Are you curious about what it is like to teach the Word of God in jail? When you hear jail, your likely initial reaction would be to avoid it as much as possible. You would not want to get close to people who are being detained for committing a crime, violent or not. You imagine that it is foolish to spend hours with people who you would normally avoid if they are out walking on the street.
But did you know that jail chaplains are brave enough to share the Word of the Gospel to those who are incarcerated? They spend time talking with, coaching, and providing spiritual guidance to prisoners together with their jail ministry. They do their best to provide comfort to prisoners by sharing the gospel. If you want a glimpse of what a devoted jail chaplain does, you can read all about it on the book Naked as a Jailbird by author Richard Shaw and learn more about the book on this site.
Father Shaw was then a rookie priest who decided to write about his experiences and thoughts throughout the first 10 years that he spent as a jail chaplain on his book Naked as a Jailbird: A Raw Narrative of Life Behind Bars. He made a book based on the journals he wrote back then as a young chaplain and how it was like to be in the middle of the chaos in county jails.
This website is going to tackle issues relevant to Father Shaw’s book, which has been described as a true to life narration of what being a chaplain was like decades ago and how compelling the book is. If you are curious about what a jail chaplain does and what they often need to deal with, especially if you are considering joining a jail ministry, the book Naked as a Jailbird would be a good introduction to this kind of life.