BURFORD, Ga. - Twenty-three inmates at Georgia's Phillips State Prison earned associate degrees in Christian ministry through a program created through a joint initiative of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and the Georgia Department of Corrections.
NOBTS President Chuck Kelley spoke at the Dec. 15 commencement.
"What a great and mighty work God is doing in this place and in these precious lives," Kelley said. He also praised graduates and their families.
"I'm so proud of what you have done and the price you have paid and the hours you have labored, and we're going to celebrate that great accomplishment; but that's not the main reason," Kelley said. "By the power of Jesus Christ in your life, we can celebrate the strength you have found in the Lord Jesus."
Kelley reminded his audience that the Apostle Paul, while an inmate in a Philippian jail, witnessed to members of Caesar's elite Praetorian Guard. Those men were transferred to posts throughout the known world, and as a result, the Gospel spread.
Kelley told graduates they would be "world changers" for Christ.
The world David Funderburk will change is within the prison gates of Phillips.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that Funderburk was not a Christian when he came to Phillips in 2002, to serve a life sentence for murder, burglary and arson. Through correspondence, a friend urged him to try Christianity. In 2006, he relented, and went to a prison Bible study. "I think God has been working on me for a while, Funderburk told Chris Quinn of the Atlanta newspaper." Who would have thought that I would have been able to read and understand the New Testament in the original language?"
Funderburk surprised even himself by graduating from the program and earning "any degree other than the third degree." He, along with his fellow graduates, will now work toward a bachelor of arts degree in Christian ministry, with graduation expected in December 2011.
Brian Owens, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections, said the graduation ceremony bolsters the department's Faith and Character-Based partnerships.
"It will help the department provide new opportunities in our prisons, assist offenders in the re-entry process and reduce recidivism upon their release," Owens said.
The Phillips program began in 2008, based on similar partnerships at Louisiana's Angola State Penitentiary and Mississippi's Parchman State Prison. Since the start of those programs, prison officials say that violence within the prison has dropped. Upon graduation, Phillips inmates will minister in facilities throughout the Georgia correctional system, the nation's fourth-largest prison system.
Steve Echols, associate regional dean for Alabama and Georgia extension centers at NOBTS and director of the seminary's North Georgia campus, called the commencement a "moving experience."
"Seeing men who had failed in life now succeeding in something so worthwhile, was a reminder of the wonderful grace of God that every believer receives," Echols said. "I was reminded there is much potential for the work of the Kingdom in people that we would tend to dismiss. . . It was especially touching to see the families of the prisoners beam with pride over what the inmates had accomplished."
Graduate Jerome Glover, 60, also understood the impact of the ceremony. Serving a 20-year sentence for robbery, Glover hopes a parole is in his future. If he does leave prison, Glover told the Journal-Constitution, he hopes to serve at his brother's church, ministering to those with drug problems and others who wind up on the wrong side of the law.
"If I ever come back to prison, it's going to be for prison ministry," Glover said.
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