Prison Fellowship

Helping Prisoners Find Freedom in Christ

Other Ministry Profiles on our site:
American Bible Society - Ten Thousand Villages - SERRV International - Billy Graham Evangelistic Association -  L'arches - Christians for Biblical Equality - One Great Hour of Sharing - Habitat for Humanity -  Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus - Bread for the World - Covenant House

Prison Fellowship, headquartered near Washington, D.C., is the largest prison ministry in the world—with hub offices across the United States and ministries in more than 90 other countries.

Chuck Colson, former special counsel to President Nixon, launched Prison Fellowship (PF) in 1976, after serving seven months in a federal prison for Watergate-related crimes.  A new Christian when first incarcerated, Colson sought to help other inmates experience the hope and forgiveness he had discovered. After his release, he engaged a handful of others to continue to reach prisoners with the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ.

PF’s mission is to exhort, equip, and assist the Church in its ministry to those impacted by crime.  Thus, PF is primarily volunteer-led at the community level.  Ministry Delivery Teams come together to plan and provide ministry services—including teaching seminars, weekly Bible studies, and one-to-one mentoring—that address the specific needs of prisoners and ex-prisoners in their area.  The approximately 40,000 volunteers currently associated with PF in the U.S. are trained and supported by a full-time staff of fewer than 300.

While all PF volunteers and staff agree with a specific statement of faith, they represent a broad range of churches—both Protestant and Catholic; rural, urban, and suburban; of differing ethnic and racial composition; and with various worship styles.

That diversity reflects the personal convictions of PF Chairman Chuck Colson.  In 1994, after discussions spearheaded by Colson—a Baptist—and Catholic theologian Father Richard Neuhaus, 40 evangelical and Catholic leaders signed a landmark document called “Evangelicals and Catholics Together.”  While acknowledging their doctrinal differences, the signers focused on what they held in common and committed to working as allies to fight encroaching secularism and renew the culture.  Though criticized for encouraging such cooperation, Colson held fast to the guiding belief expressed by C. S. Lewis, that “divisions between Christians are a sin and a scandal” and that fighting among themselves severely weakens the Church’s integrity and influence.

Committed to this spirit of unity and collaboration, since 1999 PF has joined with more than 20 other Christian ministries in Operation Starting Line^TM, a concerted mission to take the Gospel message to every one of our nation’s two million prisoners.  Since 1992, PF had arranged and conducted statewide evangelistic in-prison events.  Its new partnership with other organizations—including Promise Keepers, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the Navigators, and Walk Thru the Bible—has bolstered the quality of the events as well as added well-crafted follow-up materials for ongoing ministry with prisoners.

PF was able to take prison ministry to a significant new level in 1997, when the state of Texas—with the full backing of then-Gov. George W. Bush—opened up an entire prison unit to round-the-clock biblically based programming called the InnerChange Freedom Initiative^TM.  All prisoner-participants volunteer for the 18-month program, which begins in prison and extends several months after their release.  PF, through donations, covers the cost of all programming, which includes educational courses, life-skills training, one-to-one mentoring, and in-depth Bible teaching.  Since Texas, Kansas and Iowa have also opened up designated prison units to the InnerChange Freedom Initiative.

PF’s most popular and best-known ministry is Angel Tree^®, which mobilizes thousands of churches every year to provide Christmas gifts and the Gospel to more than 500,000 children of prisoners.  PF also helps these churches offer continued ministry to the children, such as sending them to Christian summer camps.

In addition to its efforts to reach prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families, PF has developed numerous resources to help churches reach out to victims of crime.  PF also educates church leaders, legislators, and criminal justice professionals on the principles and practices of biblically-based Restorative Justice—a role that has helped bring about strategic reforms focused on making things right after a crime, not simply punishing the lawbreaker.

By Becky Beane of Prison Fellowship International

For more information, visit www.prisonfellowship.org.

Another high-profile PF ministry is “BreakPoint”—Chuck Colson’s daily radio commentary that critiques current events and issues from a biblical perspective.  Airing on more than 1,000 stations, “BreakPoint” enjoins Christians to embrace a well-defined Christian worldview so that they can confront immorality and secularism with understanding and influence.

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