Welcome to my website. My name is Donald Stoesz. I worked for thirty years as a prison chaplain within Correctional Service Canada. I am an ordained minister with Mennonite Church Alberta. Please contact me if you have any questions: dstoesz@telusplanet.net.
I have included a basic description of prison chaplaincy on the second page of this website. Alan Baker's categories of chaplain as provider, facilitator, caregiver, and advisor form the basis of this discussion.
I provide training to prison chaplains. I published a Prison Chaplaincy Manual in 2020 and developed an on-line Introduction to Chaplaincy course (SC613) that I have taught at Ambrose University since 2019. This course is part of a program in which students can acquire a Certificate in Spiritual Care. I am in the process of developing a three month internship program (PT712/721) that students can complete in a prison setting.
My writing started thirteen years ago (2010), when I published one hundred and twenty, one-page vignettes of my pastoral encounters with inmates. That book is called Glimpses of Grace.
My most recent book, Transformative Moments in Chaplaincy, traces important kairotic moments in chaplaincy in the last fifty years. It reflects on the impact that Pierre and Judy Allard have had regarding the Correctional Service, chaplaincy, community reintegration, COSAs, restorative justice, and international prison ministry. The book will be available through Friesen Press and Amazon in January, 2024.
The introduction to another recent incomplete manuscript, Topics in Psychology and Sociology, is included on another page of the website.
Another resource includes a review of Hank Dixon's new book, A Lifer's Journey.
More information about my career can be found in my Chaplaincy Journey and Curriculum Vitae.
