Dr. Larry Akins and Covenant Group Are Honored With the 2015 Esther Award

September 16, 2015

Telling the truth is, at times, hard to do. “Radical truth-telling,” even more so. Yet, Dr. Larry Akins (M.Div. ’08, D.Min. ’15) and his unique Covenant Group used unfiltered honesty to change lives, families, communities and those incarcerated at East Jersey State Prison (EJSP) in Rahway, New Jersey. New Brunswick Theological Seminary has honored their efforts with the 2015 Esther Award.

The Esther Award is given to those who boldly offer a Christian response in the face of public turmoil. The award consists of two prizes: a commemorative gift to Dr. Akins and the Covenant Group, and the naming of a NBTS Seminarian as the Esther Award Scholar for the 2015-2016 academic year. The student, Jerold Smith, will receive a scholarship that covers tuition and fees for one year.

Dr. Akins’ intense desire to disrupt the cradle to prison pipeline led him to earn his Doctor of Ministry in Metro-Urban Ministry degree with a concentration in Prisons, Public Policy and Transformative Justice. His position, Supervisor of Chaplaincy Services at EJSP, gave him access and opportunity.

Many incarcerated at EJSP were both preceded and followed into the system by close family members (male and female), according to Dr. Akins’ survey of EJSP inmates. More than 70% of them have children, and these young ones are often told by parents, gang members and others in the community that ‘you’re not a man unless you serve time in prison.’ While the vast majority of inmates surveyed did not see intergenerational incarceration as a rite of passage, they did consider it a community norm.

Covenant Community
Breaking the cycle of intergenerational incarceration became Dr. Akins’ Doctoral Project focus. NBTS doctoral projects are a communal undertaking; the D.Min. candidate works with a covenant group on the project to reflect the reality that ministry is much greater than the individual minister.

Dr. Akins’ 10-member covenant community was a diverse group of men from outside – and inside – the confines of EJSP. The Rev. Rufus McClendon and David Bryant, the “outside professors,” have more than 70 years of combined ministry experience; many of those years spent bringing Christ to inmates in New Jersey’s prisons.

The “inside professors” – “Malachi Henry” (Rev. Dr. Howard Nathaniel Thompson), “Theophilus” (Sammy Moore), “Dred Scott” (William “Jerry” Gray), “Ethos” (Dr. Russell Owen), “Chino” (Obed Torres), “Home-Bound” (Sincere U. Allah), “Douglass” (Ra Zulu Ukawabutu) and “Tamir Ajamu” (Horace Cowan) – have a combined 200 years of incarceration experience, having served sentences in juvenile, medium and maximum security prisons throughout the state.

Radical Truth-Telling
The covenant community members decided to engage in “radical truth-telling,” calling the prison system what it really is: a violent, oppressive environment wrought with indignities. No more would they wear masks that ignored, advocated or glamorized incarceration.

Talking openly (internally and externally) about the realities of prison life put the “inside professors” directly in harm’s way (cells were trashed and some met with violence), but each man remained committed despite the negative ramifications to themselves and, potentially, their families.

During one of the group discussions, Home-Bound asked a rhetorical question: “How do you destroy a computer system? You give it a virus. You don’t destroy the computer, but you give it a virus so it can no longer operate the way it has been.”

Dr. Akins and the Covenant Group set about breaking the cycle of ignorance and apathy regarding mass incarceration by becoming the virus that changes the system. Some of the transformative events were:
• Exodus Sunday: (Similar to a traditional church’s “Youth Sunday.”) Prior to embracing Christ, many of the young prisoners were members of one of several gangs operating in the correctional system. Exodus Sunday not only celebrates the exodus from gang life, but demonstrates a rejection of, and ongoing resistance to, the dehumanization experienced by inmates at EJSP.
• Brother-to-Brother: This initiative keeps new believers connected with the Church of the Reconciled (the official name of the worship community at EJSP) by pairing them with more seasoned members. Since Brother-to-Brother’s launch, violent incidents have been significantly reduced while church attendance has increased 30%.
• The Commissioning: The community of faith gathered at the Chapel altar to pray with and consecrate 12 young men who “dropped their flags” (turned from their gang affiliations) to serve Christ. Former gang rivals and enemies, long-time inmates and new prisoners alike joined in the spiritual liberation.
• The Trenton Influx: Recently, maximum-security inmates from New Jersey State Prison (a significantly more dangerous and volatile place) were transferred to EJSP. Instead of viewing their arrival as a threat, the worship community embraced them immediately, shared the stories of radical transformation in their new environment, and invited them to participate.

The positive response to the group’s viral efforts has been overwhelming. Violent incidents have decreased dramatically throughout all segments of the EJSP population. Leaders and soldiers in rival gangs are beginning to accentuate the positive rather than the deeply-ingrained hatreds.

More prisoners are now refusing to wear their masks to family visitations, instead telling the truth about their incarcerated existence. This is creating a grass roots attitude of indignation among families and the community that is reverberating throughout the prison system.

“When blended with the powerful, emergent voices of those trapped within the system yet courageous enough to engage in ‘radical truth-telling,’ an influential force for good can and will emerge from the shadows and begin tearing down the walls of permanent marginalization and oppression,” said Dr. Akins. “Behemoth has contracted a virus born of the voices of the Covenant Community. My prayer is that eventually it will succumb to it.”

To learn more about Dr. Akins, the Covenant Community and the group’s three-year journey, read Overcoming Behemoth: Countering Intergenerational Incarceration at East Jersey State Prison, Rahway, New Jersey, by Dr. Lawrence Akins.