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.
When a man who had paid several visits to our home later turned up in prison, he expected special treatment, asking me to take messages to his girlfriend and so on. I needed to be very clear in my response. The ‘Nothing in, nothing out’ prison rule applies to messages and information just as much as it does to drugs or mobile phones. Security departments get very concerned if inmates know anything about our private lives. We are meant to keep any such information private and if we have met an inmate on the outside this is considered a security risk and has to be reported.
In prison we meet people at their most vulnerable. We share their sadnesses, offer support and sometimes get to know them well. On their release ‘Security’ dictates that we should not keep in touch. However, they may invite us to visit them or come to visit us. It is sometimes hard to say no to these requests, especially when we do enjoy hearing from them or about their progress. Several Quaker chaplains have been able to continue befriending those who have left prison, but only when they are no longer Quaker chaplains. We have to decide
whether our ministry is with those inside or those outside as we are not allowed to do both at the same time.
A Local Meeting might turn naturally to its Quaker prison chaplain if an ex-offender wishes to attend that Meeting. Chaplains can offer advice and support, but are not allowed and should not be asked to be the main contact with the person and their prison will need to know of the situation.
Have you tried putting your name followed by ‘Quaker’ into an internet search engine? The Quaker network is small and sometimes means that we are able to be contacted. Recently I have had two ex-offenders contact me by email. How should I respond? Well, I responded in a different way to each, in one case reporting the man who I felt could become a risk to others. It is always regarded as a breach of security and should not happen.
Other dilemmas for Quaker chaplains come along. We cannot take the lead in campaigning for prison reform, and we rely on other Friends for that – hard because we see all too clearly the things that are wrong. We also know that being ‘inside’ is dependent on our being able to find a way of working within that system. Unless we keep to the rules we know that our ministry there can be curtailed. However, we do have a wonderful opportunity of meeting and working with people who are seeking a different way of living. The Quaker way can provide that and we chaplains have the privilege of carrying this message to the inside. I hope more Friends will join in this ministry – both for those in prisons and for those no longer there.
