Penitentiaries were originally envisioned as a place where the convicted could spend time alone with their creator in order to reflect and repent. Over time they evolved into something quite different–a place to warehouse criminals. Religion, however, remains a vibrant part of life at most correctional facilities.

 

Joshua Dubler, a professor of religion at the University of Rocheseter, spent several months during 2005 and 2006 observing the religious practices of inmates at a maximum security prison in Pennsylvania. The events of one week during his stay are retold in Down In The Chapel: Religious Life in an American Prison.

An excerpt appears in the current issue of Rochester Review.

 

Art direction by Scott Hauser.