by Hannah Packard
We are in a darkened filming studio sitting in a huddle—Scott Lessing, a campus pastor with Grace Church in Middleburg Heights, Ohio; Andy, a video producer and editor with the Alliance National Office; Olivia, also a video producer and creative lead with the National Office; and me. The camera is recording, and everyone is in place. “Scott,” Andy says from behind the lens, “you pastor a campus with a lot of security. Can you tell me about how you get there every day?”
Scott laughs a little. “Getting into my campus is really unique,” he says. As Scott describes the process—metal detectors, no cellphones, and walking through two levels of electrified 25- to 30-foot security fences—I visualize what it was like when we visited his church, planted among incarcerated men at Lorain Correctional Institution (LorCI), over a month before.
Jesus Behind Bars
The quarter-mile walk from security to the chapel across the yard was brisk and windy. A volunteer from Grace pushed a cart full of our film equipment as Warden Jennifer Black walked with us, answering questions and talking about different programs they have at LorCI. We arrived at the chapel for the service early. But even with 30 minutes to spare, some of the men were already trickling in.
The room filled quickly with the sound of hands clapping backs and people saying, “It’s good to see you!” Soon, several men were sitting next to volunteers and engaging with them in deep conversations.
Once the room had filled up and the service started, it was a joy to hear them singing loudly together as the worship team—made up of excellent musicians from among the incarcerated men—led them in praise. The sermon was streamed in from the Grace Middleburg Heights campus, where Grace pastor Jonathan Shaeffer always says hello to the Lorain church from the pulpit.
After the service and announcements finished, the men returned to their cell blocks for roll call, leaving some of us alone in the empty chapel. Meanwhile, Scott, Andy, and a few of the Grace volunteers were walking through the prison and praying with some of the men in the isolation cellblock. Later in the afternoon, there would be another discipleship group. But as I sat in the empty room, thinking about what I’d just experienced, I felt the nearness of Jesus.
“Jesus is the only One who can get into prison without having to go through security,” Scott likes to say. “Jesus bypasses it all, meeting with these men daily. It’s a lonely place in there. But they truly experience Jesus in ways that maybe some of us will never get to.”
The Path to Planting
LorCI is a minimum to medium security prison in Ohio, with a capacity of about 1,250 and a staff of 500. Within the prison, there are two populations—one called the cadre, consisting of men serving long-term sentences of two years or more, and one of men serving short-term sentences of nine months or fewer, typically due to parole violations. Grace’s ministry isn’t just to the incarcerated men but also to the staff within the facility. “We look at both as our community inside Lorain,” Scott says.
The church has an office set aside for their use by the chapel, which is open every day except Saturdays. Grace volunteers host 17 different programs six days a week too—discipleship groups, discussion groups, Alpha, Bible studies, a school of ministry, grief care, a Christian recovery group, and character development classes. Grace Church has fully planted and invested in LorCI for the last two years, and the lives of men have been radically transformed. So, how did this happen?
“Previously, I was the men’s pastor at Grace Church. I have a friend who has a prison ministry in Ohio, and one day he said to me, ‘The warden at Lorain Correctional wants to talk to us. She’s thinking about planting a church inside the prison,'” Scott says. “And I thought, Well, I don’t want to be the one to do it, but we’ll see who God raises up to do it. We met with her, and she was intrigued by all the different ministries that could happen at Lorain through a church.”
Not your average picture of what someone in her position might be like, Warden Jennifer Black is passionate about the men in her facility experiencing real, whole-life transformation. She was looking for a partner in that task, and Grace Church was the right fit. Though there have been practical challenges along the way, Scott speaks very highly of the warden and her staff, grateful for their help navigating what can be a difficult system of approvals. And the affection between Grace and the prison staff is mutual; when telling us about an appreciation meal that Grace volunteers threw for the LorCI staff, Warden Black teared up slightly. “Grace has become embedded in the fabric of this facility,” she says.
Though Scott was hesitant at first, God laid the ministry on his heart, telling him, I want you to do this. “The problem is that I’ve never been in prison before,” Scott shares. “I don’t always know what I’m doing. So, it was a moment of desperate dependence, saying, ‘I’ll do it, but I have to fully depend on you, Lord.’ Which is a pretty good place to be.”
Grace Church responded to the idea of the church plant with enthusiasm. “We have over 40 volunteers going out there every single week,” Scott says. “A whole other team of about 20 people are praying, calling people, calling family members of the inmates if they need help. It’s better than I ever expected.”
God is on the Move
While visiting LorCI, Andy and I had the opportunity to speak with Joe and Lou, a couple of men from the cadre who are part of the school of ministry program that Scott has started within Lorain. Taught by Scott and the associate minister of worship and technology at Grace Church, Dr. Robin Walters, seven men at LorCI are going through a two-and-a-half-year training program that will prepare them to become licensed pastors with The Alliance. The school of ministry not only helps men like Joe and Lou grow in their faith but also trains them in the theology and practical ministry skills they will need to do ministry in prison and beyond after they are released. Part of the hope is that one day, a man like Joe or Lou might be the one planting churches in prisons.
Joe especially has a passion to do ministry, both inside and, one day, outside the prison walls. “We’re not called to sit on the sidelines. We’re not called to be couch Christians. We’re called to go preach the gospel and bring people to Christ,” he says. “God changed my heart, and now my desires are different. All I desire is to serve Him and go change, transform communities.”
Community is something that both Scott and Warden Black talk a lot about. When people are sentenced to serve time and sent to a prison, they are separated from society. But they are also separated from healthy community—one of the greatest needs a person has and one of the most vital tools of transformation. “Jesus calls us to go in and serve,” Scott says. “And that’s good. But even better is to have a church inside . . . it’s been the most fruitful ministry I’ve ever been a part of. It is so powerful to see these men feel loved and valued.”
The community and ministry to the incarcerated men in LorCI doesn’t stop after they are released. Grace in Middleburg Heights is ready to welcome them with the love of Christ as soon as they are back on the outside.
God has used Grace Church to play a major part in both Joe’s and Lou’s testimonies. “I didn’t do church on the streets,” Joe says. “So my vision of what church was like was religious and unattractive. When I came here and I was introduced to Christ for real, I needed an example of what church really looked like. When Grace Church and Pastor Scott came in, they were inviting, warm, and genuine, and you can really see their love for God.”
Lou says, “I can humbly admit that my faith was lukewarm before I got involved with Grace. I’ll never really be able to accurately put into words how much it’s meant to me. To go from lukewarm to on fire and from wandering and settling to really seeking, learning, and growing in my relationship with the Lord, it’s been beautiful. It’s been a gift.”
God is on the move in LorCI, but His work hasn’t stopped with just a handful of the men. “I’ve seen people get delivered,” Lou says. “I’ve seen fully tattooed up, gangbanging street thugs just melt, sitting in the chair in the sanctuary and feeling God’s presence.”
Setting Up Shop
It was incredibly moving getting to hear Joe testify about how Jesus has transformed his life; hearing Lou preach a good word about loving Jesus and caring for one another; and hearing Tim, another inmate, talk about how a Grace volunteer’s mentorship has changed his life. In reflecting on his experience visiting LorCI, conducting interviews, and video editing, Andy says, “The Lord has worked on my heart while putting this story together. The brothers that I have met inside have increased my faith in Jesus and love for Him. They deserve the Church’s encouragement, empathy, and attention.”
Many churches and Christian organizations do prison ministry—but it’s far rarer to see a church planted inside prison walls. One of my favorite translations of John 1:14 is from The Message, which says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” Living on mission with Jesus often looks like that—moving into the neighborhood. Or, like Joe says it, Grace Church itself committed to setting up shop inside the prison walls. “I call this church Grace Inside,” Joe says. “They’re Grace Outside, but they’ve brought it inside.”
“The Alliance is passionate about reaching every people group, especially the forgotten ones, the overlooked ones. And that’s who the inmates and staff in the incarcerated community are—they are the overlooked, the forgotten ones,” Scott says. “The Lord loves us so much that He went to great lengths to love and rescue us. We can’t rescue these men, but we can love them like Jesus did.”
Not all the places in the world lacking gospel access are on the other side of the globe. Some of them are here, just down the road. The Prison Policy Initiative reports that there are nearly two million incarcerated people in the United States, held in over 1,500 state prisons, nearly 100 federal prisons, and more than 3,000 local jails and 1,300 juvenile correctional facilities. Everyone we spoke to—the warden, Scott, Joe, Lou, and the Grace volunteers—all agreed that the U.S. prison system could use more churches like Grace’s Lorain campus. And as Warden Black shared with us, prisons and correctional facilities often depend on volunteers—and many of those volunteers come from churches. “No matter what someone has done in their life, everyone deserves the hope that Jesus can bring,” Scott says.
Lou exhorts believers everywhere, but especially among The Alliance, to consider getting involved with prison ministry, whether it be volunteering or perhaps planting a church. “I pray that if you feel like God is putting it on your heart or is trying to nudge you in that direction, that you would yield to the Spirit of obedience, because God can use you in mighty ways that you can’t even fathom.”
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