A Benedictine Sister as a Ramsey County Sheriff Chaplain
Years ago, Sister Linda Soler first felt the quiet nudge toward police chaplaincy. At the time, her response was simple and honest: I am not feeling called. The calling came periodically after that, but the call never quite settled. Until this year after some ride-alongs with the Maplewood Police, Sister started to discern God’s will.
Sister Linda completed ride-alongs with the Maplewood Police Department in 2024 and 2025. The squad car became an unexpected place of belonging. “I felt at home doing those,” she said. What might seem intimidating to others felt like familiar ground to her, a ministry of presence in motion. With lights and sirens along with routine traffic stops, she felt safe and emotionally balanced and did not feel fear.
True to Benedictine wisdom, she did not discern alone. With her Spiritual Director, other chaplains, and with the steady encouragement of Prioress Catherine Nehotte, she revisited the calling and continued to discern. When she contacted the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office in August of this year, the response was immediate. The door that had stood quietly ajar was now wide open. Sister Linda asked for a sign from God.
On August 27, the Annunciation School shooting shook the community. Sister Linda was called to assist at Hennepin County Medical Center. The scene was horrific, and prayer and support was offered to the families affected.
Yet even there, she witnessed grace. “You could see God in the children and the parents.” In the midst of trauma, her role was simple and profound: to stand present, to pray if asked, and to be steady when the ground felt unsteady beneath everyone else’s feet. This was truly a sign from God, and Sister Linda moved forward knowing this calling was from God.
Wearing the Jacket
Her formal acceptance soon followed, marked not by ceremony but by service. Prioress Catherine Nehotte was the individual to put the badge on Sister Linda when it was presented to her.
Shortly after she became an official chaplain for the Rasmey County Sheriff’s Office, she was asked to be a Eucharistic Ministry assist at the funeral of retired Officer Don Grundhauser, who died of cancer in his fifties. Earlier this year, Officer Grundhauser received a blessing from the Benedictine Sisters at the monastery which was aired on WCCO & CBS Channel 4 News. Wearing the chaplain jacket and ID, she stood among officers in grief. During the service, another officer whom she did not know quietly approached and asked her to pray for her. It was a small but powerful moment.
In October, she responded to the sudden death of man in his early seventies. In November, she attended the Blue Mass at the Basilica of Saint Mary, honoring officers and K-9s who died in the line of duty. In December, just ten minutes into a ride-along, a shooting call came across the radio. In January, she was called to the sudden death of a 37-year-old who committed suicide.
Not every call makes headlines. A police chaplain steps into those spaces to support officers emotionally after hard calls, to counsel families navigating stress or grief, and to offer prayer when it is welcomed.
Sister Linda will continue to have ongoing ride-alongs with Officer Aubrey this year.
Today, Sister Linda participates in monthly meetings with a growing community of officers and chaplains who support one another. Some now stop by the monastery, forming relationships beyond emergency scenes. It is a life-giving network of people who support one another.
Currently, she is on call once a month. When responders arrive at a crisis, victims are asked whether they would like a chaplain. If the answer is yes, one is called in. Sister Linda also has attended roll call to be present to the officers.
The Sheriff’s Office has welcomed its chaplains with respect and gratitude, providing training, resources, and even the visible signs of belonging: a badge, a jacket, and a car. But what stays with her most are the spontaneous words of thanks, from the officers at scenes, from families, even from people who recognize her as a Sports Chaplain at Hill-Murray School and/or Subprioress at the Monastery. Ministry, it seems, travels.
This month, Sister Linda will attend training with the International Conference of Police Chaplains, a professional organization founded in 1973 to equip chaplains serving in law enforcement and public safety. The conference provides intensive formation in areas such as stress characteristics, self-care, and law enforcement culture, responding to call-outs, death notifications, and care for the law enforcement family. Held annually in different locations across the country, it gathers chaplains and officers from diverse traditions who share a common mission: presence in crisis.
Sister Linda offers a Catholic faith to a group that is ecumenical. For her, this is not about distinction, but fidelity, representing her Benedictine community and the wider Church in spaces where faith often meets people at their most vulnerable. She enjoys the ecumenical support and vision within the group.
“I’m not in charge,” she says simply. “When it comes to crisis and trauma, God is in charge.” She prays to be that instrument of God.
Her ministry is, in many ways, the Beatitudes in action: blessed are the poor in spirit, the mourners, the peacemakers. It is Benedictine stability carried into motion; contemplative presence in the midst of serving.
Today, she stands ready, not because the work is easy, but because the call has ripened.
She could not do this ministry without the support of her monastic community, and she answers it with a steady heart, so that in all things God may be glorified!
