Prison Stories: (Memoirs of a Chaplain)

By Dr. Lorne K. Freake

Prison Stories is exactly what the title describes. However, not all the stories are within the walls of correctional facilities, some of the stories are accounts of what has taken place outside of the walls, in communities throughout Atlantic Canada. It is indeed a storybook that 'grabs your heart' with emotions of both sadness and surprise. Not only is it a storybook, it is also a textbook as it highlights many valuable lessons learned along the way in correctional chaplaincy ministry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781468554984

Dr. Lorne K. Freake

Dr. Lorne K. Freake (pronounced Free-ak) is an ordained minister and has served as a pastor and a Bible college teacher. Presently he volunteers as a Chaplain (Padré) for the RCMP - District 10, "J" Division and the Grand Falls Fire Department, in North West New Brunswick, Canada. He also serves as a member of the local Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team. He is the Director of Ministry Advancement (DMA) for the Canadian Bible Society for Atlantic Canada. Dr. Freake and his wife Peggy (a high school guidance counselor) are the proud parents of four ‘young adult’ children.

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© 2012 by Dr. Lorne K. Freake. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/17/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4685-5500-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-5499-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-5498-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012903152

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them. Two webpage addresses which are still known to be valid for certain are: the author’s own at

www.crimepreventionspirituality.com And that of a fellow professional, a clinician, who has written the Forward of this book. Her webpage address at www.drmaryspeed.com

Scriptures quoted in this book are taken from the Good News Translation (GNT) copyright 1992 by the Canadian Bible Society or NKJV copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., used by permission.

Contents

Preface

Forward

Acknowledgement

Dedication

Prologue

Introduction

Prison Story # 1

Fast Forward Thirty Years Later

Prison Story # 2

Drunken Darrell

Prison Story # 3

Dilemma In Dorchester

Prison Story # 4

Native Spirituality, A Spiritually Enlightening Experience

Prison Story # 5

The Handwriting Analysis

Prison Story # 6

Against All Odds

Prison Story # 7

(Silence In Heaven, I Mean… In Atlantic)

Prison Story # 8

Restorative Justice

Prison Story # 9

Conned (First, Last And Only Time!)

Prison Story # 10

The Community Cause Compact Disk (Cd)

Prison Story # 11

The Grand Falls Connection (A Rendezvous With Destiny)

Prison Story # 12

The Missing Link… Surprise Behind The Walls

Thirty-Five Practical Guidelines For Effective

Correctional Chaplaincy Ministry

Afterward

Epilogue

Collections/Articles

Webpages/Links

About The Author

PREFACE

My interest in prison chaplaincy ministry came to me early in life. It probably happened as far back as when I was as a teenager when I nearly escaped from going to prison myself, as a result of my foolish actions…

In my early years of ministerial training, I remember writing letters to prisoners including Canada’s notorious child killer Clifford Olson, who most people contended, wasn’t worth the cost of the eight cent postage stamp required, to mail a letter back in 1981.

In pastoral ministry in every parish where I served as pastor, I was involved as a volunteer in prison ministry, simply heeding the call of St. Matthew in 25: 37-40 who reminded the church of its obligation to correctional service chaplaincy ministry.

St. Matthew wrote:

The righteous will then answer him, ‘When Lord did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you? The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me. (GNT)

My involvement in prison ministry has included everything from writing letters to prisoners, to visiting and counseling them in the jails. I have accompanied some in court and ministered to their families in practical ways while they were incarcerated. I have served as a prison ministry volunteer, a provincial prison chaplain and also a community chaplain helping guys and ladies in the continuum of pastoral care during reintegration.

In the midst of us working full time, my wife and I have also been busy raising our four ‘chosen’ children. In the midst of all of that, by God’s amazing grace, I have also completed a Ph.D. in theology at Laval University with writing a 408 page dissertation entitled: Community Chaplaincy and Crime Prevention: Blessing as a Bridge from Prison to Community (A Theological and Pastoral Model of Intervention for a Proactive and Reactive Therapeutic Approach to Community Corrections).

While my dissertation is an academic work, I have not written this book: Prison Stories (Memoirs of a Chaplain) with the same academic flavor. Rather, this book is written in layman’s language. I pray that this volume will be a work that will inform you, inspire you and even entertain you a little at times as we look into this wonderful work we refer to as correctional service chaplaincy ministry.

In the past few years many incidents have taken place not only our regional jail but also in other institutions in Atlantic Canada. Sometimes I was invited to these other institutions as a guest chaplain, to help with the chapel service or sometimes I just went there to visit someone imprisoned from my local area. These experiences have taught me many valuable lessons along the way. In this book I share only twelve of these experiences or ‘prison stories’ from both inside and outside the walls or ‘Memoirs of a Chaplain’ as I have called them. I have written this book in order to give both an inside and outside view of what correctional service chaplaincy ministry is all about.

My sincere prayer is that this text will help you understand the importance of chaplaincy ministry. Many of these stories come from within the walls, in the trenches of life on the