How We Saved Texas Prison Chaplaincy 2011 : Immeasurable Value of Religion, Volunteers and Their Chaplains

As Maness so forcefully presents, religion is truly the greatest source for change in human history, and our staff chaplains facilitate that. Likewise, we came to see there would be little true cost savings, in that some staffer would have to take care religion in prison-it's a right after all-and manage the good volunteers.

Jerry Madden, Senior Fellow

Right on Crime - RightonCrime.org

House Committee on Corrections Chairman 2011-12

It seemed like all was lost. . . . Dr. Keith Bellamy

Senior Minister, Woodville Church of Christ

TDCJ Certified Volunteer Chaplain 15-plus years

Take a ride through Maness' book and learn firsthand about reducing crime, rehabilitating lives, making our streets safer, and bringing hope to the least, the last and the lost just like Jesus commanded. The chaplain of the prison brings hope and light in what can be a dark and stressful place, all the more reason we need them.

Carol S. Vance

Former Chairman, Texas Board of Criminal Justice

Harris County District Attorney 1966-79

Every TDCJ chaplain and every chaplaincy manager owe the existence of their jobs to the efforts of a few unique individuals who rallied many to seek help from Texas senators and representatives.

Frank Graham, Founder

Chapel of Hope.org

Politically, the TDCJ chaplaincy was doomed. God used the courage of one man to turn that situation around. Thank you, Chaplain Michael Maness, for preserving this magnificent piece of important religious history.

Dr. Paul W. Carlin, LBT, Ph. D.

TheMinistryChurch.org

Michael G. Maness was born and raised in Southern California and, while in high school, moved to Texas in the early seventies. After a short stint in the air force, he worked his way through college and graduate school, earning a 150-hr BA at the Criswell College and a MDiv at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. After a time in San Angelo, Texas, as a hospital chaplain and associate pastor of Harris Ave. Baptist Church, he became staff chaplain at the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice Gib Lewis Prison in Woodville, Texas, in 1993. He earned a DMin from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1997 and, after twenty years, retired from TDCJ.

During that time, he wrote nine books, over a hundred articles, and built his website for his writings, with a host of resources for each book. The site also hosts many resources for the heart.

For the last ten years, Maness has been managing editor for Testamentum Imperium, an international theological journal dedicated to the security of the Christian believer, which is now in its fourth volume with hundreds of articles from professors from seminaries and universities all over the world.