by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
It’s hard to say if he’s even a little bit surprised, but Steve McCoy has wound up being pastor of the little church with the big heart.
Twelve years ago, McCoy visited Lawtey Correctional Institution to be with a childhood friend who had made a wrong turn. The congregation began putting together Christmas bags for about 1,000 inmates and made the project an annual event about eight years ago.
Out of that grew regular services at the medium- minimum-security prison on the eastern edge of Bradford County.
In November 2002, Warden Patti Mecusker asked if Beaches Chapel Church would be willing to do even more.
The Legislature had approved money for 10 faith-based dorms the year before. Mecusker said she had a building that would be ideal as well as plenty of inmates to fill it.
“I went to a meeting about forming a faith-based dorm, and, to be honest with you, I didn’t know what it was,” said McCoy in his church office, surrounded by spectacular framed photographs he and his Nikon have captured. “I had to go on the Internet and read everything I could find.
“But when I left the meeting that day, I was the chaplain. It was kind of a set-up.”
McCoy took some time to consider his answer.
“I began to realize we could do it, and we could do it really well if we only did the programming we already do within our church and with lay people and staff people transported an hour west of here.”
The program officially began March 1, 2003.
Groups of volunteers from the church make up a caravan of sorts five or six nights a week, headed to Lawtey. Most of the volunteers also have full-time jobs.
Waiting at the end of the road are 80 inmates in Dormitory B.
The programs include preparing for employment, developing job interview skills, working on financial and anger management, parenting, a 12-step program for addictive behavior and systematic Bible study.
The church bought computers and hired an off-duty corrections officer who conducts classes in basic Windows operating and program skills.
Eight to 10 volunteers provide a music program; four or five men teach drama.
“It’s really kind of the fulfillment of a longing I’d had,” McCoy said. “I could see that we could make a dramatic difference if we were able to have regular input into the men’s lives and really mentor them.”
Every other Thursday, nearly 50 men go to Lawtey to spend time one-on-one with the inmates. In that number are from 15 to 18 retired and current school teachers who lead the GED literacy program.
“What really rings my bell,” said McCoy, “is when we get these guys who couldn’t read or write, and I get a letter from them in their own hand.”
Getting the program started was one thing; sustaining it was one of McCoy’s biggest concerns.
“I have to say, better than sustain, it’s still growing,” he said. “And it’s growing because of the fulfillment people are finding through giving of themselves.
“To me, it’s every pastor’s dream. Every pastor has good, strong men in their church, family men. But they really don’t have a place to give what they know they can do. This has changed their lives.”
Last Christmas Eve, Gov. Jeb Bush rededicated Lawtey as the nation’s first faith-based prison.
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, soon filed for all relevant documents to review how the programs are taught.
“What he’s talking is there’s a disparity because Lawtey has all these programs provided by volunteers, and none of the other prisons do,” said McCoy. “That, to my way of thinking, is completely ludicrous.
“Give us a few years. We’ll put them in every prison in Florida. That’s what I’m about — getting out there and telling other pastors, ‘Get off your rear ends, and let’s do something.’ ”
Inmates who ask for a transfer to Lawtey must agree to take part in the programs. They must have had no discipline problems for at least one year and have no more than three years to serve on their sentences.
“Everyone has an equal opportunity,” said McCoy. “Every religion is represented. Or, if you don’t want any religion, that’s fine, too.
“It’s all volunteer. You volunteer to come in; you volunteer to stay. And not one dime of state money goes into it. We pay for everything.”
The congregation at Beaches Chapel has spent around $30,000 in the last year for equipment and supplies for the dorm: Bibles, computers, VCRs, televisions, books, ceiling fans and musical instruments.
McCoy also agreed in June to affiliate the church with the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, whose members cover the criminal justice spectrum, from correctional officers to prosecutors.
Church volunteers now do the pre-release mentoring of inmates preparing to go into the Ready for Work program.
For his above-and-beyond efforts, McCoy was named Volunteer of the Year by the State Department of Corrections as well as by NABCJ.
“To be honored by NABCJ was very unexpected,” said McCoy. “I greatly appreciate it.
“These people have the same passion I have. But they’re the only people I’ve found out there who are doing something about the problem. They are poured out to make a difference and change the system.”
Some believe that the answer to rising crime rates is to build more prisons. McCoy believes doing that just delays the inevitable, helps produce more wasted lives and increases the danger to society.
“About 97 percent of all federal and state prisoners are going to come back into society,” he said. “For about the next four years, they’re going to be released at a rate of 600,000-plus a year. It’s become a public safety issue.
“Also, the statistics are that 70 percent of all children who have ever had a parent incarcerated will themselves go to prison. So it doesn’t matter what we do on this end. It’s a sinking ship unless we work on the other end as well.”