Serving time among the underserved

A growing number of Yale Divinity School students are seeking to serve prisoner and reentrant communities through supervised internships, activism, and volunteer opportunities.

“The passage in Matthew 25, where Jesus is talking about what you have done to these you have done to me….has been reverberating around in me for as long as these issues have been on my radar,” said Michael Nitsch, ‘14 M.A.R.

Lucinda Huffaker, director of supervised ministries, said that she’s been working toward providing opportunities in prison ministry since she came to YDS in 2011. Her efforts were aided this year with the help of George Chochos ‘16 M.Div., whose journey from prison to the M.Div. program was featured in a November 2013 article in The New Haven Register. Inspired by YDS’s 2013 all-school conference discussion of Michelle Alexander’s book on mass incarceration, The New Jim Crow, Nitsch reached out to friends and mentors about his capacity to serve people affected by America’s incarceration system. By the end of the Spring 2013 semester, he had left his ordination process to focus on a future career in reentrant work.

Chochos reclaimed his relationship with God in an intake cell in Rockland County, NY. During his last and longest prison sentence, he worked with several different Protestant prison chaplains, leading Bible studies, preaching, and mentoring his fellow inmates. Since his release and enrollment at YDS, Chochos has committed himself to continued outreach to reentrants, as well as to helping his fellow students understand the difficulties of prison ministry. 

“It’s a great ministry, but it can be a sad ministry,” said Chochos. “You have to have a certain amount of emotional strength…and you have to really know that God called you.”

During his time in jail, Chochos watched as chaplains struggled to balance the demands of prison supervisors with the needs of inmates. He said the best were able to command authority while simultaneously allowing any interested prisoner to stop by for a cup of coffee and a chat.

“Good chaplains had an open door policy to their office,” Chochos said. “They looked for ways to engage all different types of people.” 

Nitsch received similar advice this fall when he interned at New Haven’s Prison Reentry Initiative, a program designed to coordinate the numerous local organizations whose work impacts men and women who have been recently released from jail. Nitsch said his work was guided by his supervisor’s belief that the best way to serve others is to meet them where they are.

Chochos and Nitsch are joined by a growing number of YDS students seeking to minister to underserved prison and reentrant populations.“His advice at the time was that there’s no shortcut for…treating the person you are serving with sincerity and seriousness,” Nitsch said.

Win Bassett, ‘16 M.Div. became interested in prison ministry when he found himself more committed to keeping people out of prison than convicting them—a difficult situation for a prosecutor. Leaving his career as an attorney behind, Bassett enrolled at YDS where he’s continuing to discern the role prison ministry will play in his career. He currently serves on the fiction committee of the PEN Prison Writing Program.

Jordan Brooks ‘15 M.A.R. worked in reentry programming for a number of years before enrolling at YDS. Though most of her work has been with government programs like New Haven’s Prison Reentry Initiative, she describes her efforts as ministry, “because the work engages the ‘least of these’ highlight in Matthew 25 in a way that is all too often overlooked.” After completing her degree, Brooks hopes to use her expertise to develop a comprehensive reentry program in New Haven.

Herron Gaston ‘14 M.Div. began his exploration of mass incarceration issues while writing his senior thesis in college. After graduating, he worked with government leaders in Florida to reduce recidivism. Gaston confronted the prison system himself early in his YDS career when he was falsely accused and imprisoned before his eventual release. He said he plans “on serving this community for the rest of [his] life.”

Marilyn Kendrix ‘13 M.Div. was the strongest student voice behind YDS’s engagement with The New Jim Crow last year. She has continued her advocacy work while serving as the associate pastor for faith formation at The Church of the Redeemer UCC. Kendrix raises awareness about mass incarceration by preaching and teaching at neighboring churches. She was recently appointed by UCC president Geoffrey Black ‘72 M.A.R. to represent the denomination on a National Council of Churches committee focused on mass incarceration issues.

Gregory Williams ‘15 M.Div, became involved with incarceration issues through his activism on behalf of the New Haven immigrant community. This year, he made waves with the creation of Decarcerate CT, an organization dedicated to ending mass incarceration. He describes his efforts to end injustice in the American prison system as “an important element in a pastoral care toolbox.”

Lucinda Huffaker has reason to expect even more prison and reentrant related internships in future years, as she says awareness continues to grow. She gathered interested students last semester to assess their hopes for future opportunities and said there was a push to create a formal student group dedicated to prison ministry.

As Michael Nitsch considers life after graduation in May, he remains focused on finding a job that will allow him to continue to learn alongside the reentrant population. “It is really important for me…to work in some way that’s going to involve quite a direct connection with the people that are affected by [incarceration] issues,” he said.

A direct connection is exactly the vision George Chochos has for effective prison and reentrant ministry, for he knows that students will struggle with stereotypes and prejudices until they form real relationships with people who have experienced life behind bars.

“You have to have a complete openness to be able to love everybody and anybody,” Chochos said. “You have to have a willingness to see past people’s crimes and see them as people created by God with infinite value and worth.”