The dilemmas of being a Quaker prison chaplain
Making decisions
I have been a Quaker prison chaplain for over seven years. It is immensely rewarding to experience the deeply gathered silences in Meetings for Worship in prisons. Increasingly I am aware of dilemmas we face in our work. Apart from everyday dilemmas, there are those that require great thought and care. For instance a man regularly attends Quaker Meeting for Worship in the prison, meeting other Friends. He might find it helpful and wish to attend a similar Meeting for Worship on his release. He asks me if he will be welcome. Instinctively I want to say: ‘Yes, of course, you will’. After all we have a testimony to equality and welcome everyone. It’s a dilemma, but I do have to tell him the truth. So I tell him that Quakers are like everyone else. They may welcome him, but there may be those who have children they wish to protect, or they may have been victims of crime or been abused themselves. They may not all find it so easy to welcome an ex-offender.
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