Ed Barber CVC 407

1. Ed Barber
edtbarber@gmail.com
CVC 407
Week 8 ex 7
Most Important Role A Chaplain Can Be

2. The work of Chaplaincy in the Correctional and Prison facilities is important as it meets
the very definition that Matthew 25 tells us to do minister to all people, particularly the “least
of these”. This is a very old area of Chaplaincy, going back to at least 1886 when it was noted
the value of religion and spirituality in the correctional process. I am attracted to this area as I
see the eyes of the men that have no hope and feel that there is no future for them. I work
with men that have lesser sentences usually so they can see a light at the end of the tunnel.
What I have found is that they feel “how could God love me after all I have done?” I am
reminded what Isaiah 61:1 says “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has
anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners”. This is
powerful stuff when you can point to it in the Bible. I also take them to Jeremiah 29:11, and
show them that God has promised “A hope and a future”. So there is a great need for someone
that can give hope and show that you can have a life in Jesus Christ no matter what.
These Chaplains wear many hats and not only minister to the prisoners but to the staff
as well. There is a lot of stress to those that work in these institutions and they to need to have
the comfort of having someone listen to them and provide spiritual strength. The areas in
which they work can be dark, cold and have a sense of despair, having a lot of metal and
concrete, not a warm environment. They also can do funeral services for the prisoners and the

3. Chaplain at my institution even did one for a loved one of one of the inmates. It was his second
brother to die in two months from heroin and only after he was out of jail for 3 days. We were
able to use my church and his services to provide comfort to the family. At the funeral the
Chaplain talked about the need for Jesus and how he helps those that are suffering and meets
us where we are. Chaplains are sometimes required to teach a variety of classes, those can
include; grief recovery, stress or anger management, life skills, and conflict resolution. They can
help with vocational training and help with getting high school and college diplomas. Maybe
one of the most important and dangerous tasks would be intervening when there is a crisis like
fighting among the inmates.
The Chaplain must know his strengths and weaknesses as they are dealing with a rough
crowd. Even those that are not “bad guys” they need to act like bad guys to meet the prison
mentality that the weak will not survive. If you are a type of person that cannot handle a rough
crowd or that is manipulated easily, this would not be the place for you. Chaplains must not
seem like they are so “nice” that they will be convinced to do things they should not or to
favors for those locked up. They will be tempted to breach confidentiality when asked by
authority about inmates. So knowing what you can and cannot handle is very important, this is
not an old folk’s home setting.
I found an interesting article from the Pew Research Center about Prison Chapains.
Chart 1 shows what Chaplains do:

4. Next, other roles:
When asked to tell what top 3 things they spend most of their time on they answered:
1-Orinizing Religious Programs
2-Leading Worship Services
3-Counseling Sessions

5. I believe that this is a most important area of service, you may be the only person that
cares enough to them be real and to listen. We may be the one to be a Healing Presence and to
help them true salvation.