Written By Geoff Clarke
I walked onto one of the Units of the Jail I work at and found a scene I had not previously witnessed: 7 clients were sitting around a table with a Correctional Officer(CO), all talking together. I took advantage of a pause in the conversation to ask the CO what was in process. He told me this was their group discussion time. They would get together and discuss topics that he would introduce and often follow up with things the clients wanted to talk about. Three of the items on the list on this day were Alpha Males, Family time and Taking Responsibility. The clients were enthusiastic and engaged. They volunteered about how good it was to talk and explore ideas. One client said that because of the discussions he was now working to restore a relationship with his father. A relationship that had not been functional for many years. “We’re still working on it” he said.
I need to make something clear: This was not a part of the CO’s job. It was something he did when there was time because he saw a need and stepped up to fill the need. He explained to me that guys sitting in a Unit in jail, spending their time watching tv, received no benefit that might improve their lives going forward. They need people to help them. Ministry is where you find it. It is also true that you also must “Go” to minister where there is need.
In Matthew 25 Jesus explains what it will be like when he returns and will judge how we have done. And one of the criteria that Jesus uses to measure people is whether they visited and cared for people in jail. When we read this scripture, consider these comparisons:
“34 Then the king will say to those on his right, “My father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created. 35 When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, 36 and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me.”
There is a great need within jails and prisons for help for the clients. I should explain that I refer to the people who are in jail as clients because many of them, up to 85%, are remanded, not convicted. They have not yet actually been found guilty of the crimes of which they have been accused. They need help so that they don’t come back. Recidivism is committing crimes again after you have been released. We want to help people to not do this.
In October of 2023 I received a phone call from a friend that changed the path of my life. The Province of New Brunswick was beginning a chaplaincy program in the provincial jails, and they had been given my name from a friend of mine who himself didn’t feel called to this ministry - but he thought, "maybe Geoff would be a good fit." In my 20-some years of pastoral ministry I hadn’t been involved in prison ministry except when someone came to the church for help after being released. After the call I prayed about the position and also asked some friends to pray. The response we all received was to engage this opportunity. After the interviews (and way more paperwork than I thought possible) I was offered the position of Chaplain at the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre.
A Chaplain’s job is to facilitate the religious needs of the clients and staff within the jail. We have Christians of many denominations, also Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans and many more. Each one has a constitutional right to worship, within security bounds, their own way. Chaplains also help with the staff needs as well. In many cases we are able to just sit and talk with people. Listening to what they need to share and helping them understand they aren’t alone.
We also work with and facilitate the volunteers who come to minister to the clients, doing worship, leading Bible Studies and listening to their story.
Now this changes into two different stories. The first, from a more selfish bent, is mine: I felt a lot of personal resistance to this position, but God’s leading in this had been extremely clear. The second side of the story is that of the people who work and live in the jail, who need spiritual care. Here's where these two stories come together: I walked through the door on my first day and honestly, I was pretty nervous. I was completely out of my element in this environment. Pulpit ministry is a completely different basket of bread and fish. I was introduced to the various staff, and they gave me a tour around the facility. This was a completely different world to me, everything seemed both new and terrifying. It didn’t help that it really isn’t like what you would see on television or in a movie. I had many long conversations with God about this being some kind of mistake. This wasn’t my skillset! The building was oppressive! The staff were highly skilled professionals and I felt like I was intruding almost every day. And yet day after day both the clients and the staff were grateful for whatever I, and those who volunteer, could do for them. The jail is populated with every kind of person that you could imagine. Those you would chat with if your tables were beside each other at a coffee shop, and people you would cross to the other side of the street to avoid. This being said, there is no visible difference to tell which person is going to respond to The Gospel. There are no external visible signs that distinguishes between a person who realizes they are lost and need the grace of God, and a person who is just waiting for their time in jail to be complete so they can get back to what they want to be doing.
We live in a time of increased crime where people are afraid on the streets and in their homes, and call out to the government to lock up the criminals and make the streets safe. The Public and the politicians both cry out for less bail and longer sentences so that the problem will go away. We want people to find a better way to live than disruptively, and as Christians, we pray that people will repent and follow God - living a better more productive life. But as the CO said, this is not going to happen by leaving the clients to sit around counting minutes until they are released.
What does this have to do with a ‘regular’ Christian?
The Great Commission instructs us to Go into the world and make disciples for Jesus, teaching them to obey all that he has commanded. We can't do that unless we get together with the people who need to learn. We need Christians from every walk of life to be willing to be involved in the lives of people in jail.
First: We need is people to volunteer to come into the jails, to get involved in these people's lives. To demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ, and to remind the clients that they are loved by God just as much as everyone else. How else could we better teach them how to make healthy decisions in the face of difficult life situations? The clients need to have people investing time in them. They need relationships with those who will not approve of bad choices - or justify them - but people who will model how to make healthy choices even in a bad situation.
Second: We need Christians to step up and help clients who have been released and are returning to community. Roughly 80% of our current population in this jail are homeless. When they are released the only option for them may well be living in an unhealthy situation with people who will return them to the activities that brought them to jail in the first place. They live with their dealers, or they couch hop and commit crimes to get drugs and food. Blunt but true.
What would this help look like? We need more places for people to live. We need more people to take the chance and hire clients so they can earn their own way. We need people to help them live a healthier life staying close to God and following what Jesus teaches us. We need more Christians to surround returning clients with a community that matches the very thing that Jesus commanded us to do.
Honestly the second point is what I really want you to consider. We need more help in the jails, but what you can say or do here is limited. There are extremely specific limits on evangelizing and teaching about Jesus because jails and prisons are secular. We work the best we can every day and the volunteers here do the best they can every time they walk through the doors. But outside these walls there is so much more that can be done each day.
Recovery programs, training programs, one on one time, employment, living conditions… all of these are things that you can affect in community.
A little while ago I sat with a client who told me, with a shaking voice, that he didn’t want to leave. He is a Christian who struggles with addiction and often falls to it. Hence his time here. He said that in here, he is relatively safe from the struggles he will face on the outside. He said he has no one. I would love to tell you that I, and his Case Manager, connected him with a Christian Group Home or Halfway House. I would love to tell you that, but I cannot. They were all full, and on average have a six-month waiting list to get in. On his release day he was dropped off uptown around 9:30am. He had the possessions and clothes that he was placed in custody with. I haven’t heard from him since. That might be a good thing. Perhaps he has found a safe and healthy environment, but I don’t know. All I do know is that he was scared to leave because he has been through this many times before.
How important was this to Jesus?
37 Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, “When did we give you something to eat or drink? 38 When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear 39 or visit you while you were sick or in jail?”
40 The king will answer, “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.”
41 Then the king will say to those on his left, “Get away from me! You are under God's curse. Go into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 I was hungry, but you did not give me anything to eat, and I was thirsty, but you did not give me anything to drink. 43 I was a stranger, but you did not welcome me, and I was naked, but you did not give me any clothes to wear. I was sick and in jail, but you did not take care of me.”
44 Then the people will ask, “Lord, when did we fail to help you when you were hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in jail?”
45 The king will say to them, “Whenever you failed to help any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you failed to do it for me.”
46 Then Jesus said, “Those people will be punished forever. But the ones who pleased God will have eternal life.” - Matthew 25:37-40.
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