Prison chaplaincy, church and the powers that be

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the organisational culture and context in which prison chaplains, as representatives of the Christian Church, work within the Scottish Prison Service. It draws on the ideas of the American theologian Walter Wink (1935–2012), on his concept of powers and the assertion that all organisations and institutions have their own spirituality and associated impact. To explore what shapes this spirituality, I consider various elements which create a cultural web, such as symbols, space, security, seeing, stories, routines and rituals. The complicity and challenge of any chaplain embedded in an organisation with a different spirituality and worldview to that of the host is discussed. The power of life-giving liturgy in the everyday is offered as a counter-cultural stance to the powers that be in any organisation.