“If you want justice and nothing but justice you will inevitably get injustice. If you want justice without injustice you must want love.” - Miroslav Volf (Exclusion & Embrace)
About Us:
St. Leonard's Community Chaplaincy is a faith-based network of experienced chaplains, community groups, and involved citizens, building a safer community through journeying with ex-offenders, their families, and the community as it is affected by crime.
Our Central Values:
- Community Safety
- Hospitality
- Restorative Justice
- Interfaith Spiritual & Religious Care
- Guiding Relationships
- Holistic Support
St. Leonard's House original logo from 1963
Chaplain Rev. Rielly McLaren
For 15 years, Community Chaplain Rielly McLaren has served the Windsor-Essex community through chaplaincy services at St. Leonard's House, a halfway home for federal ex-offenders.
Rielly provides specialized chaplaincy care, support, guidance, and program facilitation for ex-offenders and their families. Rielly also 'cares for the caregivers' - the numerous frontline social workers, staff, and local partners pouring into the field of restorative justice and re-entry for ex-offenders.
Chaplain Rielly is an ordained minister, licensed with the CCFCC and the province of Ontario. He also serves as a local pastor at Windsor Mennonite Fellowship since 2018
The Mothers & Spouses of Offenders Support Group for Women
Chaplain Rielly McLaren and Jen Graham (St. Leonard’s caseworker) are the founders and leaders of the Mothers & Spouses of Offenders Support Group for Women. This unique and rare support group reaches unseen victims of crime – the families of offenders, by providing a safe and confidential place for women to share their struggles of having an incarcerated loved one.
Speaking, Retreats, and Consultation
If you would like to invite Chaplain Rielly to speak to your group, agency, or church feel free to contact him via the information below. Rielly regularly speaks at church gatherings, retreats, and local agencies on issues of faith & culture, restorative justice, and spiritual formation. Rielly also provides faith-group consultation when crime impacts a community.
Local CBC Windsor News: Interview
CBC Radio Documentary: In Harm's Way on The Current
Canadian Mennonite Magazine: Pastor doubles as chaplain for ex-offenders
St. Leonard's House, Windsor
Local Churches & Interfaith Groups
Nonprofits, Local Parole Office, Agencies, & Community Programs
Friends and Financial Supporters of St. Leonard's Community Chaplaincy
In 2013 the federal government cut funding for all part-time chaplains in Canada. Today, Chaplain Rielly relies on donations and community based funding to continue to the work of community chaplaincy.
If you would like to be a financial partner of St. Leonard’s Community Chaplaincy consider giving through the Canada Helps St. Leonard's House webpage.
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/st-leonards-house-windsor/
*Remember to designate your donation to:
'St. Leonard's Community Chaplaincy'
Founder of St. Leonard's, and pastor of All Saints Anglican Church, Reverend Neil Libby counseling a resident at the original St. Leonard's House in Windsor.
The 2015 chaplaincy fundraiser event at Lakeshore St. Andrews Church in Tecumseh Ontario
If you have an inquiry or would like further information, please call St. Leonard's House (519) 256 1878 or send Chaplain Rielly an email via the message boxes below