Brother Ed Yancey, Dr. Leroy Davis, Rev. Gladys Horton and  Rev. Julius Hawkins are the chaplains who serve the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center and Jail East. They are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (Photo by Warren Roseborough)

Flora Williams, an ex-felon and 21-year drug addict in recovery served time every year but one, from 1982 to 1999, but she has turned her life around. She met Rev. Horton 10 years ago while doing a nine month stint at Jail East, the facility for women and juvenile offenders.  Because of her addiction to crack, jail had become a revolving door.

“When I was on drugs, I did everything imaginable,” said Williams, who was homeless for two years after she stole from her parents.

“I never knew that I could see me like I am now,” said the recent Remington College graduate who took her first plane ride this summer to visit the 33-year-old son that she gave up so that he could have a better life.

Flora Williams (left) and Rev. Gladys Horton (right) immediately following Flora’s baptism at First Baptist Church - First Street on Nov. 18, 2002. (Courtesy photo)

Today, thanks to the guidance and straight-talk she received from her friend and mentor Gladys Horton, her life flows with abundance – restored relationships with her parents, siblings and son,  an outstanding work history, a supervisory job at a fast food restaurant, a late model car and a bank account.

‘A No-Nonsense Preacher’

Described by Williams as a ‘no-nonsense’ preacher, Horton spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy as a dental assistant.  She first came to the jail in 1996 as a dental technician working for a private company.  She joined the jail ministry after seeing a news story about inmate behavior before and after time in jail.  That was in January 1999, and she was hired as a chaplain in September 1999.   

She saw potential in Flora Williams, something Williams did not see in herself.

“God has positioned me in this calling and I love what I do,” Horton said.

A member of St. Stephens Missionary Baptist Church at 508 N. Third, she was called in 1993, licensed in 1995 and ordained in 2000.  

A former high school drop-out and the mother of a murdered daughter, Horton understands pain, suffering and restoration.  She said that her goal is to get inmates from where they are to where they should be.  

“They should be the head of their home. They are out of character, out of position,” said Horton, now stationed at the Criminal Justice Center. “Not all of them are criminal-minded; some of them have just lost their way.”    

“My calling is to restore them,” said the wife of Wilmer C. Horton Jr. and mother of six children.  Obtaining credit for life experience, she returned to school at Shelby State Community College, graduated and subsequently earned a Master’s Degree from Memphis Theological Seminary.  

According to the monthly jail report of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, the jail in September 2008 had an average daily jail population of 2,873 inmates: 2,627 males and 246 females. Recidivism is high; statistically speaking, 7 of every 10 inmates will return to jail or prison in Shelby County. (Photo by Warren Roseborough)

The jails are crowded, Horton said, because “Many of (the inmates) have never thought about being anything but in trouble — and powerless, without power over anything.”

Inmate population

According to the monthly jail report of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, the jail in September 2008 had an average daily jail population of 2,873 inmates: 2,627 males and 246 females. Recidivism is high; statistically speaking, 7 of every 10 inmates will return to jail or prison in Shelby County.

Horton is the only female chaplain on staff at the Shelby County Jail. The male chaplains, Rev. Julius Hawkins and Dr. Leroy Davis are also at the downtown facility while Dr. Ed Yancey, hired for his knowledge of Islam as well as other religions, spends the bulk of his time at Jail East, situated at 6201 Haley Road in Shelby Farms.  

The chaplains are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Each of them carries a pager.  Pagers can be used by freed inmates to call if they need counseling, or as Horton said, “Before they do something stupid.”

The chaplains conduct two services daily and provide religious instruction, pastoral care, and one-on-one counseling. There are evening worship services and Bible study conducted by volunteer chaplains – Catholics, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witness and ministers from diverse faiths.  The chaplains use the Internet to stay current on beliefs within faith communities. Meanwhile, the jail volunteer ministry allows inmates to connect with a minister in their chosen faith. Attendance at worship services is entirely voluntarily.

‘Reverend Julius Hawkins’

While Horton was nurtured and grew up in rural Rosemark, Tenn., Rev. Julius Hawkins was born in Memphis and graduated from Central High School in 1980.   Two years after graduation, he joined the U.S. Marines where he served in administrative support for 20 years.  

Much traveled, he said he answered his calling in 1993 at Williams Temple Church of God in Christ in Orange Mound and was ordained in 1997 at Gospel of Holiness COGIC in Hawaii.  

A graduate of Covington Theological Seminary in Rome, Ga., Rev. Hawkins uses the Bible to empower inmates once they accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. His work is both rewarding and worthwhile.   

He conducts one to two services daily. And those services may be attended by just one or as many as 30 inmates.  Hawkins, who has been married to Eileen Hawkins for 26 years and has served as pastor of Upper Canaan Missionary Baptist Church in Millington for four years, said that he likes to involve inmates in discussions and often reinforces Bible teachings with video.  

An expository preacher, he said, “I use the Bible — book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse – wherever God leads.”

 ‘Brother Yancey’

A St. Louis-native, Dr. Ed Yancey is a  Morehouse College School of Religion graduate who received a PhD in African American Studies at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta. Still, he prefers to be called “Brother” rather than reverend or doctor.

Ordained 23 years ago, he is a member of Memphis Christian Center in Parkway Village. He uses a different methodology for the young men at Jail East, where juveniles being tried as adults are housed.  

He said that his classes cover “a whole spectrum of things not just Christian services.”  To reach the mind and spirit of his charges, he uses elective group programs, book clubs, debate teams and literature classes and a program he called the Young Men University.  

Committed to making a difference, he sees the impact of his work as immeasurable, a long-term transformative effect on the lives of young men he serves.

‘The Bishop’

Walking down the halls of the downtown jail, Rev. Dr. Leroy Davis is assailed with greetings of “Hi, Bishop” from inmates.   A Baptist preacher and pastor of First Baptist Church Mount Olive at 3011 Mt. Olive in the Douglass community, he is definitely not a bishop.

Dr. Davis measures his impact not only by his relationship with inmates and the packed worship services, but also by the many awards, certificates, and other accolades on his office wall.   

He has preached for 40 years. He gave his first sermon on Nov. 3, 1968 and was ordained on March 27, 1970.

A lifelong Shelby County resident and Mt. Pisgah High School graduate, he said his work with the inmates brings him peace.

His objective, he said, is to “teach them and get them to the point that they can trust in God.”

Married for 40 years to “Queen” Mildred Davis, Dr. Davis holds a B.A. degree from Park College in Parkville, Mo. a Masters Degree in religion and a PhD in philosophy from Jacksonville Theological Seminary in Florida.  

A volunteer chaplain who started in 1994 and was hired in 2001, he said his daily worship services offer a multitude of lessons. A veteran lecturer and conference speaker whose notebook is filled with Bible lesson plans, Rev. Davis believes, “They really need teaching, not preaching.”

‘A Chance for Change and to Help’

Thanks to paid and unpaid chaplains around the country, inmates who were once dismissed by family, friends and society as incorrigible outcasts are being changed, restored and hailed as returning citizens.

Thanks to Rev. Horton, Flora Williams, now 53, is a changed woman who voted in this month’s election of Sen. Barack Obama as the next president of the United States after having her voting rights restored.

Always on call, staff chaplains work from 8 am to 4 p.m. and volunteer chaplains conduct evening services.  Chaplain Secretary Mary Pratcher said, in most cases, volunteer chaplains need only serve once or twice a year and many churches donate Bibles. Volunteers are invited to meet once each quarter with jail officials.  There are 32 churches and 100 volunteers enrolled in the program. The next Quarterly Volunteer Meeting will be held Dec. 11, 6 p.m. at the downtown facility.  For more information, call 901-545-2499.