I am honored to be one of the panelists for tomorrow’s “Hope in Spiritual Care” virtual event hosted by the Berkeley School of Theology. You can still register if you are interested!
To prepare for the panel, I asked my fellow chaplains in the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy staff meeting today how they gave hope in a complex world to the county jail inmates while offering pastoral care, during worship, or scripture study. Here is some of what the chaplains said:
- Encourage writing and reflection
- Give feedback to let them know they are heard
- Listen to their requests and offer choices when possible (what music to play during worship? what color paper?)
- Encourage immediately if possible to identify growth and progress
- Support them in speaking about gratitude and what is good in the present moment
- Encourage trust in the divine message today to build future hope
- When opportune, give messages of God’s love: each of us is noticed and important to God
- Encourage art and creative expression
- Help inmates to manage realistic expectations of the justice process
- Even when things go badly, say God is with them and the chaplains will be there to listen
- Be in the role of offering service rather than advice on how to fix things
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