Pastor John Cunningham, Jr. is a testament the transformative power of restoration and reconciliation. He leads the Christ-Centered Missionary Baptist Church in Hayward, California, where he extends compassion and support to those reentering society after incarceration. This passion led him to work with World Impact’s reentry programs.
“I know what it’s like,” Pastor John says. “Being formally incarcerated, I have a heart for the men and women that are behind bars.” John understands that to those who are called according to God’s purpose, all things work together for good. “Everything that I went through was preparation for me to stand before God’s people in the capacity that I am,” Pastor John says. “My goal is to help people to understand who they are in God. They don’t have to make the mistakes that I made to get to where God would have you to be.”
The Church’s Influence on Transitioning Back into Society
God works through His community of believers to restore relationships and draw us into community. “The church saved my life while I was incarcerated,” Pastor John says. “My relationship with God was a foundation from which I was able to survive incarceration. I’m an advocate of the church being the impetus of not only rehabilitation, but reconciliation. It’s important that the church is the voice, and that the church has the influence, even greater influence than the other agencies, [because] a relationship with God is first and foremost and what you need to make the transition from incarceration back into what we would call society.”
Pastor John’s Journey of Faith Begins on the Church’s Foundation
John was born into the church and grew up in Sunday School. He comes from a strong lineage of Godly leaders. His grandmother was a deacon and usher, his grandfather was a deacon, and his uncles were preachers and pastors. “Deacon McKinley Bolton and Deacon Robert Pitts, they used to tell me, boy, you going to be something when you grow up.” Pastor John remembers. “They saw something in me before I even saw something in myself.”
As a seven-year-old, Pastor John was saved and baptized. On the surface, he matched the respectability of his reputation. He was a military veteran, with a wife and children. “I was just off the chain, living life recklessly,” he says. “Never missing church, singing on the praise team, serving in different capacities.” But he was also “living a life of compromise and a life that was not rooted and grounded in the love of Christ.”
“Prison re-calibrated me,” Pastor John says. “It allowed me to see who God truly was, because when all you have is God, you can’t depend on anybody else.” He is grateful for this experience. “Not only did it help me to understand my relationship with God, but it helped me to have a love for the men that I served while behind prison walls.”
“I think that it’s imperative for us as a church to create an environment where they can not only have access to services but can be a part of a community that’s going to embrace them.”
The church plays an invaluable role in integrating marginalized people into community.
“I want our church to be the ones who former inmates can depend on to make it through whatever transitions [they] may face,” Pastor John says. “The Onesimus Project is a great foundation from which those who are returning can build upon and continue to make that transition.”
John believes churches serve all underprivileged and marginalized neighbors in our communities.
He says, “I think that it’s imperative for us as a church to create an environment where they can not only have access to services but can be a part of a community that’s going to embrace them, that’s going to at least try to understand them and then provide them with referrals and resources that can help them along the journey.”
How do we extend reconciliation and restoration to our neighbors?
1. We create a community of safety and belonging.
“If the church is not transparent, authentic, and genuine, nobody is going to come,” John says. “The people who need the help, all of them don’t look like us. They don’t think like we do. They don’t care how long this church has been established. What they care about is, do you love me?”
John also sees a critical need to extend acceptance to each neighbor. “That doesn’t mean that you compromise what you believe, but acceptance means [anyone] can come in and be a part of what we have going on and be a part of our community,” he says. “We’re going to model for you what that looks like.” God willing, they’ll see something they want to be a part of.
2. We meet tangible needs.
John’s church is intentional about walking alongside people through transitions into stability. “Once they get housed or once they find jobs, now they have a whole other set of challenges that they have to face,” John says. “You think about who’s going to do do their taxes, who’s going to help them find childcare, or who’s going to help them with their medical needs should they get a diagnosis.”
3. We partner with other churches and agencies that provide services for reentry populations.
“And that’s really for me, sharing what it is that we’re trying to do with not only other churches, but connecting with the NAACP and other elected officials,” Pastor John says. “Who’s the supervisor for the area that your church is in, and are you connecting with the mayor or city council member? Instead of us trying to reinvent the wheel, if there’s someone already doing it, then hey, let’s send them over there. Let’s make a referral.”
Pastors like John Cunningham, Jr. work tirelessly to walk with neighbors in transitions by connecting them into church communities. “We can’t wait. The time is now. If we wait, we miss the opportunity to impact lives,” he says. Your generous support enables them to pursue this critical work of restoration and reconciliation.
Your prayers, donations, and encouragement allow leaders around the world to receive the training and resources they need to serve those in their communities.
