Browsing through outdated library books at Wellington Prison led prison chaplain the Rev Richard Clement to think about how he could get new and relevant books on the shelves.
“I sat down and wrote to 58 churches in the greater Wellington region asking if they were prepared to donate a book or three to the cause,” says Mr Clement.
Project Good Book was born.
Although the majority of books received have Christian themes or are self-help books, the purpose of Project Good Book is to educate the inmates.
Richard says he had underestimated how keen the inmates were on reading, because Getting the good word to inmates previously books were seldom borrowed from the prison library.
“The books were written in the 1930s and 40s and just failed to connect with inmates. But once the new books started coming in, it kindled a desire in them to read.”
There is now a demand for the books and a broad spectrum of topics are available, covering marriage, raising children, surviving abuse and Christian views of the world.
Since Project Good Book began, over 200 books have been donated, with some of these coming from the Auckland and Canterbury regions. Richard has been overwhelmed by people’s generosity. “One elderly lady donated money out of her electricity rebate. A mother and son on a limited budget carefully chose a book together for the project.”
Any double-ups of books are sent to Wellington region’s two other prisons. A Lower Hutt women’s church group has taken up the cause for Arohata Women’s Prison and is asking for books to be donated that are specifically relevant to women.
Richard is keen to open up the project to all religions and says he has occasionally nipped off to the synagogue to get books for Jewish inmates.
“This is not a purely Christian thing. I want all faiths, Muslims, Jews and others, to come on board and get books in there that start inmates thinking and challenging the way they live.”
Operating since 1953, the Prison Chaplaincy Service of Aotearoa New Zealand is responsible for recruiting and overseeing chaplaincy services at New Zealand’s 18 prisons.
Links between the Presbyterian Church and the chaplaincy service are strong: two ministers are currently on the interchurch trust board that oversees the service and the Rev David Connor is employed as executive officer of the service. Another Presbyterian minister, the Rev Perema Alofivae, also serves as a chaplain at Auckland Prison. At a local level, some congregations deliver services or other outreach initiatives in prison.
Congregations looking for ways to get involved with a prison in their area could consider supporting initiatives like Project Good Book. Prison libraries around the country are in need of recently published books to update the reading material used by inmates, and all prisons accept donations of books from the community.
Initiatives such as Project Good Book are one of many things that prison chaplains are responsible for, says Mr Connor, although providing pastoral care is obviously a main focus. “It’s not about solving their problems for them, it’s about helping them solve their own problems.”
Co-ordination and provision of religious services is the other main area of work for chaplains, he says.
For more information about how to donate books, or other information about the prison chaplaincy service, contact PCSNZ executive offcer David Connor on 09 379 3018.