A Prison Chaplaincy Manual

The manual provides a rationale for chaplaincy by using Winnifred Sullivan's three categories of religious secularism, irreligious secularism, and areligious secularism to outline the essential and transforming value of spiritual care services (preface, introduction). The manual provides a history of justice initiatives and chaplaincy services in a Canadian context (chapters one and two). The manual provides a rationale for spiritual care-giver training by showing how chaplaincy courses at a university level can build on the competencies of leadership and core knowledge that many ministers, rabbis, imams, priests, nuns, and other faith group representatives have. Emotional intelligence, professional practice skills, and diversity are additional competencies needed for spiritual care-givers to become effective prison chaplains (chapters three to six). Six principles shape the content of this book: (1) integration of chaplaincy into corrections (chapters three to six) (2) understanding of prison dynamics (chapters seven to ten), (3) complementary use of sociology and psychology (chapters eleven to fourteen), (4) provision of faith formation, rites and rituals, programs, pastoral care, and a ministry of presence (chapters fifteen to eighteen), (5) ecumenical and multi-faith religious accommodation (chapters nineteen to twenty-one) and (6) professional development (chapters twenty-four and twenty-five). The manual concludes with a statement of best practices by Dr. Thomas Beckner, long-time chaplaincy educator (Correctional Chaplains: Keepers of the Cloak, p. 24). "Chaplains are to have highly polished counselling skills, strong management and facilitation abilities, a working knowledge of various faith group requirements . . . and a strong commitment to serve all residents of the institution regardless of their faith identity or lack thereof."

This book is a direct response to the two most frequently asked questions that I receive as a prison chaplain: Are offenders remorseful for what they have done? Is it possible for them to change? While the answer to the first question is often a resounding Yes!, this does not mean that it is always possible for inmates to change. Some of them find it too difficult, too much sacrifice, too much work. Others are willingly to make the long journey toward healing and wholeness. The intractability of Tom Riddle in the Harry Potter series is used to look at the challenges of feeling remorse. The story of Jean Valjean details the journey from remorse to forgiveness, from grace to justification, from being reborn to becoming sanctified, from becoming holy to learning how to love. Jesus’ remarks that “he can lay down his life and take it up again” is used to develop a stronger theology of the will. The divine and human will are ever present in enabling change to occur. The sacrificial example of Saint Francis of Assisi shows how voluntary poverty, chastity, and obedience are necessary ingredients in becoming spiritually whole. The book concludes with a reflection on Dismas, the first Christian martyr.

The book celebrates Rev. Dr. Pierre and Judy Allard’s fifty years of reconciliation ministry by weaving their life experiences within broader initiatives started within Canada and overseas. Three quality moments of time, referred to as kairotic events within the contemporary history of corrections and chaplaincy, are identified. The rise of prison visitation and ex-offender reintegration organizations across Canada in the 1960s and 70s represents the first quality moment of time. Rev. Dr. Pierre Allard’s collaboration with Correctional Service Canada Commissioner Ole Ingstrup in the early 1980s in developing a new Mission Statement for the Service represents a second kairotic moment. Pierre and Judy Allard’s establishment of Just Equipping in 2006 as a response to an international call to bring about reconciliation between offenders and victims in Rwanda and other countries in Africa represents a third quality moment of time. The book analyses these three historical occasions and weaves them together with nine other Canadian chaplains’ stories of prison ministry.

"Glimpses of Grace" relates the joys and challenges of a prison chaplain through a series of one-page vignettes. The open-ended stories are written with a pastor's heart that seeks to minister to the needs and hopes of offenders who have committed serious crimes. The book takes the reader from opportunities of pastoral care to issues of relationships, authority, and restorative justice. The author explores the challenges of ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue while remaining true to his Christian faith. He looks at ministry from the perspective of volunteers and writes about how staff can be an ally in corrections. He regards offenders as subjects who define the nature of the pastoral relationship. Donald's high view of ecclesiology and solid theological background give this book a unique perspective. Don regards the chapel community as a natural extension of the visible body of Jesus Christ of which the larger church is a part. Don considers how offenders' experiences and other faiths can make one a more devout believer. The profound experiences of the "other" make one look more deeply into the resources of one's own faith....

Despite being one of the most avowedly secular nations in the world, Japan may have more prison chaplains per inmate than any other country, the majority of whom are Buddhist priests. In this groundbreaking study of prison religion in East Asia, Adam Lyons introduces a form of chaplaincy rooted in the Buddhist concept of doctrinal admonition rather than Euro-American notions of spiritual care. Based on archival research, fieldwork inside prisons, and interviews with chaplains, Karma and Punishment reveals another dimension of Buddhist modernism that developed as Japan’s religious organizations carved out a niche as defenders of society by fighting crime. Between 1868 and 2020, generations of clergy have been appointed to bring religious instruction to bear on a range of offenders, from illegal Christian heretics to Marxist political dissidents, war criminals, and death row inmates. The case of the prison chaplaincy shows that despite constitutional commitments to freedom of religion and separation of religion from state, statism remains an enduring feature of mainstream Japanese religious life in the contemporary era.

A Handbook of Chaplaincy Studies explores fundamental issues and critical questions in chaplaincy, spanning key areas of health care, the prison service, education and military chaplaincy. Leading authors and practitioners in the field present critical insight into the challenges and opportunities facing those providing professional spiritual care. From young men and women in the military and in custody, to the bedside of those experiencing life’s greatest traumas, this critical examination of the role played by the chaplain offers a fresh and informed understanding about faith and diversity in an increasingly secular society. An invaluable compendium of case-studies, academic reflection and critical enquiry, this handbook offers a fresh understanding of traditional, contemporary and innovative forms of spiritual practice as they are witnessed in the public sphere. Providing a wide-ranging appraisal of chaplaincy in an era of religious complexity and emergent spiritualities, this pioneering book is a major contribution to a relatively underdeveloped field and sets out how the phenomenon of chaplaincy can be better understood and its practice more robust and informed.

Prison Ministry is one of the most intimidating and unpopular ministries in the church. This manual contains the operating procedures necessary to be an effective prison volunteer. Although prisons are growing at rapid rates, most churches and even bible colleges do not provide prison ministry training. This manual is capable of assisting those that are interested or actively serving in prison ministry.

Prison Chaplain and volunteer basic training to work in the prison ministry culture.