The San Quentin’s Garden Chapel was filled with shouts and applause for graduates: Mark A. Baldwin, Robert L. Butler, David Cowan and Darrell C. Hartley. On the evening of June 10, the four were being honored for over two years of study and hard work to become the first incarcerated individuals to receive Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary’s Contextualized Leadership Development (CLD) Diploma.
In addition to the San Quentin graduates, paroled San Quentin students Billy Green and Jesse Reed also finished their studies outside and had received their diplomas with many other students. To students enrolling at San Quentin, the seminary has agreed to allow them to finish the diploma studies without charge. On a more somber note, Vernis Brown’s family was given his diploma posthumously. He died earlier this year.
“It’s about being in the things of God,” said Baldwin of his diploma. Golden Gate has issued CLD diplomas for more than 25 years; more than 800 students are currently enrolled in studies to receive this widely recognized certificate of Christian leadership.
“There were two purposes of bringing this program here to San Quentin,” said Pastor Morris A. Curry, Ph.D. “One was to provide sound doctrine, and the second was to prepare these men for parole.” After volunteering for over 20 years, Pastor Curry became a San Quentin chaplain in 2006.
With the support of retired Golden Gate professor Jerry Stubblefield Ph.D., Curry proposed making San Quentin an off-campus study program. “I’ve known Jerry Stubblefield for 30 years, and he introduced me to Dr. Michael Martin,” Curry said in the interview. With all of the major difficulties worked out by 2007, the program began to run.
Butler said one of the reasons he entered the program was “to see if I had the discipline and skill to go to the next program. I eventually want to go on to receive a bachelor’s degree, and even a Master of Divinity.”
Hartley said he will use his training “to build a Jehovah Rapha Temple for the global incarcerated and war-torn individuals who truly seek to remain in God’s presence.”
Cowan said the class which impacted him the most was “the Ethics Class with Chris Foreman. Mostly I’m interested in looking at things from a broader perspective, and this class challenged me to do that.”
The ceremony included the traditional possession of faculty in academic regalia to the music of Pomp and Circumstance.
Golden Gate President Dr. Jeff P. Iorg commented, “I think this is one of the most significant moments of Golden Gate Seminary. These four graduates were held to an identical standard as all other of the individuals enrolled in our five other campuses.”
Addressing the gathering, Baldwin said, “I thought about giving up. God lifted me up, helped me.” For over a year he has taught the third and final stage of the Garden Chapel’s Christian “Boot camp” program.
Butler said, “Someone once said that the journey is always better than the destination…” This diploma will help a person to be a pastor, a leader of Bible studies, a preacher, and be a part of Pastoral Care,”