Bodybuilding minister teaches skills to Monroe inmates

MONROE — As a young man, John Burkholder was a champion wrestler and bodybuilder.

His athletic career culminated in his being named Mr. USA and Mr. North America before he retired from competition in the early 1980s and became a teacher.

He attributes his success in sports to discipline and self-control.

The same values also defined his path when he became a Christian.

Burkholder, now 65, is a full-time pastor for the Cascade Church prison ministry at the Monroe Correctional Complex.

Burkholder was born in Germany to American parents. He grew up on military posts around the country and used to own a bodybuilding gym in Seattle.

He started bodybuilding at 14 and wrestled through high school and college. He joined the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War but was discharged because of a knee injury and went back to school.

He and his wife Rita have been married 32 years and raised two sons.

Burkholder earned his master’s degree in theology in 2004.

“I came to Christ when I was 41 years old,” he said. “Being a pastor wasn’t really on the agenda. I didn’t really live a Christian life before. It was one of those things where there was a huge change in my thinking and my life.”

After graduate school, he started a job in finance at Cascade Church in Monroe. He was invited to teach a Bible study class at the prison, or “the hill,” as the locals call it. The next thing he knew, it was his full-time job. He primarily works in the units for offenders with mental-health problems and sex-crime convictions.

Hundreds of inmates attend worship services in the ministry program, Burkholder said. He helps teach skills for inmates who are preparing for release, including finding a job and resolving conflict.

His experience teaching junior high comes in handy, and his bodybuilding past sparks interest and common ground. He’s provided faith leadership to thousands of inmates over the years.

“It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done in my life,” he said.

He finds the reward in seeing inmates change and not return to prison. Many of the inmates he works with are recovering from childhood abuse and neglect, and problems with drugs and alcohol, he said. He wants them to become better men.

That means taking responsibility for their misdeeds, particularly the lessons from the first chapter of James, and the messages of self-control found within the Letters of Paul, he said.

The way Burkholder sees it, most of the prisoners he works with will someday make it back into society.

“How they come out of that prison is a very serious thing,” he said.

Burkholder still works out, too, three times a week in 90-minute sessions starting at 6 a.m. in the “man cave” at his house in rural Snohomish.

“That’s my downtime, and it keeps me very healthy, mentally and physically,” he said.

He’s had the same workout routine since 1981.

“When you have something that works, you just stick with it and that’s where the discipline comes in,” he said.

For more information about Cascade Church and its prison ministry, go to www.cascadechurch.org or call 360-794-4600.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett, delivers the annual state of the city address Thursday morning in the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington on March 31, 2022.  (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
At Everett mayor’s keynote speech: $35 entry, Boeing sponsorship

The city won’t make any money from the event, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said. Still, it’s part of a trend making open government advocates wary.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.