Death Row Support Project
"I wish we could challenge church people...to take it upon
themselves to get the names of some death row inmates and
write them. It's important to come in contact with them
and know them as people, not just criminals awaiting execution.
They ought to take it on themselves to find out about these
people that society has condemned to die."
- Mother of Mike Berryhill, former death row prisoner
Since 1977 (when executions resumed in the U.S. after the
Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional
in 1972), over 1,000 people have been executed in the
United States. Thirty-eight states have capital punishment.
Right now there are more than 3,000 people awaiting
execution in this country. The average stay on death row
is 12 years.
In 1978, concerned Church of the Brethren members formed
the Death Row Support Project to facilitate one-to-one
correspondence with persons sentenced to death. Since then,
thousands of people from all over the country and around the
world have responded to the challenge of connecting with
death row prisoners.
Letters can bring a ray of hope to the darkness of death row
isolation. For those on the outside, learning to know just one
prisoner can dispel some of the misconceptions and fears
about prisons and the people locked away inside them.
Jesus' call for us to visit those in prison is clear. Perhaps
correspondence can be a form of visiting. And perhaps
you will be led, as others have been, to go beyond
correspondence and will want to visit face-to-face. That is
up to you. We ask only that you begin by writing a letter,
and that you keep up your part in the correspondence with
openness, as faithfully as you can.
1987 Annual Conference Statement on the Death Penalty
Read the March 2000 Messenger article "The Death Row Support Project has been ministering to prisoners for more than 20 years." (PDF)
Used with permission of Messenger
Those writing to people on death row have said:
"Penpals are really lifelines to those in prison, especially on
death row. It is my prayer that I can help them realize that they
are created in the Image of God and that no matter what our
culture says, Christ loves them and wants them to know it."
- Tim McDonald
"I am finding it a continuous source of learning and a challenge
to almost everything I have learned, mislearned, and believed
about crime and punishment, good and evil, perceptions of death
row, and the media and political machinations surrounding this issue."
- Scott Douglas
"Nearly three weeks ago, a friend of mine, Jesse Walter Bishop,
was executed by the state of Nevada. In the 11 months or so we
corresponded, I have been privileged to become aware of his deep
humanity and insight into life. I am not trying to portray Jess as a
saint, but just as a person. But now another family has lost a loved
one, a brother, a son. All this done in the name of instilling respect
of human life into people.
- Jim Harris
"I don't think it is for everybody. There have been times when I felt
like quitting - but hung in there anyway. I believe God has honored
my persistence in many ways. Phil and I have learned much from
each other. It has been a give/take kind of thing."
- Karen McIntyre
Read more of one person's experience
Prisoners with DRSP correspondents have said:
"This is to tell you of the joy your project brought to my life and time on death row. You gave my name to a lady named Jackie. She wrote to me, which became a very joyous friendship."
- David Coulter (resentenced to life without parole in AL)
"I received a letter from a penpal by your help and wanted to let you
know your efforts are appreciated. Groups like yours help us
trememdously and we - I - am glad you are there."
- James Hitchcock (on FL death row since 1977)
"At first I thought that everyone had forgotten all about me, but I
was wrong. The Thompson family has really lifted my spirits. It's
nice to know that there are people who care."
- William Hance (executed in 1994 in GA)
"I have been corresponding with Betty and her family on a regular
basis and few things in my life have given me more pleasure. It is
most gratifying to realize there are people who will offer a
helping hand to us who society has condemned, while knowing
we have violated those standards they hold sacred. To me that is
truly love for your fellow man."
- Doyle G. Boulware, re-sentenced in TX, then released in 2004
Will you write to a person on death row?
The Death Row Support project will send you the name of a death row prisoner and suggestions on how to begin writing.
To contact the Death Row Support Project by mail, write to:
PO BOX 600
Liberty Mills, IN 46946
You may also call 260-982-7480.
Visit the Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty website at http://www.deathpenaltyreligious.org/
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