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 questions:  dstoesz@telusplanet.net. 

Alan Baker's book, Foundations of Chaplaincy, represents a good introduction to what chaplaincy is all about. His description of the four tasks of chaplaincy can be found on the second page of this website.

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.

 

I published a short theological piece in 2018 entitled Magic of Fiction in Illuminating Transformation in which I looked at themes of remorse, love, surrender to God, and franciscan discipleship.

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 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 is available through Friesen Press.

 

I have just completed another manuscript entitled Mennonite Theology on the Edge: Ecumenism and Prison Contexts. It includes a Primer for Christian Believers and a chapter on the Credibility of the Church Today.

I use various psychological and sociological theories to help ex-offenders and ourselves achieve a new self-identity in another work, Achieving Self-Identity. 

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.