Recently Immanuel United Reformed Church in Demotte, Indiana where Ken Anema and I are associate pastors, incorporated Kelly Holland, a prisoner at the Indiana State prison, into church membership. Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Orland Park, IL has led the way in incorporating prisoners into church members. Professor Brett Mahlen who oversees our program at Stateville Prison in Joliet, IL pastors several prisoners who are members at Covenant. Kelly Holland is the first prisoner who was incorporated into membership in a United Reformed Church in northwest Indiana. Kelly faces a life sentence.
Kelly graduated from our four-year program. From time to time he delivers the Bible messages on Sunday morning in the chapel. He is busy since he is the head of the American Legion program in the Indiana State Prison. He is also functioning as a graduate assistant for me, grading the daily assignments for a class that I am teaching on Romans.
Kelly is keen to enjoy Christian fellowship with the body of Christ. Members of the church have begun to send him cards. Soon two members of the church plan to begin visiting him. Kelly decided to provide a monthly communication and update to the church. He does this with a monthly letter entitled “Greetings from Holland!” He is playing off his last name, “Holland,” and the fact that he is now a member of a Dutch Reformed Church. He does not have Dutch ethnicity. In his last letter he included a devotional meditation. He shared with the saints a phrase that he coined. He wrote:
I coined a phrase that has touched a few prison volunteers over the past 20 years. When asked how much time I have, I tell them that I have Life With Out Parole or better known as “LWOP.” I then go on to tell them that I changed the meaning of the letters to the following: L=Love the Lord. W=Worship the Lord. O=Obey the Lord. P=Praise the Lord.