Global Leadership Summit to be broadcast at Charleston prison

When the annual Global Leadership Summit returns in August, one new congregation will be able to view the broadcast: inmates at the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston, Missouri.

The two-day event Aug. 6 and 7 is broadcast from Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago to more than 375 "host sites" around the world, according to willowcreek.com.

John Wade, a professor at Southeast Missouri State University and on-campus graduate coordinator in the Criminal Justice and Sociology Department, is part of a ministry team from LaCroix Church that goes into the Charleston prison Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings.

Last year, for the first time in its 20-year history, the Global Leadership Summit was broadcast to prisons in Louisiana, California, Texas and Ohio, Wade said.

This year, he and others decided to try to bring it to a local facility.

"... We drew up a proposal and ... met with warden [Ian] Wallace" to discuss bringing the program to the prison, Wade said. "He read it, and he said two words: 'We're in.'"

Wallace told them it would have to go through proper channels for permission.

"We figured that would be two to three weeks," Wade said. "But it was actually one day. ... So everybody has been pretty well on board from the get-go."

Inmates who attend must be 120 days free of violations, Wade said, and a covenant was drawn up they will sign to attend both days of the conference. Wade said there would be follow-ups at the prison in November and February to see whether the messages delivered during the summit are being used or what things could be incorporated.

Wade said the intent is to better equip men who "have already been identified as leaders in the prison. They have the potential to really affect other offenders more than we do in prison ministry, because they're with them 24-7."

Speakers listed at willowcreek.com for this year's Global Leadership Summit include Bill Hybels, founder and senior pastor at Willow Creek Community Church; Sallie Krawcheck, chairwoman of the Ellevate Network and former president of Bank of America's global wealth and investment management; and Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Wade said the inmates are looking forward to the summit.

"They're very excited," he said. The conference covers a Thursday and Friday, and while many inmates work Thursdays, Fridays usually are a free day, Wade said.

"They're giving up a day's work, money, to attend. ... They've been very excited about it since it was announced down here," Wade said.

kwebster@semissourian.com

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300 Pedro Simmons Dr, Charleston, MO 63834