PRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES

When Prison Fellowship was founded, there were 440,000 men and women behind bars in the United States. Today, there are nearly 2.2 million—a 500% increase. Meanwhile, more than 600,000 people are released from correctional facilities every year, with two-thirds of them being rearrested within three years. The annual cost to incarcerate and reincarcerate this many people exceeds $80 billion. Beyond the price tag, soaring levels of incarceration and recidivism also take a terrible toll on America’s communities and families. The cycle of crime and incarceration produces broken relationships, victimization, despair, and instability. Prison Fellowship® is the nation’s largest Christian nonprofit serving prisoners, former prisoners, and their families, and a leading advocate for criminal justice reform. Established on the belief that all people are inherently valuable and that no life is beyond reach, Prison Fellowship takes a restorative approach to all those affected by crime and incarceration. Prison Fellowship was founded in 1976 by Charles Colson, a former aide to President Nixon who served seven months in federal prison for a Watergate-related crime. Today we strive to make prisons safer and more rehabilitative, advance criminal justice reforms, and support prisoners, their families, and their communities. Prison Fellowship staff and volunteers are in hundreds of correctional facilities throughout the year sharing the Gospel, spreading hope, and teaching life-changing classes. Through our evangelism events, we introduce incarcerated men and women to a new future in Christ and nurture their spiritual growth with Bible studies and intensive discipleship courses. We also offer a holistic set of life-skills classes, mentorship opportunities, and reentry programs to prepare prisoners to be leaders in their communities—whether inside or outside of prison. As a result, we are seeing prisoners use their sentences as a time to grow, change, and find a new, positive life path with Prison Fellowship staff and volunteers as their guide. Prison Fellowship Programs: Prison Fellowship Angel Tree™ equips churches to strengthen relationships between incarcerated parents and their children and support the families of prisoners year-round. Angel Tree provides an opportunity for local congregations to extend the hope of the Gospel and enfold Angel Tree families into church life through delivering Christmas gifts on behalf of incarcerated parents, sending kids to summer camp, facilitating one-day sports camps, and more. Prison Fellowship Academy® uses targeted curriculum, compassionate coaches, and restorative community to replace participants’ criminal thinking and behaviors with renewed purpose and biblically based life principles. Graduates complete the yearlong program as change agents and good citizens inside and outside of prison. Prison Fellowship® envisions a safer, more redemptive society that recognizes the value and potential of every person. We mobilize Christians to advocate for justice reforms that advance proportional punishment, constructive corrections culture, and second chances. We call for churches and communities to be at the forefront of providing care for victims and restoration for those responsible for crime. In prison yards across the country, men and women are being introduced to the hope of Jesus Christ through one- and two-day Prison Fellowship Hope Events that feature a variety of inspirational speakers and musicians. While providing a brief respite from the challenges of prison life, these events give prisoners the chance to respond to Christ and take the next step of joining a faith community behind bars. Create: New Beginnings takes incarcerated women through a series of restorative, art-based, in-prison workshops. Through painting and other creative arts, women behind bars explore topics such as shame, self-doubt, empathy, and forgiveness—all in a faith-based environment of introspection, healing, and community support. Through artistic expression, participants in this Prison Fellowship program explore core issues of identity and purpose, reimagining their futures with a new sense of hope. Warden Exchange®, a program of Prison Fellowship®, convenes corrections officials who want to enhance their leadership skills, exchange transformative best practices, and join a network of peers committed to creating safer communities inside and outside of prison.

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