Site Mission:

To provide pastoral care and counseling, worship, and ministry to a correctional facility for female offenders.

About the Site:

Criminal Background Check - Required

The chaplaincy department at the Metro State Women's Prison has a variety of programs. Worship, religious education, music, dance ministry, pastoral therapy groups, ministry to inmates with mental health issues, pregnant inmates, inmates with chronic medical issues such as HIV, Hepatitis C, and cancer.

Metro State Prison is unique in that it has a clinical pastoral education program, one of only two prisons in the country that offer a full quarter of CPE.

53 percent of the inmates are white, 46.5 percent are African American, and 5 percent are Hispanic and/or Asian. At least 80 percent have addiction and substance abuse issues, at least 80 percent have physical, mental, sexual abuse issues, 90 percent are mothers and/or grandmothers. The age range of women in the prison is 13-80 with the average age being 25-35.

Students primarily counsel inmates one on one, assisting with worship, facilitate groups, and help with bible study.

Student are welcome to work on Sundays, from 4:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., and also during the day on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Friday mornings, and every third Saturday from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Every intern sees at least two inmates for counseling each week. This one-on-one attention multiplies the pastoral services and number of inmates who get individualized attention. Students also assist with critical pastoral care groups such as the support group for pregnant women, the HIV support group, and the grief group.

This site does require a TB test, background check, fingerprinting, and a training session about security issues at the prison.

A Student's Perspective:

Brian says:

"I would have never chosen this site and would have missed out on one of the most valuable experiences of my Christian life. Part of our responsibility as Christians and as ministers is to visit those who are in prison.

The site is conveniently located about 20 minutes from campus. I drove to the site each day. There is also a bus route the drops you off right in near the prison. I never took it myself. I normally worked on Wednesdays from 8am to 12pm. The site supervisor, Chaplain Susan Bishop, is a saint! She selflessly serves at the prison and devotes much of her time to the work there. Chaplain Bishop is one of the most inspirational, loving, caring, and outstanding ministers you will likely ever meet.

I was very fortunate to be stationed in the infirmary at the prison. This gave me multiple experiences all at once. I was in a hospital, a prison, a counseling center, a mental hospital, and a church all at once. I have dealt with things like adoption, death of an unborn child, children being taken by DFCS, deaths of family members, terminal illnesses, loss of limbs, births of babies while incarcerated and then being separated, divorce, guilt of prisoners, etc. I got to preach in the prison and watch these women who have seemingly lost everything still find the desire to worship God. I am forever a prison chaplain now. Even when I graduate and go on to pastor, I will still be a prison chaplain. It never leaves you."