Dr Paul Allen

Stephen O. Presley As the iron gate slammed behind me, I read the sign, “Inmates taking hostages will not be allowed beyond this point.” It was an ominous beginning to a life of teaching. After graduating with my divinity doctorate from the University of St. Andrews, I hoped to land a tenure-track teaching position. I imagined strolling the grounds of some seminary or university campus with my students, discussing the deep thoughts of Augustine or Calvin. Instead, in the Lord’s kindness, I got so much better.  I was hired to teach at a seminary extension site with a course load that included several classes in a newly formed prison seminary program. This initiative, launched by the Heart of Texas prison ministry, offered seminary training for convicted felons serving life in prison. Like raising Indigenous missionaries in a foreign country, these seminary graduates would remain incarcerated and help minister to the prison population.  For four years, spanning 2011-2015, I was in prison