Prison Ministry, Abortion Rights, & The Disciple’s Path

Robert Hyde, the immediate past pastor of Grace Baptist Church in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is now a free man after being granted parole a few weeks ago.

Hyde, who from 2019-2021 pastored what is believed to be the first fully recognized Southern Baptist church inside the walls of a prison, learned of his verdict by the parole board on March 29 was freed the following day. The first person he met when he stepped outside the front gate of Angola was Paul Will, a long-time mentor and also a former pastor of Grace Baptist (2006-2019) who was granted parole in 2020.

Hyde grew up in a home in Baton Rouge with an abusive step-father. The domestic violence led to his mother’s death from a gunshot wound. He then went to live with his grandfather, whose aloof attitude left Hyde with no parental leadership. This led to a life of drugs, alcohol, the occult and eventually, when Hyde was 28, a homicide in 2001 of another man at a party.

While in Richland Parish Detention Center in Rayville, the Holy Spirit brought him under conviction, and in his cell Hyde turned to Christ.

Hyde earned associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees at NOBTS’s Extension, and was ordained by Grace Baptist Church in 2017.

The U-S Senate failed to pass a bill Wednesday to legalize abortion. The bill would have codified the right to access abortion into federal law and guaranteed the right of health care providers to perform abortion services.

Leaked documents from the Supreme Court indicate the high court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade this summer leaving the battle over abortion to be fought state by state.

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In a First Person piece on Baptist Press, David Jeremiah encourages Christians to walk on the disciple’s path with Jesus. One of the ways he says they can do that is by walking in love.

“Turn on any form of media today and you’ll find people labeling each other with pejorative terms, political epithets, and personal insults. Social media actually emboldens individuals to criticize and characterize others without regard for truth in their analysis,” says Jeremiah.

Instead, he says Christians should:

Be patient with one another

Be kind to one another

Avoid envy

Don’t brag

Resist being prideful

Find more stories at BaptistPress.com.