Granger man ministers to jail inmates

“I get restless just occupying a church pew,” stated John Bolstetter of Granger. “I’m more peaceful when I’m serving others. Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:36 that when we visit those in prison, we’re ministering to him. That’s why I enjoy jail and prison ministry. I feel like I’m serving and imitating Christ.”

Bolstetter is a member of Saint Pius X Catholic Church in Granger.

He was raised as a Lutheran. It wasn’t until he got married to his wife, Peggy, in 1974 that he began attending the Catholic church.

“Peggy is a cradle Catholic. My conversion to the Catholic faith was gradual. As our two daughters grew older, faith began to be more important to me. I wanted our whole family to be following Jesus,” Bolstetter said.

He went through RCIA and was received into the Catholic church in 1991. When the family moved to Granger in 1991, they became parishioners at St. Pius.

“I was asked to join the finance committee, and I also joined the Knights of Columbus. As I grew in my faith, I served on a variety of church ministries and committees,” Bolstetter said.

In 2008, Bolstetter attended a men’s “Christ Renews his Parish” retreat put on by parishioners of Saint Pius.

“It was a turning point in my faith journey. I wanted to expand my reach in the community and share God’s Word,” he said.

One night he had trouble sleeping so he tuned into a television program called “Scared Straight.”

“It was about youth offenders spending time in a prison environment, learning what prison life would be like it they didn’t change their ways,” Bolstetter said.

The program motivated him to investigate jail ministry.

“One of our local deacons was visiting inmates at the St. Joe County Jail every Saturday morning,” he said. “I joined him. That was about eight years ago.”

Saint Pius X recently formalized a jail and prison ministry with Bolstetter as the coordinator.

“Every Saturday, two volunteers visit inmates at the St. Joe County Jail,” he said. “We recently added weekly Tuesday visits to the South Bend Community Re-Entry Center,” he said. “Every other Thursday, a group of us visits inmates at the Westville Correctional Facility, which is a medium-security facility near Michigan City.

“We’re a new ministry and moving slowly, but our ultimate goal is to include opportunities for women to minister to incarcerated women.”

At the jail, the volunteers take the group through the upcoming

Sunday’s readings as Mass is celebrated there each Sunday.

“We work to prepare the men for Sunday Mass and give them a better understanding of God’s Word,” Bolstetter noted.

The men at the re-entry center are studying the Book of Matthew.

“We also mentor them on topics like social skills, as they will soon be reentering society. We may talk about healthy conflict resolution or how to avoid drugs on the outside,” he said.

Bolstetter added, “At Westville, we might speak on the Sacraments, how to pray, God’s boundless mercy, or how to not give into temptation. Then we ask the men to break up into small groups and discuss.”

Bolstetter encourages his volunteers to share their personal faith journeys.

“As we open up to them, they feel comfortable opening up to us. We are all enriched as we feed each other’s faith,” Bolstetter said.