The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has endorsed its first female chaplain in Canada.
In August 2025, Becky Mantynen was called as a service missionary at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario — a women’s prison operated by the Correctional Service of Canada — where she serves alongside chaplains of other faiths.
Mantynen is one of four Latter-day Saint chaplains serving across Canada, reported the Church’s Canada Newsroom on March 17.
Much like Esther in the Old Testament, Mantynen has been prepared for “such a time as this” (Esther 4:14), said Chaplain Tamara Harris, the Church’s chaplain services manager.
“Becky’s personal journey of faith, education and ministry experience prepared her in unique ways to serve as a chaplain,” Harris said.
In an interview published March 17 on Canada Newsroom, Mantynen said “chaplaincy found me.” She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing and spent several years working in pediatric intensive care, then decided to return to school to pursue both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work.
After volunteering in the prison for a few years, Mantynen was approached about working with the institution’s chaplaincy department. Following discussions with her bishop and seeking spiritual guidance in her patriarchal blessing, Mantynen felt led to pursue the opportunity.
“This has led me on a different path than I originally envisioned for myself,” she said. “I have been a social worker for many years now, and I have found deep fulfillment walking beside others and sharing in their journeys and life experiences.”
Mantynen said it’s been a blessing to work alongside women of other faiths in seeking to restore the hope and foundations of faith in those they serve.
In ministering, Mantynen strives to honor the commandment to “love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39) and meet people where they are — offering comfort, guidance and spiritual support.
“If we look for His hand in our lives, we will see it,” she said. “It is a great responsibility and honor to be invited into their lives to offer compassion and to help them feel love and belonging.”
Mantynen started a women’s scripture study group in the prison, providing each participant with a set of scriptures. Witnessing the women read and share scriptures in group meetings has been an “amazing” experience.
“In an environment that can often seem bleak, our group has become a safe place, a place of faith and a place of hope,” she said, citing her favorite scripture, Romans 8:38-39, which teaches that no barrier can separate one from the love of God.
“I can’t fully explain it, but when I enter the prison and sit with the women, the burdens and heaviness they carry seem to fall away — along with their past mistakes and my own human judgment. I feel deeply blessed to see them as they truly are, as children of God."
