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| "Chaplain
Service job seems made to order" |
Corrections
experience will help minister in his role with agency
that assigns chaplains to prisons |
| The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
| October
14, 2006 - 12:03 AM |
| By
ALBERTA LINDSEY - TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER |
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When
a prison inmate requests a special diet for religious
reasons, is it really part of the inmate’s faith?
It’s Randy Myers’ job to find the answer.
It’s the kind of question Myers will grapple
with in his new job with the Chaplain Service of
the Churches of Virginia, serving as religious adviser
to the Virginia Department of Corrections and the
Virginia Department |
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of Juvenile Justice.“I will research the questions, look
at what other states are doing, then advise the departments
on what I think is correct from the religious and legal aspects.
But they don’t have to accept my recommendations,”
said Myers, the first person to hold the position.
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“His
Department of Corrections experience will bring a new perspective
to the Chaplain Service…They will have a much deeper understanding
of the balance we face between inmate needs and rights and our
responsibility to protect the public,” said Larry Traylor,
corrections-department spokesman. |
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Chaplain
Service a nonprofit
Myers, a Southern Baptist minister who lives in Powhatan County,
worked for the corrections department for 16 years before joining
the Chaplain Service last month. While in corrections, he served
in a variety of jobs including counseling, and training and development.
He has written a manual on world religions and a life-skills curriculum
for inmates re-entering the community.
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Virginia
is the only state where prison chaplains are not paid by the government,
said Cecil E. McFarland, president of the Chaplain Service. The
nonprofit agency has 12 full-time and 20 part-time chaplains.
Its $1 million budget is funded by area churches and businesses.
“We would like to have enough money to provide full-time
chaplains in all of the prisons,” McFarland added. Myers,
who was selected from among 16 applicants, is also vice president
of the Chaplain Service, McFarland said. “He will learn
how this office operates and become familiar with what I do in
dealing with various denominations and faiths,” said McFarland,
adding that he has no plans to retire. |
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Myers
will also continue to provide in-service training related to religion
for the corrections department. This week, he led two classes
at the department’s Academy for Staff Development, in Goochland
County. One class was “Games Offenders Play,” and
the other was for food-service staff and dealt with world religions. |
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Job
comes naturally
The Southern Baptist minister is also busy outside his job. He
does a puppet ministry and leads a home Bible study group through
Powhatan Community Church. Myers
received a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Virginia
Commonwealth University in 1984 and a master’s in divinity
with a specialty in Christian education from Southeastern Baptist
Theological Seminary in 1988.
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Working
in prisons comes naturally for Myers, even though he used to say
it was something he would never do. His parents worked for the
corrections department for 30 years, his father in security and
his mother in accounting. Myers’ first position in corrections
was as a case-management counselor at the Virginia Correctional
Center for Women in Goochland, where his parents worked. |
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| Click
link to view other articles about Chaplain Service |
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"Ex-offenders
Grateful for Restored Rights" The Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Voting
Rights Restoration helps us All" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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Many
Factors Behind Second Highest Toll - The State of the Death Penalty
in VA.
The
Richmond Times Dispatch
(Please be sure to view the two Acrobat PDF files
provided in this article at InRich.com) |
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"Pastors
with a Past" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Panel
Discusses Felons Who Want Right to Vote" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Tight
Budget Forces Chaplains to Regroup" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Virginia's
prison population forecast to rise"
The Richmond
Times Dispatch |
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"Keeping
the Faith in Prison"
The Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Second
Chances at Life"
Christianity Today |
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"Prison
Chaplain Service Celebrates 85 Years" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Chaplains
On Call for Death - And Life" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"The
Chaplain Service Remembers Those in Prison"
The Richmond
Times Dispatch |
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