A team of 30 volunteers are bringing hope and transformation to inmates at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Tennessee.
The jail ministry started 12 years ago with just two people. Fred Owenby, who leads the volunteer group, oversees a Sunday and Monday schedule of Bible studies and faith-based curriculum designed to help incarcerated men and women turn their lives around.
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“Our goal is to share Jesus,” said Owenby, an 81-year-old volunteer who has been involved in jail ministry for 16 years. “We want to help people not come back to jail.”
The ministry uses the “The 180 Program: New Beginnings,” which focuses on helping inmates make complete life changes.
According to Owenby, approximately 70% of jail inmates return within a three-year period. The 180 Program tackles this recidivism problem through weekly lessons covering topics like choices, attitudes, overcoming negative thoughts and personal accountability.
The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board provides funding through Compassion Ministries to supply the program materials to Clinton Baptist Association, which hosts the ministry.
The workbooks, along with Bibles and devotional materials, are provided free to participating inmates.
While the ministry originated at Salem Baptist Church in Knox County, volunteers now come from multiple congregations, including Oak Ridge Baptist, Black Oak Heights Baptist and Meadowview Baptist.
For Owenby, he credits God’s call for his involvement. At age 65, while attending a Gideons meetings, he heard a clear message from God directing him to jail ministry.
“I would’ve been scared not to do it,” he said. “It’s the most clear thing in my whole life.”
Owenby and the other volunteers get to see how the impact extends beyond the jail walls. Owenby shared how inmates who attended the Sunday Bible Studies started their own prayer groups during the week and led three fellow inmates to faith in Christ. One of those men, now released and living in the Rogersville area, continues attending church.
“We became friends in there, and we could tell that he was really serious about changing his life,” Owenby said. “We’ve just been really trying to encourage him and follow up with helping him stay focused.”
‘Real good people’
Inmates must meet behavioral standards to qualify for the classes. Many are working to overcome drug addiction.
“When they’re off of drugs and they’ve been off whatever time they need to be — 30 days, 60 days, 90 days — they’re just like the rest of us,” Owenby said. “A lot of them are real good people.”
The program’s effectiveness shows in a simple phrase Owenby loves to hear from participants: “This has got me thinking.”
“That’s the whole purpose of turning your life around 180 degrees,” he said. “to get you thinking about, do you want to have a better life than you’ve been living?”
For Owenby, the commitment remains strong even as the need for volunteers continues.
“Those inmates depend on you doing what you say,” he said. “If they know what Sundays you come, you’re going to be there.”
Tools to ‘change my life’
Below are some lines from thank you letters written by the inmates who completed the program in the last couple of years.
“I feel like, when I get out of jail, (the program has) given me the tools to completely change my life.”
— Aaron J.
“Thanks to you it was possible for me to take this class and gain some knowledge about faith and some skills and help change my way of thinking. Thank you, TN Baptist Association!!”
— David S.
“I was saved at 12 years old but as I grew up, I put God on the backburner. Shortly before I was arrested, I thought, ‘how can I change my life?’ Now, with the help of 180, I know God has always been with me and he loves me.”
— Felicia A.
“This program provides instruction and guidance … I must make the choice to forgive, to take responsibility, and to stop making excuses. This program will help me turn these words into actions and these actions into habits and character.”
— Misty B.
“Thanks to the ladies that take time out of their day to teach this class. It means a lot to me and I’m sure it will to those after me.”
— Bridget H.
“The class does an amazing job of forcing one to look at their lives through an array of lessons … However, the greatest effect that your financial support for this class has is the unconditional love from strangers that your kindness shows. The whole of Scripture is rooted in and points to love as the ultimate conqueror of this fallen world.”
— Dockery (First name not available)
“All these classes are good, but to me, 180 class is number 1 and chaplain Owenby is hands down awesome.”
— Dustin K.
“I learned that if you change the way [you] perceive things, then you change your feelings, which changes your emotions, which dictate your behavior …So I just wanted to take the time to tell you thank you and GOD bless you.”
— David S.
“I just want to say thank you for the chance to take the 180 Program. I really enjoyed it and I got a lot out of it. And I can’t wait to see what my new future holds.”
— Steven R.
“As the class took off, for me, it seemed a slow start. But the more I got in the Bible and attended church, the more it made sense to me. … I feel like the help that you have given to the inmates is, in my opinion, much needed to help open their eyes to a different way of living life!”
— Ivan (Last name not available)
“I realized my life had become a disaster due to my going back to drinking and smoking pot … This program … has given me the skills to associate the Scripture with all the challenges that I face in this life … and to trust God and my savior Jesus Christ to help me overcome all temptations that may cause me to stumble in my walk with Jesus.”
— Eddie T.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Zoë Watkins and originally published by the Baptist and Reflector.
