Chaplain Karen: A Heart for Inmates

   It's 7:00 on Sunday morning and Karen Konrad is heading to work at the Brown County Jail.  She is not a guard or even a police officer.  She is the Chaplain.
   She is aware of how many people will attend the church service this morning. Security issues allow only 16 inmates to attend at one time.  Many wishing to attend are turned away. 
   Chaplain Karen worked in the business world for more than twenty-five years, many of those years ministering in her off work hours.  “After seeking the Lord I felt He was calling me to full-time ministry, specifically chaplaincy. The Lord  started opening doors for me.  I just really see and have always seen, even throughout my chaplaincy training,  that I had a heart to come into corrections.  I see the jail as an emotional and spiritual hospital,” Chaplain Karen explains.
   This “hospital,” also known as the Brown County Jail, admits 10,000 “patients” a year.  In the average month, approximately 800 inmates occupy two facilities -- the main jail and the Work Release Center.  The Brown County Jail has the largest population of juveniles, ages 10-17, in Northeast Wisconsin. Each month there will be between 400 and 500  requests from inmates needing and requesting ministry help.
   The requests vary.  Inmates may have lost a loved one, suffer addictions, e ...