Prison chaplain caring for souls on 'the inside'

It takes a special kind of soul to choose to share your life inside prison for 27 years, such as Pat Stone has done.

Having recently announced her retirement, Pat is being praised by her peers for supporting people on ‘the inside’ for close to 3 decades.

Pat, of Rochedale South, dedicated all those years to visiting prisoners in their darkest days and offer comforting words of encouragement, in her role as a volunteer with Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy, a ministry of Carinity.

Serving her chaplaincy over 2 stints, Pat’s journey began at the infamous Boggo Road jail at Dutton Park in Brisbane in 1998.

‘On my first visit to Boggo Road I was a bit overwhelmed by the huge brick walls and by the size of the prison itself,’ Pat says.

‘Later, my strongest memories are of the very large keys with which the officers used to open the gates to allow entry into the various units.’

After Boggo Road was closed in the early-2000s, Pat began visiting the Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre in Wacol.

During a 6-year break from prison chaplaincy, Pat remained motivated to help others and continued to help incarcerated people through other Christian ministries.

‘I went into the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre, then hooked up with another Christian ministry, joining the support team for a couple of courses run in Arthur Gorrie and Wacol men’s correctional centres,’ Pat says.

After helping to run a course in Christianity in a Queensland women’s prison, Pat returned to her pastoral care career in 2020.

Pat says she feels privileged to have been able to offer guidance to people in prison and to ‘have others share their lives with me’.

‘Some of my most gratifying moments as a prison chaplain have been leading someone along the path of salvation, developing a trusting relationship with a prisoner, and being able to encourage people,’ Pat says.

‘For me, getting to know a prisoner and then being able to encourage them and to introduce them to Jesus … are the vital aspects of being a prison chaplain that I like the most,’ she says.

‘It truly is a privilege to be interacting with prisoners, officers and staff and to always be aware of this and never take advantage of it.’

Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy Coordinator Graham Hembrow praised Pat for her long-term dedication to the selfless role of being a prison chaplain.

‘We thank her for her decades of sacrificial service,’ Graham says.

However, it’s not the last of the Stone family’s connection with helping prisoners, with Pat’s husband Brian currently training to become a volunteer prison chaplain.

Graham encourages anyone who may be interested in becoming a volunteer prison chaplain to visit insideoutchaplaincy.org.au for more information.

PHOTO AT TOP: Retiring after 27 years visiting prisoners, Pat Stone reflects outside Boggo Road jail in Brisbane.