{"id":38895,"date":"2018-07-13T07:36:49","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T11:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=38895"},"modified":"2018-07-16T08:57:00","modified_gmt":"2018-07-16T12:57:00","slug":"chaplains-mdiv-capstone-research-explores-healing-and-redemption-in-jail-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/chaplains-mdiv-capstone-research-explores-healing-and-redemption-in-jail-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaplain\u2019s MDiv capstone project explores \u2018healing and redemption\u2019 in jail ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Eastern Mennonite Seminary Master of Divinity<\/a> candidate Jason Wagner presented his capstone integration project this spring, he was introduced by Nathan Carr, a man he\u2019d gotten to know on the job.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGod works through him in one of the worst places a person can be,\u201d Carr said. \u201cI and many others are thankful to have had and still have the jail chaplain in our lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A licensed minister, Wagner serves through Virginia Mennonite Missions in the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail. He leads Christian services, offers pastoral care, coordinates visiting ministries, and advocates for active church involvement in jail ministry. In his months-long project, Wagner set out to explore \u201cwhat it means to seek healing and redemption within the walls of a punitive system.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read about other Master of Divinity capstone projects.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Carr met Wagner while serving a jail sentence last year, after experiencing an \u201coverwhelming\u201d feeling of relief on a night he spent crying and praying. \u201cGod reached out and spoke to me and touched me and healed me,\u201d Carr said \u2013 and the next morning, his pastor suggested he connect with Wagner. <\/span><\/p>\n

The two would create a \u201cfriendship and brotherhood in Christ,\u201d Carr said. \u201cIt was always exciting to hear what verse or helpful advice he had to offer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wagner recounted his experiences and thoughts from his research and jail chaplaincy in a presentation titled \u201cAgainst the Grain,\u201d which began with a description of a Sunday evening service in the jail: <\/span><\/p>\n

Twenty to 30 men crowd into a small classroom to have a time of worship. The men are dressed in orange jumpsuits and come cuffed together in twos from their pods. The visiting ministers and I stand by the door, shaking hands and introducing ourselves to the inmates. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

One of my practices when leading worship in the jail is to proclaim over the gathered inmates that they are the church. Furthermore, I name that the presence of God is within the jail and that we, together, are a people, brothers in Christ, called to love and serve one another. I also name that in our worship, we experience what we are made for \u2013 to commune with God.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2018Just show up\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Jason Wagner serves through Virginia Mennonite Missions in the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail. He leads Christian services, offers pastoral care, coordinates visiting ministries, and advocates for active church involvement in jail ministry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For years, Wagner has interacted with people just out of the jail and facing difficulties, in part through his involvement at Harrisonburg\u2019s Our Community Place. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ministering inside a jail, in an \u201coverwhelming\u201d and traumatizing system that violates human dignity, is a calling that\u2019s no more noble than any other, he said in an interview. Rather, \u201cGod places you where you\u2019re at. You just show up and be a faithful presence, an expression of <\/span>being with<\/span><\/i>, in a robust way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the Gospel, in his words: \u201cWe have a propensity to instrumentalize the Gospel, to make it a means to an end,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it <\/span>is<\/span><\/i> the end. It\u2019s the means and the end \u2013 a tangible community in and outside the system. A ministry of presence \u2013 that\u2019s what I\u2019m called to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In his chaplaincy, Wagner observed the traumagenic nature of incarceration that can result in the ongoing transmission of despair. \u201cThe intense conditions of being crammed into a place with other very stressed and hurting people creates the potential for an experience of even deeper pain and disorientation,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

But worship, he said \u2013 quoting Angola Prison Seminary director John Robins \u2013 can be place for inmates to \u201creinterpret their personal history,\u201d and allows space for incarcerated people to make positive choices as humans rather than as merely navigators of punitive dehumanization.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u201can act of subversion of the world,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause it projects a new world in which people can imagine life and wholeness in redemptive and new ways.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wagner speaks of such spiritual awakening with familiarity. At age 22 he had a \u201cmystical experience\u201d that resulted in conversion through an \u201cencounter in relationship that made my life shift on its axis.\u201d In subsequent years he became a founding member and elder of Early Church in Harrisonburg, and as a seminary student, he delved into the Bible through \u201cacademic, critical study of sacred text\u201d even while asking, \u201cHow is this text living and active?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The call<\/b><\/h3>\n

Carr\u2019s eagerness to connect with Wagner is an example of \u201cthe deep cry and hunger for the redemptive love of Christ\u201d that Wagner observed as part of \u201cmy own jailhouse conversion\u201d during his first time leading music in the jail, he wrote in a <\/span>2017 Virginia Mennonite Conference article<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord Jesus calls us \u2013 the church \u2013 to be salt and light in a world that is bland and dark,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe jail is a significantly dark and bland corner in our community, housing deeply wounded exiles who are doomed to repeat their crimes if left isolated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wagner\u2019s capstone presentation ended with a message for the church, which he said is \u201ccompelled by the good news of Jesus to be on mission and boldly open up to those suffering in our community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Particularly \u201cgiven that the majority of those who are housed in our local jail will soon re-enter our community,\u201d he said, \u201cit is the call of the church to draw near and open its doors and do the work of healing and discipleship that sets people free to do the right things for the right reasons.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Eastern Mennonite Seminary Master of Divinity candidate Jason Wagner presented his capstone integration project this spring, he was introduced by Nathan Carr, a man he\u2019d gotten to know on ... read more about Chaplain\u2019s MDiv capstone project explores \u2018healing and redemption\u2019 in jail ministry<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":38897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17562,265],"tags":[],"feature":[17427,17425,17426,17241],"class_list":["post-38895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digest","category-seminary","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-featured-seminary","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nChaplain\u2019s MDiv capstone project explores \u2018healing and redemption\u2019 in jail ministry - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/chaplains-mdiv-capstone-research-explores-healing-and-redemption-in-jail-ministry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chaplain\u2019s MDiv capstone project explores \u2018healing and redemption\u2019 in jail ministry - 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