Photos and Story By Harrison Flowers
LEXINGTON, Okla. — Behind prison walls where doors stay locked and hope can be scarce, Oklahoma Baptist University’s Prison Divinity Program is producing graduates — and transformations — at a scale few imagined possible.
OBU’s Prison Divinity Program, fully funded by private donations, is preparing to graduate its largest class to date and has helped lead more than 1,500 people to Christ.
The program at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center offers the only four-year divinity degree inside a prison in the United States and one of the only in-person bachelor’s degree programs in Oklahoma.
In an interview with The Bison, Dr. Bruce Perkins, director of the Prison Divinity Program, expressed amazement at the program’s impact. After the first class graduated in May 2025, 17 alumni were deployed to six correctional facilities across the state.
“From the end of July to the end of December, they had more than 900 gospel conversations,” Perkins said. “Two hundred forty-one men received Christ through their direct ministry across those facilities. We’re seeing God do some phenomenal things.”
Gov. Kevin Stitt attended the graduation ceremony and addressed the graduates.
“You are history makers,” Stitt said. “You each took a situation that many would call hopeless and turned it into an opportunity to instill hope in those around you.”
Building the program from the ground up was challenging, particularly because it relies entirely on private donations. Support has come from individuals, churches of all sizes and even the prisoners themselves.
“We’ve raised a little over $1.6 million in the last five years,” Perkins said.
He recalled a moment during the first semester when a student asked if he could donate to the program. Perkins said God provided through the students, who together raised nearly $19,000.
“Some are veterans who might give $100, but most of that money is $20 or less,” Perkins said. “Some give one time, and some give fairly regularly.”
In addition to funding, the program depends on cooperation from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Mealtimes, headcounts, staff movement, lockdowns and security threats are daily realities for both DOC officials and the program.
At the 2025 graduation, inmates could not walk across the stage with on-campus students. However, the DOC worked with OBU to make a ceremony possible on campus with faculty in attendance.
“The director’s idea last year was to transport all of our seniors to the Shawnee campus and let them graduate there,” Perkins said. “That’s the first time that’s ever happened anywhere in a prison education program in the United States.”
The relationship between the Prison Divinity Program and the Department of Corrections is not without challenges. Leadership changes and staff turnover create uncertainty.
“Personnel move around, and the director serves at the pleasure of the governor,” Perkins said. “The continuity of leadership is a little tenuous. You just never know.”
Classes must also adapt to prison schedules. Every inmate has a work assignment, and PDP students are no exception.
“The prison sets the schedule,” Perkins said. “So we have to manipulate our classes around it.”
Courses must pause for headcounts, which occur every four hours. During headcount, inmates must remain where they are until the count is cleared. As a result, class periods often shift, stretch or are canceled entirely.
“When we enlist faculty, we tell them, if you have to have everything in its place, prison is not the place for you,” Perkins said. “You have to be flexible.”
Lockdowns present additional challenges. Perkins recalled being trapped inside the facility during a lockdown caused by gang activity in six Oklahoma prisons.
“We continue to monitor the situation and will maintain the lockdown as long as necessary for safety,” then-DOC Director Scott Crow said in a news release at the time.
The lockdown lasted until 8 p.m., and it was not an isolated incident.
“When we first started, we had no provision to continue classes during lockdown,” Perkins said. “In our first cohort, we missed 13 consecutive class days. That’s a long stretch.”
Despite the obstacles, Perkins said the program’s impact makes the difficulty worthwhile. The Prison Divinity Program has changed the culture of the prison.
“Inmates are excited about it,” Perkins said. “Just seeing it gives them hope that maybe they can do something like this one day.”
Inmates who are not part of the program frequently approach Perkins and his wife in the prison yard to ask for prayer. Even correctional officers have noticed the program’s influence.
Perkins recalled seeing an officer pray with students.
“He came up to them and said, ‘Would you pray for my son?’” Perkins said.
The program has reached even the most restricted parts of the prison. At the Lexington penitentiary, maximum-security inmates typically interact with others only through a small opening in their cell doors known as a “bean hole.” Students in the program were granted permission to evangelize through those openings.
“We’ve got about 12 students who go over every week,” Perkins said. “Since Feb. 23, when we started the first internship there, our students have led almost 1,300 men to Christ.”
What began as an experiment in prison education has become a ministry reaching the hardest-to-reach places behind bars — one conversation at a time, even through a bean hole.
