"Chaplains On Call for Death - And Life" The Richmond Times Dispatch Last month on his execution day, Thomas H. Beavers Jr. had refused all visits from friends, family and ministers. But two hours before the 9 p.m. lethal injection he changed his mind and asked for a clergyman. Fortunately, Mitchell Anderson, pastor of the Antioch Baptist Church in Sussex County, had driven back to the Greensville Correctional Center that evening. Anderson also serves as the assistant chaplain of the prison for the Chaplain Service of the Churches of Virginia Inc. Anderson met with Beavers, then followed him into the death chamber and stood by as the condemned man was strapped to the execution gurney. "The warden motioned for me to approach T.J. [Beavers]. I stepped up against the gurney and with my Bible pressed against my chest I placed my right hand firmly on TJ's shoulder," Anderson said. "He was trembling and his eyes were bloodshot and bulged. I had intended to offer a last prayer but I remained silent as T.J. [said] some last words. He said that he was sorry for what he did and he asked God's forgiveness."
	Anderson left the room. As the first of the lethal chemicals entered his system, Beavers raised his head and shouted: "God forgive me for what I did." Anderson said, "I could hear T.J. cry out to God all the way down the hall in the room in which I was sitting." It's been said God is often found in foxholes and in prisons. Why should the public care?
	Cecil E. McFarland, executive director of the Protestant chaplain service, has an answer: Unlike Beavers, executed Dec. 11, "the majority of the prisoners who are incarcerated now, approximately 25,000 adults, [and] over 1,200 juveniles, are going to come back into the community. "They're going to come back and apply for jobs. You're going to be living next door to them, they're going to be in your churches, they're going to be citizens," said McFarland. "The reason we want to be able to make a change in their life is so they won't come back [as criminals], but as people who have changed their lives, people who have recognized their guilt and shame, their estrangement from the family and God and everything else. "We can make a difference in their life. We know that chaplains have and that chaplains will continue to." Prison chaplains conduct worship services, lead Bible studies, develop religious programs and assist the work of other clergy, such as Roman Catholic and Muslim, as well as coordinate the work of 5,000 volunteers. They also act as counselors and advocates for inmates.
	The nonprofit organization, founded in 1920, is unique in the country. Right now, although financially sound, the group needs more funds for operations this year that are on the horizon. "We're the only state that does not have state-subsidized chaplains," said McFarland, executive director since March 1995. McFarland, 67, is a United Methodist minister. He is a former Navy chaplain who served as executive director of Goodwill Industries in Richmond from 1977 to 1983.
	These days he's also made a name for himself as a part-time magician. The service has a budget for this year of $609,950. It will be receiving $382,714 from religious denominations, $150,000 from foundations and other contributors and $15,000 from interest earned on investments. That leaves the service $62,236 short of what it needs this year. Unless additional contributions from the public, businesses and foundations come in, the money will have to be taken from a $250,000 reserve. "We're fiscally stable, we're not going down the drain, although we do need funds simply because of the new prisons that are being opened. We have to provide chaplains," he said. They employ seven full-time chaplains who are paid $35,000 a year, from which they pay their own health insurance and retirement. They also employ 20 part-time, or contract chaplains who are paid $11.25 an hour. Of the 27, 20 are men and seven women. One is United Methodist, three are Episcopal, one is Presbyterian and the rest are Baptist, said McFarland. The 27 are able to cover 25 state prisons, including three expected to open soon, and all seven juvenile correctional centers.
	Two more state prisons are slated to open within the year. In order to cover all of the state's major correctional institutions with full-time chaplains the annual budget would have to grow to an estimated $1.5 million, said McFarland. While the chaplain service is opposed to capital punishment, McFarland said the chaplains take a low-key approach in acting as advocates for inmates. "I cannot think of any serious problem that we have had with the Virginia Department of Corrections," he said. Ronald J. Angelone, department director, said "inmates have benefited from assistance provided by chaplain services for many years. "Chaplain services has served well as an advocate for inmates' religious needs and has worked with the department to ensure accessibility to religious programs for incarcerated offenders," said Angelone.
	Click link to view other articles about Chaplain Service
	"Tight Budget Forces Chaplains to Regroup" The Richmond Times Dispatch
	"Virginia's prison population forecast to rise" The Richmond Times Dispatch
	"Keeping the Faith in Prison" The Richmond Times Dispatch
	"Second Chances at Life" Christianity Today
	"The Chaplain Service Remembers Those in Prison" The Richmond Times Dispatch