Even though she passes through four locked gates and surrenders her driver’s license each time she visits, Susan Peyton has never been afraid to visit Fluvanna Correctional Center. Her husband worries about her, but not once has she been concerned for her safety at the state prison for women. 

“I feel safe because the women know why I am with them and they always thank me for coming,” said Peyton.
Peyton, a parishioner at Emmanuel, Staunton, first began visiting Fluvanna through her job with Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts offer activities for the children who visit the four out of five women who are mothers at the prison.
The State Prison Chaplain Service deploys part-time and full-time chaplains among 38,000 inmates—a number greater than the combined populations of Waynesboro, Rocky Mount, Bedford, Lexington and Grundy. There are thirteen state prisons located within the diocese and another is set to open in Grayson County in 2010. The diocese supports Virginia prison chaplains with an annual $6,000 program grant.
As she volunteered, Peyton learned more about the lives of the women behind bars. For example, if an imprisoned woman is pregnant while serving her sentence, she will be taken to a Charlottesville hospital to have her baby with officers in attendance. Unless there are complications, she will be returned to prison four hours after delivery.
She also learned that in order to help offset cuts across the state prison budget, the prison has begun to charge $5 per medical visit. Very few of the inmates have any money other than the 23 cents per hour they earn ($37 per month) working in the prison. While inmates aren’t refused medical care if they have no money, most must choose between paying for medical care or making an occasional phone call home or purchasing toiletries.
Peyton grew more attached to the women and applied to become a volunteer with the longtime chaplain, Baptist minister Lynn Litchfield. The process to volunteer at a Virginia state prison is not easy. Peyton filled out an application with references, was fingerprinted and waited for a criminal background check that took about six weeks. After completing the process, she received a badge allowing her access to most of the prison except the segregated population that includes one woman on death row.
Peyton pays for the gas in her car for the 100-mile round trip from Staunton to Fluvanna twice a month. As a chaplain’s volunteer, she has been a chalice-bearer and given homilies at the weekly services. She has accompanied Chaplain Litchfield breaking the news to a prisoner that her grandmother had died. Litchfield counsels prisoners in grief as they miss the closure that funerals often provide.
Recently, Peyton was amazed when 500 women worshipped at two Easter services in the prison’s gymnasium. It is unusual that a prison allows so many to meet in one place but Peyton said she believes the gatherings are allowed because there have never been any security problems during a worship service.
Peyton watched 17 women receive a full immersion baptism in the altar-on-wheels that converted to a baptistery. Although these services have very few elements of the traditional Episcopal services she loves, Peyton said, “I don’t remember the last time I’ve teared up so many times during a service. It was absolutely amazing.”

As Virginia continues to open prisons, research shows that a key to reducing repeat offenders is a well-designed faith-based program that instills hope and a greater motivation for prisoners to succeed after their release back into society. But each new prison adds to the strain on the already insufficient chaplain service budget.

“You never know when a person is in the right place to hear the right message,” said Peyton. Often that place is in a worship service in prison. For some women, time in prison is the first chance they have had away from other influences in their lives to finally think about what matters to them. Bibles and prayer books are in great demand among the women but there are often not enough to go around.
At each service, Litchfield prays over the women set to be released that week, that they may never return to Fluvanna. Peyton has prayed with mothers and daughters who are both serving time and believes that prison ministry is a key to breaking the cycle.
“These services are a chance to participate in the one thing in prison that brings hope, a sense of peace and direction,” said Peyton. //

Susan Peyton is available to share the prison ministry message with churches, including the presentation of a brief DVD produced by the State Prison Chaplains. Contact her at speyton (at) gsvsc.org.
In addition, Roanoke deacon Melissa Hays-Smith, a professional counselor who has been meeting inmates and holding weekly services at the Salem-Roanoke County Jail is also willing to speak or preach at any parish about her jail ministry. Contact her at mhayssmith (at) aol.com.
Interested in supporting prison ministry? Send donations to Chaplain Service, 2317 Westwood Ave., Ste. 103A, Richmond, VA 23230. Parishes can also “adopt” a prison facility, helping to provide bibles and prayer books or to support the discretionary fund of a prison chaplain. Contact Christie Wills at cwills (at) dioswva.org for more details.