Video Features Prison Church

The inmate of the South Dakota State Penitentiary says in a new video that he is “probably freer inside the walls than I ever was outside.”

It is a sentiment that several inmates shared in interviews with Dordt College’s video production company Prairie Grass Productions, which produced the short video.

Titled Cornerstone Prison Church—A Christian Reformed Church inside the SD State Pen, the video features conversations with inmates explaining how Cornerstone Prison Ministries has made God real and offered them a level of peace in their lives.

The video was produced for the bi-annual meeting of Classis Iakota, the regional body of CRC congregations, which met in October.

Moving from man to man in different settings in the prison, the video pauses on one inmate who is sitting in the chapel.

“I didn’t think there was any coming back,” said the inmate. “But you can come back because the redemptive power of Jesus is without limit. As long as you’re still breathing, Jesus can work a miracle.”

Cornerstone CRC became a full-fledged congregation with its own church council in September.

Eight years ago, Rev. Steve Moerman and his wife, Diane, began a church inside the penitentiary with a congregation of inmates wishing to continue or begin a relationship with God.

Classis Iakota is currently supporting the ministry as an emerging church in the CRC.

Prison officials gave Prairie Grass Productions only eight hours to shoot.

But that didn’t deter 12 digital media students who worked with the video’s director and Dordt College Professor Mark Volkers to gather the footage.

Dordt College senior Caleb Vugteveen of Chilliwack, British Columbia, said working on projects such as the prison video helps reinforce what Volkers has taught his students.

“The film industry is a mission field and Christian filmmakers are missionaries,” said Vugteveen.

Volkers takes Dordt College digital media production students to various locations throughout the year, sometimes to local ministries, and then to slums in countries like India, Kenya, the Philippines, and more.

“Classroom projects are important and necessary, but being on site is where some of the best learning takes place,” said Volkers.

Dordt College also has a Prison Ministries Club. Four or five times a semester, Dordt students worship and fellowship with the inmates at the South Dakota Penitentiary.

Club Leader Joel Kranenburg says that being part of the worship service is mutually beneficial. He’s chosen to be part of the ministry “because I recognize its importance for God, for the inmates, and for my own personal growth. I’m passionate about this ministry and chose to lead because I want to encourage more students to participate in this experience.”