OTTERBURNE, MB – With registration open for Winter 2025 courses at Providence Theological Seminary, one module that might be of interest to those who are looking to explore the topic of prison chaplaincy is “Spiritual Care in Corrections” with Dr. Hank Dixon. This one-week intensive course can either be taken for credit or audited and will be happening at the Otterburne campus the week of February 17th to 21st.
This course is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of correctional spiritual care which encompasses institutional chaplaincy and community support. They will gain insights into the Canadian justice system, the experience of individuals moving through prison, parole, and community reintegration. Spiritual care in these settings will be studied by exploring different theological/psychological models, prison and community dynamics, perspectives on rehabilitation, working with correctional staff, safe practices, and self-care.
Interested in learning more about Dr. Hank Dixon’s background? Before launching Providence’s Chaplaincy/Spiritual Care program last year, an interview was conducted with Hank about his experience in corrections.
Hank has a wealth of experience as a chaplain in Canada’s federal prison system. In his book, A Lifer’s Journey: Prison Chaplaincy from the Inside Out (published in 2021), you can read about his heartfelt story first as an inmate, then as a pastor and later as a chaplain. Below is an interview that we conducted following his introductory course called “Chaplaincy/Spiritual Care Foundations,” which was held during a modular week in November 2022.
Providence: Tell us about yourself and how you started on the path to prison chaplaincy.
Hank: I was released from Springfield Institution in July 1985 on day patrol and sent to a halfway house in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After two or three months being there, I started attending a church called West End Baptist. That’s where I met my wife, Linda, who was working with homeschooled children and the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). We eventually got married in 1987. I had begun work on my Bachelor of Arts with a couple of courses under my belt from prison. I completed my degree at Mount Saint Vincent University. Then, we moved back to Manitoba and I took my Master of Divinity at Providence. From there, I went back to Nova Scotia and pastored three small churches in North/South Brookfield, Westfield and LaBelle. They are located in the southern, central part of the province and I spent six years ministering there, seeing lots of growth and participating in many baptism services. However, I felt a very powerful call to go back to prison as a chaplain. That was the most difficult decision I’ve made in my life. In 1999, I re-entered prison as a Protestant Chaplain at the Atlantic Institution, which is a maximum security facility located in the rural community of Renous, New Brunswick. By the year 2000, there were two back-to-back riots and I ministered there for four years, before being transferred to Stony Mountain where I worked for nine years. These experiences cultivated a deep well of compassion and care for inmates and staff that has never left me.
Providence: Chaplaincy crosses over into areas of pastoring and counselling. In your opinion, what kind of characteristics does a chaplain need to have?
Hank: I believe chaplaincy occupies a very unique place in the ministry dynamic. In one of my lectures, I tackle the whole idea of identity. There is a spiritual counselling component, a spiritual care component and also a spiritual direction component to chaplaincy. All three components come together to form and shape a chaplain. One of the terms that you hear a lot in chaplaincy is “presence” – what it really means to be present with people. It is probably one of the more misunderstood concepts in chaplaincy. You need to be able to engage in different conversations about difficult topics and be able to meet people where they are at. Because of my own experience, and since I’ve been the recipient of chaplaincy care as an inmate, I think one of the aspects that I’ve always deeply appreciated is being non-judgmental. It is the capacity to walk with someone and not judge them; to help them sort out their own journey. That to me is one of the core pieces that encapsulates chaplaincy. You don’t necessarily find it elsewhere as you engage the world.
Providence: Chaplains are present in the crisis and pain moments. They deal with grief, loss and suffering. It takes a certain type of person to be able to navigate all of this in a healthy way. Can you speak into this more?
Hank: You need to be grounded in your own life, in your faith and in your sense of who you are – not only as a person, but in your call. It is only out of this place that you can really minister, be empathic and caring with other people. It is not always easy to do, especially when I recall some of the situations I’ve dealt with in my ministry. I’ve dealt with murders, beatings, suicides and riots. Some of it has been extremely tough and it has taken its toll. It’s not the kind of thing you walk away from and shrug off. It has an impact on us. So, there is a real need to anchor yourself, but also have the supports around you to handle things as they come along.
REGISTER TODAY for “Spiritual Care in Corrections”: February 17-21, 2025.
