge, a Lincoln ministry that provides housing, help in finding jobs and adjusting to society for inmates who have been paroled or have completed their sentences.

When Our Saviour's first started talking about bringing prisoners to worship, there were some who opposed the idea, said Tammy Schafer, a church member who is a leader in The Feast. But once it got started, church members realized the prisoners were people just like anyone else, she said.

"We're really building relationships," she said. "I see them as my brothers and sisters... When they come here they feel accepted, not looked down on. I hope they'll go out and do the same thing for others."

Boyce Brown, who left the penitentiary in April and was living in an apartment house run by The Bridge, said the church helped him feel like a real person again after being in prison. "The people welcome you without exception or questions. They're concerned about you. They become your family."

People in prison "made a mistake but that doesn't mean they should not be loved," said the Rev. Lowell Hennigs, pastor at Our Saviour's. Including prisoners in worship "has made us better Christians made us more grateful people, made us much more aware of the grace of God."

"It's truly God's hand reaching out through this church," said Larry Darby, a work-release prisoner. "It gives each of us an opportunity to do better and start a new life."

This article combines portions of Lincoln Journal Star Reporter Bob Reeve's article, with permission, and additional information compiled by Linda Janssen Gjere, Nebraska Synod Communications.

The FEAST - Contact Jim Brewer at Our Saviour's/Lincoln at 402-483-4126 for further information about this congregational ministry.