• LifeWay.com
  • Lifeway Research
  • Lifeway Newsroom
  • Media Inquiries
    • View LifewayNews’s profile on Facebook
    • View LifeWayNews’s profile on Twitter

Lifeway Newsroom

Your calling is our mission.

New book tells story of murder, forgiveness

September 30, 2013

By Marty King

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Stephen Owens was 12 years old when he discovered his father’s body in their Memphis, Tenn. home after his mother, Gaile Owens, hired a stranger to murder him. Owens’ new book, Set Free, shares how he overcame the traumatic events of his childhood by forgiving his mother.

Set Free, published by B&H Publishing Group, a division of Lifeway Christian Resources, recounts the events surrounding the arrest, conviction, death sentence and ultimate release of Gaile Owens who spent 26 years on death row.

SetFreeOwens said the book is his “side of the story; my honest point of view about what it was like to live through the betrayal of the one person in this world I was supposed to trust the most—my mother.”

“Although this story takes place surrounding the events of a crime story, it is essentially about the power of forgiveness and how crucial it is to find peace with your life,” Owens said.

In the book released Oct. 1, Owens recounts that he did not see his mother for 23 years after testifying against her. “For most of that time, because of my own anger and bitterness toward her, I did not even know my mother’s whereabouts. Nor did I care.”

In the foreward to the book, renowned journalist John Seigenthaler writes that Owens had decided he would “never lift a finger or raise his voice to help her. He thought his mother deserved to die. He had never forgiven her.”

Owens describes in the book how God led him for several years through a process of reconciliation and eventually to forgiveness.

“Tired of feeling the heavy burden of unforgiveness, weary of carrying the weight on my shoulders, I was miserable because I knew I hadn’t dealt well with the matters of forgiveness,” Owens writes.

He says visiting his mother in prison was integral to forgiving her. “I had been convinced God was leading me to prison to extend forgiveness to my mother, to tell her that I forgave her.”

“For more than ten years, God had been setting me up, conditioning me, and getting me ready to see my mother,” he writes. “The last time I had seen my mother’s face was in 1986 at the Memphis courtroom where she had been sentenced to death.”

On Aug. 23, 2009, Owens and his wife, Lisa, visited the Tennessee Prison for Women, northwest of downtown Nashville. “The moment Lisa and I entered the room was an overwhelming experience. Sitting demurely, though nervously, at the table was my now gray-haired mother who I had not seen in nearly 24 years,” Owen’s writes.

“My eyes locked onto hers and without the slightest bit of hesitation, I opened my arms and moved in her direction. She rose, and I hugged my mother for the first time since Dad’s funeral.”

Owens writes the three-hour visit went well, “with conversation coming easily,” but an opportunity for forgiveness didn’t appear until the prison guard gave them five minutes to conclude the visit.

“Mother turned toward me, with tears in her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Stephen,’ she said. ‘I know I can’t change anything now, but I just need to ask for your forgiveness.’”

“This was the open door I had been praying for. This was what I believed God had sent me to do. I looked my mother in the eyes, and said, ‘I forgive you, Mom.’ Bound up in my expression of forgiveness were the years of hurt and emotional pain my family and I had suffered.”

A year later, Gaile Owens’ death sentence was commuted to life in prison, making her eligible for parole, which was granted Sept. 28, 2011 – exactly one year to the day after she was scheduled to be executed. A week later, Stephen Owens was at the prison gate and hugged his mother as she was released.

God opened a door for both mother and son to be set free – her from a literal prison and he from a prison of unforgiveness.

The Owens are sharing their story of forgiveness and reconciliation on a national book tour this month including a number of national broadcast appearances.


Set Free is available at Lifeway Christian Stores and LifeWay.com.

Related

Filed Under: B&H, News Tagged With: B&H, book release, forgiveness, Gaile Owens, set free, Stephen Owens

Comments

  1. zeenat salwar kameez says

    November 16, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    Appreciating the time and energy you put into your blog and in depth
    information you offer. It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t
    the same old rehashed material. Fantastic read!
    I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m including your
    RSS feeds to my Google account.

Latest from the Newsroom

  • Patriotic displays common in July 4th church services
  • Lifeway summer camps give kids and students the ‘best week ever’ 
  • Pastors have clarity on same-sex marriage, not the role of LGBTQ+ people in churches
  • Lifeway’s ‘Spark Studios’ VBS album hits No. 1 on music chart
  • Mandrell shares Lifeway’s vision for serving the global church 

News Archives

@LifeWayNews on Twitter

My Tweets

Subscribe to Lifeway News

Enter your email address to subscribe to the Lifeway News feed and receive of news via email.

RSS Facts & Trends

  • 3 Practical Steps to Solve the Student Ministry Volunteer Shortage
  • Patriotic Displays Common in July 4th Church Services
  • Video: Apathy Isn’t Just a Church Problem

LifeWay

About Us
Contact Lifeway
Careers
Licensing & Permissions
Privacy Policy

Lifeway Network:

Lifeway Research
B&H
Ridgecrest

Copyright © 2022 · Lifeway Christian Resources · All Rights Reserved