Chaplain Knows the Turmoil of Those He Helps

Since 2017, Brother Dennis Gibbs’ writing has graced the Tribune’s Religion section with thought-provoking musings on spirituality, boldly bringing critical issues to the fore and urging readers to examine their faith in light of the pressures and challenges of the day.
If there is a thread that has run through his offerings, it is that regardless of people’s faith tradition, national origin or political affiliation, they are all in this thing called life together, and Gibbs has consistently proposed unity as the way forward.
His personal journey also has been compelling. Gibbs is familiar not only with struggle and loss, but also with redemption and hope, experiences that seem to explain why he connects so deeply and authentically with those who are incarcerated — those he calls his friends living “behind the wall.” Gibbs has been in their shoes.
Long before he became a chaplain for incarcerated people, became a member of the Episcopal Church clergy, and co-founded a monastic community, he suffered from drug addiction and alcoholism, which brought him close to the precarious edge of no return. He says that through it all, he never doubted the presence of God in his life.
“What I doubted was my ability to keep my end of the deal,” Gibbs said. “All of that changed on Jan. 20, 1998.”
It was then, after more than 25 years of active addiction, alcoholism, jails, institutions, homelessness and near death, he was finally able to break the chains that had imprisoned him for so long and begin building a foundation for a new, sober life in recovery.
“I found the narrow gate that leads to real life,” he said, referring to Scripture. He has never looked back.
Gibbs’ recovery 23 years ago resulted in an immediate return to the organized church with a new sense of clarity. He also devoted himself to service to other alcoholics and drug addicts. It was in those early years of recovery, he said, that he discovered a real sense of what it means to be of service and have a primary purpose in life. Gibbs began to organize groups of friends who were in recovery to go into hospitals and recovery centers and carry the message of recovery to those trapped in addiction.
“Before coming into recovery, I had no real sense of purpose,” said Gibbs, who will be taking a break from his role as a Tribune contributor, though his presence at San Gabriel’s Church of Our Saviour will continue. “The disease of addiction is extremely self-centered. It doesn’t allow a person to see anything beyond themselves and their own desperate needs. But when I came into recovery, I learned about serving others. That changed everything for me and has brought me to the life I live today.”
Gibbs continues what he called his “rigorous program of recovery,” working with others and continuing in his own recovery. He says that 12-step spirituality is at the very center of his inner life.
In 2004, Gibbs felt called to return to the jails where he once was held. Although he says he was hesitant when he first felt called to return to a place that once represented such anguish in his life, “today it all makes sense,” according to Gibbs. What began as his solo walk has since become Prism Restorative Justice, in which roughly 30 others are similarly committed to serving as volunteer chaplains in the jails and prisons. He has dedicated the past 16 years to trying to help his friends “living in exile,” and says he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“They are my teachers, and have taught me so much about suffering, faith, and about how to get back up and keep walking through the struggle with grace,” Gibbs said. “There are no platitudes or gloss finishes here. Everything is real. I have never witnessed such authenticity than with our sisters and brothers behind the wall. This is real community. This is real church.”
Gibbs was ordained as an Episcopal clergy member in 2010. The same year, he and Sister Greta Ronningen co-founded the Community of Divine Love, a monastic community on the campus of Church of Our Saviour that is framed around Benedictine spirituality and prison ministry.
“We feel that we could not engage in our ministry in the ways we do without the support of a loving, prayerful community around us,” said Gibbs. “In turn, everything we do in our ministry in the world is informed by our contemplative life in the monastery.” Part of that community now includes a growing number of men and women living in prisons as Divine Companions, who have an intentional relationship with the CDL community and live what is referred to as a rule of life — a spiritual design for living — behind bars.
The Community of Divine Love also offers several programs to help others deepen in faith and spirituality, everything from individual spiritual direction to contemplative prayer and spiritual formation groups. All of these programs are offered remotely during the pandemic. Like most, Gibbs looks forward to the day when in-
person gatherings are allowed, especially for the weekly Friday community worship service — always followed by a community meal — that had become so popular for so many.
All of this represents the life that sprang from that winter day in 1998 when Gibbs made “a choice to live.” When he looks back on the building blocks that have become his life he simply says: “Not bad for a dead guy.”
Along the way, Gibbs became a writer. He credits his seminary experience as a turning point. Having had no formal education beyond a high school diploma, upon being pegged for ordination and sent off to seminary he was immersed in graduate-level learning. He was anchored by his recovery program.
“Just one class, one paper at a time,” he thought. He was also encouraged by a priest friend to approach every paper as a spiritual reflection. It paid off. Gibbs said he still writes with that same awareness and intention. Over the years, Gibbs has grown to trust the voice that has developed over time as his own. In 2019, he published his first book: “Oblivion — Grace in Exile With a Monk Behind Bars.” He is currently working on his next book, which he expects will be published sometime this year. In addition, he has appeared in print in several national publications both inside and outside of the church, writing on spirituality, social justice and recovery. He is particularly passionate about the issues of racism, mass incarceration, the death penalty and lifting up the most marginalized and disenfranchised of our society.
One of his most cherished writing practices is publishing the monthly Prism Restorative Justice newsletter that is distributed to inmates in the Los Angeles County jails and California state prisons. In addition, he writes roughly 400 letters each year to his incarcerated friends, some of whom he has known for 10 or 15 years. One might say that he has indeed become a “writer” in the fullest sense of the word.
Jeff Thornberg, the new rector, will assume the writing duties for Church of Our Saviour, and Gibbs says that the days he spent writing for the Tribune remain close to his heart.
“I thoroughly enjoyed writing for the Tribune and take seriously the responsibility that is handed to the writer,” said Gibbs. “I do not take lightly the generosity extended by the publishers, and can only hope that in some way the contributions have enriched the lives of the readers and the life of the newspaper itself. I know that the experience has not only enriched my life, but also made me a better writer. For that I am deeply grateful.”