History: God's Story, Our Story
Since the birth of Prison Fellowship 33 years ago, God has brought us to the edge of great challenges that, from a human perspective, have threatened to engulf us. Instead, God opened up unimaginable vistas of opportunity to minister. Why did God work this way? Perhaps for the same reason Joshua gave to the Israelites who crossed the Jordan River: "He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God" (Joshua 4:24).This is our tribute to God's faithfulness. This is our story.
1976 - Watergate crook founds Prison FellowshipIn 1974 the Watergate scandal sent White House special counsel Chuck Colson to federal prison. A new Christian, he faced challenges and adversities that tested his faith and self respect. Paroled in 1975, Chuck could easily have opted to close the book on that dark time and move on with his life as inconspicuously as possible. But Chuck knew that God wanted him to hold onto his ties to prison and continue to identify with his fellow prisoners-despite the skepticism and scorn of Chuck's critics. So in 1976, with little more than a vision and the support of a few friends, Chuck began Prison Fellowship (PF) to proclaim to inmates the love and the power of Jesus Christ.
1976 - Watergate crook founds Prison FellowshipIn 1974 the Watergate scandal sent White House special counsel Chuck Colson to federal prison. A new Christian, he faced challenges and adversities that tested his faith and self respect. Paroled in 1975, Chuck could easily have opted to close the book on that dark time and move on with his life as inconspicuously as possible. But Chuck knew that God wanted him to hold onto his ties to prison and continue to identify with his fellow prisoners-despite the skepticism and scorn of Chuck's critics. So in 1976, with little more than a vision and the support of a few friends, Chuck began Prison Fellowship (PF) to proclaim to inmates the love and the power of Jesus Christ.
1977 - PF goes behind bars
At first-through the support of the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons-PF began transporting dozens of Christian prisoners out of prison for intensive training through Washington Discipleship Seminars (WDS) held in the nation's capital. Those prisoners then returned to prison to evangelize and teach their "colleagues." But in 1977, PF ran into a hurdle when a warden from Wisconsin refused to furlough one of his prisoners to attend the WDS. Instead, he challenged: "If your program is so good, why don't you bring it inside the prison?" Chuck and his team were up for the task, and three weeks later, 93 inmates attended PF's first ever in-prison seminar in Oxford, Wisconsin. That seminar paved the way for hundreds of thousands of prisoners across the country to received biblically-based teaching through in-prison seminars and Bible studies over the past 33 years. That first in-prison event also reinforced the importance of training local volunteers to go inside prisons and build relationships with inmates. TodayPF's ministry relies on a volunteer network of more than 20,000.
At first-through the support of the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons-PF began transporting dozens of Christian prisoners out of prison for intensive training through Washington Discipleship Seminars (WDS) held in the nation's capital. Those prisoners then returned to prison to evangelize and teach their "colleagues." But in 1977, PF ran into a hurdle when a warden from Wisconsin refused to furlough one of his prisoners to attend the WDS. Instead, he challenged: "If your program is so good, why don't you bring it inside the prison?" Chuck and his team were up for the task, and three weeks later, 93 inmates attended PF's first ever in-prison seminar in Oxford, Wisconsin. That seminar paved the way for hundreds of thousands of prisoners across the country to received biblically-based teaching through in-prison seminars and Bible studies over the past 33 years. That first in-prison event also reinforced the importance of training local volunteers to go inside prisons and build relationships with inmates. TodayPF's ministry relies on a volunteer network of more than 20,000.
1979 - Britain catches the vision, Prison Fellowship International takes offAs Prison Fellowship was getting off its feet, a member of the British Parliament, Michael Alison, heard about the revival that was beginning to take place in America's prisons. Impressed with what he heard, he challenged a consortium of prominent government, church, and corrections leaders to start a branch of Prison Fellowship in England. That act launched a movement to reach prisoners across the world with Christ's love. Today, under the leadership of its president Ron Nikkel, Prison Fellowship International is active in more than 100 countries worldwide.
1982 - Ex-bank robber reaches out to prisoners' kids, starts Angel TreeThe same year that Chuck started Prison Fellowship, a former bank robber named Mary Kay Beard was released from prison in Alabama. And as in Chuck's life, God graciously transformed the shame of prison into a golden opportunity for ministry. In anticipation of Christmas 1982, Mary Kay organized Angel Tree - a ministry to provide gifts to prisoners' children on behalf of the incarcerated parents. Beginning with 556 children the first year, Angel Tree has since exploded into a geyser of ministry opportunity, reaching more than [400,000] American children of prisoners and their families every year with the transforming message of Jesus Christ.
1983 - Justice Fellowship hits the stage
As PF was expanding its ministry inside prisons, its leadership saw firsthand all the signs of a justice system in chaos: overcrowded and violent prisons, neglected crime victims, communities shattered by crime. In 1983 Justice Fellowship (JF) was formed promote biblical standards of justice in our nation’s justice system. JF volunteers successfully implemented reforms across the country: victim-offender reconciliation programs, alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, victims’ rights legislation, and more. In 1995, former California legislator and ex-prisoner Pat Nolan took the helm of JF and has since spearheaded efforts to pass the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, and the Second Chance Act of 2007.
As PF was expanding its ministry inside prisons, its leadership saw firsthand all the signs of a justice system in chaos: overcrowded and violent prisons, neglected crime victims, communities shattered by crime. In 1983 Justice Fellowship (JF) was formed promote biblical standards of justice in our nation’s justice system. JF volunteers successfully implemented reforms across the country: victim-offender reconciliation programs, alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, victims’ rights legislation, and more. In 1995, former California legislator and ex-prisoner Pat Nolan took the helm of JF and has since spearheaded efforts to pass the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, and the Second Chance Act of 2007.
1992 - Operation Starting Line sweeps North CarolinaIn 1991, North Carolina's Secretary of Correction Aaron Johnson was pondering the condition of his prisons and saw only one solution: spiritual transformation. In an unprecedented move, he invited PF into every prison in North Carolina to lead a contemporary version of old-time revival meetings. So, in the fall of 1992-using teams of professional athletes, musicians, comedians, and powerhouse speakers - PF's inaugural Starting Line evangelistic campaign swept through all of North Carolina's 90-plus prisons sharing the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Since North Carolina, similar evangelistic events have spread to prisons all across the country. And in 1999 PF joined with other Christian organizations to launch Operation Starting Line - now an affiliation of 37 ministries committed to prison evangelism.
1997 - A new kind of prison ministry is born, IFIPrison Fellowship stepped out again in unfamiliar waters in 1997 to inaugurate InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI), a values-based reentry program founded upon the teachings of Christ. With the full endorsement of then-Governor George W. Bush, PF and the state of Texas partnered to launch the very first IFI program in a prison unit near Houston. IFI immerses its inmates-all volunteer participants-in spiritual, educational, vocational, and life skills training from an unmistakably Christian perspective. Today, IFI is active in both men's and women's prisons in five states: Arkansas, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Texas.After God parted the Jordan River, allowing the Israelites to cross on dry land into their new home, He commanded them to erect a memorial of stones. These would stand as a reminder of the miracles God had done for them, Joshua explained. Today we seldom use stones as reminders of God's provision. Instead, we preserve God's works in written accounts and photographs. But the reason remains the same: to remember that "the hand of the Lord is powerful." (Joshua 4:24). And by His hand He leads us.
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