Notes from Pierre Allard (former head of Canadian Chaplaincy)

“Building a Community of Hope” - Rev. Dr. Pierre Allard

“If you want to judge a society, enter it's prisons”. - Dostoyevsky

The hope for corrections is that no one gets out alone.
Ex-prisoners need not be alone in suffering, prayer, service, joy, and mission.

1.Suffering – Rm. 5:3-5
- suffering—perseverance—character—hope
- ex-prisoners look for blessing and do not find it
- each person has a story/journey
- each story is soaked with suffering and pain
- they need people alongside them

2.Prayer – Lk. 22:40
- at times the pain seems too much for one person to bear
- “when I pray honestly, I can handle the worst of times. When I don't pray, I can't handle it” quote from ex-prisoner
- community chaplaincy started n Moncton in mid 70's; there is a group that has been praying for community chaplains on the third Monday of every month for 25 years

3.Service – James 2
- how do you measure success in working with ex-prisoners?
- Need to have no expectations of prisoners that may not be real
- need to take the long view in dealing with all people

4.Joy – Rm. 12:12
- you will not survive working in corrections without throwing a lot of parties

5.Mission – 2 Cor. 5
- the action of participating in reconciliation comes before the words of reconciliation
- we do not have to defend God; we only have to bring the message to people