February 10, 1999
Chapel would open prison walls
___BROWNFIELD--Walls are standing between the prisoners of the Jim Rudd Unit of Texas Department of Criminal and Justice, but Bill Noble is not seeking to break them down. Instead, he wants to build new walls that will open more prisoners' lives to the gospel.
___The prison in Brownfield has no chapel, and the educational rooms now used for religious services are far too small for all the prisoners who wish to hear the gospel to enter.
___"The room will hold 125 to 150 if you stack them in there likecordwood," Noble said. To increase the problem, the prison system double-bunked the dorms last year, and the prison now can accommodate 608 prisoners.
___Noble, a deacon at First Baptist Church in Brownfield, originally got involved in the prison by leading Bible studies. But since he completed chaplaincy training he has become one of the prison's volunteer chaplains.
___"We desperately need a chapel here," Noble said. "This was designed as a drug and alcohol abuse facility, but has never been used for its original purpose. It's a transfer facility, which means no one stays here for more than 24 months."
___That makes the need for the chapel even greater, he said, because the inmates move on so quickly.
___The proposed chapel would be a 225-250 seat facility with offices for the chaplain and volunteer chaplains. It is estimated to cost between $250,000 and $275,000, but Noble is excited because $47,600 has come in "and we haven't really asked for any money yet."
___Noble said a couple saw an article in the Brownfield newspaper about the chapel and sent a check for more than $10,000. Another woman read a story in the Baptist Standard and sent a check for $2,700 from a recent inheritance. The Brownfield ministerial association also made a contribution of $25,000.
___For more information, contact Noble at (806) 637-3042.Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!