Deacon Reflection: Learning Through Experience

By The Rev. Mark Davidson

As I pull into the parking lot at the Forsyth Correctional Center and start toward the sergeant’s office to sign in for the morning’s activities, I silently wonder how the Holy Spirit will manifest this morning. After all, the Spirit has consistently shown up every Wednesday morning for the past three years as we gather at 9:30 a.m. for Morning Prayer and study. I have no reason to believe this morning will be any different.

After being buzzed into the side door of the campus chapel, I am immediately greeted by the warm, welcoming smile of Angel, the chaplain’s assistant. He says “Hey Mark, guess what today is?” and we both exclaim in unison “Huuuummp Day!” (the marking of time takes on a special significance in this environment). We laugh loudly together and then begin to set out copies of the Book of Common Prayer in preparation for Morning Prayer. An announcement goes out across the camp’s PA system, “Morning Prayer and Study is now gathering in the chapel,” and the men begin to file in from the yard. We shake hands as they enter the nave from the morning cold and begin to take their seats at the horseshoe configuration of plastic folding tables; many well-oved, familiar faces interspersed with a few new arrivals. Within the silence following the opening scripture passage and the confession, I can feel the spirit, thick, palpable, reverberating around our silent circle, and I’m grateful. 

I have learned so much coming here every week over the past three years. Not so much academically as experientially - just being on the campus, with its loudspeaker system bellowing out commands and orchestrating the events of the day, or being in the middle of a responsive reading of the Psalm when a corrections officer enters the nave to count the men. This is a different way of life than I’ve known, but unfortunately very familiar to so many. It was easy at one point in my life to ride by a jail or a prison without giving much thought to who lives there or how they live. It’s not so easy now. I have been privileged to hear the stories of several of the men over the years and to come to understand at least pieces of their journeys. And as we all know, once we are entrusted with another’s story we cannot “unknow” it. We carry it with us, and so are affected and changed by it. It influences our thoughts, opinions and actions. This is a good thing.

As a deacon of the church, I take my insights and experiences back to my parish (St. Clement’s, Clemmons) with me. I share them whenever I can in my homilies, at Christian Formation, in the Saturday morning men’s group and in many different forums.  I do this in an effort to “interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world” to quote the bishop’s charge in the ordination service of a deacon. And I have seen this sharing bear much fruit. Friends from the camp have participated in Christian Formation at our parish. They have blessed us with music for our services from their camp ensemble. Many of our members have participated in Sunday evening services at the camp chapel, full of worship and song, food and fellowship. We have shared the solemn grounding of Lenten ashes and the humble intimacy of foot washing during Holy Week, and these experiences have changed our lives and our relationships. 

The Rev. Mark Davidson serves as deacon at St. Clement's, Clemmons.

As the love of the Father is poured into the Son, and the love of the Son is poured into the Spirit, we mirror this Trinitarian exchange of love as we continually learn from one another through our shared experiences.