Baptism at Monroe County Jail

Adam Bennet of the Monroe News (Michigan) writes of a group of women baptized last Friday at the Monroe County Jail. One was 23 year old Lindsey Enbody, who was pushed to change by grief over the death of her mother last year and the emptiness of a six-month stint in jail:

"I'm ready," she said. "I was ready to give my life over to God and this is a new start."

Set in a stuffy jail classroom with a horse trough filled with water, Ms. Enbody and 17 other women received the religious rite during the ceremony. Set in a stuffy jail classroom, the women one by one were dipped under the water by jail ministry volunteer Sharon Henscheid.

A member of Solid Rock Church of Dundee, Ms. Henscheid ministers to the female inmates each Friday night. She said the ministry has been a calling for her and a guiding light for the women that have landed in jail for their troubled pasts.

But the stigma that comes with a criminal record doesn't keep the women from wanting and needing a better way in life, she said. "You can't think of it like that," Ms. Henscheid said. "They are people that need to find God's grace."