By Mark H Hunter, Regional Reporter
ANGOLA – For the first time in Louisiana Baptist history, and perhaps in all of Southern Baptist history, a local Baptist association has accepted a prison church into its fellowship.
The Washington Baptist Association unanimously voted Oct. 5 to accept Grace Baptist Church of the Main Camp in Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The Washington Association compromises 38 Louisiana Baptist Convention churches in Washington and St. Tammany Parishes and the annual meeting was held at First Baptist of Franklinton.
Grace Baptist is five years old and is the only Southern Baptist church among the prison’s 28 inmate-led churches. Its 65 or so members meet five times a week in the Main Camp’s Education Center and twice a month in the Main Camp’s Tudy Chapel.
Grace Baptist is led by inmate Pastor Paul Will, 42, a 2007 graduate of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Extension at Angola. Like most of the men at Angola, he is serving a life sentence.
Andrew Voss is pastor of Hillcrest Baptist in Franklinton, where Will was ordained last year. Voss facilitated the agreement and is also a NOBTS adjunct professor.
“To our knowledge this is the very first, fully recognized Southern Baptist Church anywhere in the world located inside a penitentiary,” said Voss. “The vote was unanimous and there was an overwhelming eruption of applause after the vote was taken.”
Voss said they started working on it about a year ago, “as a way to further validate what God is doing there, not only through the seminary but through the churches because these inmate pastors are the ones who are on the front lines touching these guys’ lives and their families back in their communities.”
Grace Baptist’s inmate Pastor Will wrote in a statement that it was difficult to express all his feelings and thoughts about the “historically unprecedented” fellowship.
“I am truly humbled at this monumental moment,” Will wrote. “For God has allowed, through His providence, an incredible history to unfold here at Angola, a history that only God could have orchestrated for no man could have planned all that has transpired.”
Will credits Warden Burl Cain for his bringing the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to Angola 20 years ago and creating the prison’s innovative re-entry programs.
“The Scripture has proved to be true,” Will wrote about Ephesians 3:20-21. “’Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask, or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, amen.’”
“If I were to sum up my feelings concerning this event I would have to say that I’m overwhelmed and humbled by the fact that God has chosen to love and use the most broken of souls, in the most unlikely of circumstances to do such a marvelous work,” Will wrote.
NOBTS President Charles “Chuck” Kelley, Jr., who was featured speaker for the association meeting tweeted, “I’m at Washington Baptist Association that just accepted a church started at Angola prison by our inmate students as a member. Wow! What a God – Our God is so great!”
In a later phone interview Kelley said, “to my knowledge I don’t know of any other association that has accepted as a member church a church composed of inmates inside a prison – so – it was a very historic night, very wonderful night!”
Bill Sumners, director of the SBC Historical Library and Archives, was asked about it and was reluctant to declare it as a historical ‘first’ event. But after he searched the convention’s databases he concluded, “as far as we know this has not happened before.”
Angola Chaplains Dr. Rick Sharkey and Robert Toney also said they thought this was a unique, historic occurrence.
“I think it’s an awesome thing,” Sharkey said. “It’s the kingdom of God expanding beyond the walls of a prison.”
“The Louisiana Baptists just love the inmates,” Toney said. “For that we are forever grateful.”
The Washington Baptist Association is one of three groups in the 91-church Baptist Associations of Southeast Louisiana, along with the William Wallace Association, 24 churches, and Two Rivers Association, 29 churches.
Stan Statham, director of missions for the Southeast Association, said Angola prison is actually located in the William Wallace Association, in West Feliciana Parish, but because Voss and other local men who regularly visit Angola are in the Washington Association, they were the logical group to accept the prison church.
“We hope that a lot of our churches will journey over there and fellowship with them because they obviously can’t come to us,” Statham said.
“We’re pretty excited about it – we think it’s a great step in how the Lord is working. We know that a lot of those men won’t ever be released – but we pray that his kingdom will go forward even there. He came to save and we pray those guys will reach other inmates with the gospel,” added Statham.