A new house of God will rise someday at the Allred Unit if a group of prison volunteers and pastors have their way.
Their vision is for a chapel big enough that no man who wants to worship is turned away. It s a $1 million, 9,000-square-foot dream that can only come to pass through donations. The church of Allred is in need of a chapel, said longtime prison volunteer Charles Grady, who is chairman of the James V. Allred Chapel Project Committee.
Years ago, demand outgrew a room designated as Allred s chapel. It seats 40 people. A gym where 180 men are allowed isn t big enough, either, for the prison in Iowa Park.
Texas reverses ban on religious advisers in execution chamber
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April 22 (UPI) Texas announced Thursday that it s reversed its ban on spiritual advisers entering the state s execution chambers.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice issued a revised policy allowing death row inmates to designate a TDCJ chaplain or other spiritual adviser of their choosing to be present inside the death chamber after they receive notification of their execution date.
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The reversal comes two years after the state banned any chaplain from entering the execution chamber amid a legal fight with Patrick Murphy, who sought to have a Buddhist spiritual adviser with him. The U.S. Supreme Court stayed his scheduled 2019 execution on the grounds of religious discrimination after the TDCJ denied his request.