November 2021 Newsletter
Have a Blessed Thanksgiving
THIRD ANNUAL PSF CONFERENCE • OCTOBER 6-8, 2021 • FORT WORTH, TEXAS
Dear PSF Partners in Ministry,
What a year 2021 has been! It began with the continued emphasis on Covid-19 which resulted in most of the correctional facilities in the country being shut down to outside programs and volunteer work; yet it did not deter the Foundation from moving forward in its objective to begin undergraduate degrees within the walls for both men and women who are incarcerated.
CHANGES IN MISSISSIPPI
This year we helped establish three new programs and hosted our annual PSF Best Practices Conference on the campus of Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. With the appointment of our Founder/CEO Burl Cain to the position of Commissioner of Mississippi Department of Corrections by Governor Tate Reeves, the Foundation was able to reestablish the men’s program in Mississippi. In January, with the addition of Dr. Beth Masters over Women’s Chaplaincy in Mississippi, a new women’s program with 30 students in the first cohort was begun. They are completing their second semester of study and the work of PSF is rapidly changing the prison culture in both the men’s and women’s population. Six new chapels are under construction and five former inmates and graduates of Angola are now serving as chaplains in the Mississippi DOC. What a glorious thing God is doing!
TWO NEW MEN’S PROGRAMS FOR OKLAHOMA AND COLORADO
After nearly six years of intensive work in the State of Oklahoma, September 7, 2021, marked the beginning of a new men’s program at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center (LARC). Oklahoma Baptist University in partnership with Oklahoma DOC established a 40-man cohort group that began classes with an exciting Convocation service that included Governor Kevin Stitt as one of the keynote speakers. The Foundation was instrumental in helping secure the funding for the program.
Work on the Colorado men’s program began in 2019 but was slowed to a halt in 2020 because of Covid. Discussions resumed in June and Mid-America Seminary of Memphis, Tennessee stepped up to plate to present the Colorado program. Again, PSF helped secure the funding for the initial start of the program.
PSF BEST PRACTICES CONFERENCE – October 6-8, 2021
The third annual PSF conference was scheduled to be held on the campus of Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan in May of 2020 but because of the pandemic had to be postponed until 2021. With Covid protocols still in place in Michigan in May of 2021, it was decided that we would relocate annual conference to Fort Worth, Texas and move the date to October 6-8. The conference drew just under 100 participants from 24 states and one from Canada. Most of our were received to help defer the costs of numerous attendees and to pay for the entire conference.
YEAR-END GIVING
We are so thankful for the many friends and patrons who have made sacrificial gifts to the Foundation this year to allow us to continue to pursue “moral rehabilitation” through one inmate, one prison, and one state at a time. As you reflect on the goodness of God to you and your family this year, would you consider sending a year-end gift to Prison Seminaries Foundation. God has blessed greatly in 2021. And 2022 looks even better as the Lord continues to expand our horizons. The Foundation is in discussions with Massachusetts, Kentucky, New Jersey, Nebraska, and Arizona just to name a few. Travel is costly but necessary so pray for us. And if God prompts your heart, please consider a tax-deductible gift. Any and all amounts are worthy gifts, and we appreciate each one very much.
On behalf of Burl Cain and the PSF Team, may your Thanksgiving holidays be abundantly blessed, and your Christmas celebration be filled with the Love of Jesus!
Until He Comes,
Denny Autrey, Burl Cain and the PSF Team
