Prison Fellowship Ministries/ PFM/ Chuck Colson

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Prison Fellowship Ministries listed by MinistryWatch.com as a Shining Light ‘Top 30’ Exemplary Ministry. This is the 3rd year it has made the MinistryWatch.com “Shining Light” list.

MinistryWatch.com desires to see overall giving to Biblical Christian values increase and as such we developed this format to highlight those ministries which are exemplary. The list is a sampling of the “best ministries” and outstanding examples when we consider Philippians 4:8 and weigh and take account of those ministries that are excellent and worthy of praise.

These ministries are called ‘Shining Lights’ because they are indeed models of letting their Christian light shine before men so that the Gospel may be proclaimed and God be glorified. Consequently, we are shining a figurative light on them so that donors may be aware of their good works and other ministries may learn from their examples.

While identifying the best ministries is challenging given the selfless work that so many do for the cause of Christ, MinistryWatch.com believes that the list of 30 excellent ministries will be helpful to many. Each of the ministries has the following important features in common:

• They have a legitimate non-profit ministry and purpose.
• Have shown a willingness to treat donors fairly via a Transparency Grade of “A”.
• Are unashamed of being identified as an evangelical Christian ministry.
• MinistryWatch.com researchers knows of no significant issues that would be of concern to donors.

A high MinistryWatch.com Financial Efficiency Rating was not a requirement for inclusion on this list although most do have good ratings. Many factors were reviewed and strengths in other areas can offset weakness in financial efficiency when determining whether a ministry should be of interest to donors seeking to be good stewards of their giving. Only you can decide for yourself with confidence if a ministry shares your values and with your giving plan.

This is just another step in our mission of encouraging Christians to give more of their talents and resources to Kingdom-building efforts. In short, we wish to help spread the Gospel of Christ by helping Christians give more and more effectively to the works of the Lord. If the Lord uses our list as part of that process, we will have been a blessing to both those ministries who have been ‘good and faithful servants’ with the Lord’s resources and to Christian donors who are seeking to be good stewards of their giving.


MinistryWatch.com’s Take
April 2005
By J. Andrew Preslar

“Born Again”

The 1970's were a regular whirlwind for Chuck Colson. First there was his appointment as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon. Then, of course, the Watergate scandal, in the wake of which Colson pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. He served seven months of a one-to-three year sentence in Alabama’s Maxwell Prison. Colson’s conversion to Christianity just one year prior to his 1974 trial and incarceration made these matters even more intriguing. The media, in particular, was fascinated that Nixon’s infamous “hatchet man” had “got religion.” After his release, Colson published his autobiographical book, Born Again (1976), which became a best-seller and was eventually made into a feature-length film. Colson’s conversion and subsequent stay in prison awakened in him a vision for a ministry of reconciliation among offenders, victims, their families, and their communities, with the Church playing a pivotal role. Prison Fellowship Ministries (PFM) was founded in 1976 as a direct outworking of Colson’s idea of promoting a ministry of “restoration” as the foundation of an authentically Christian form of justice. Because of the foundational nature of this concept, Colson understood that his mission should not be limited to jails and courtrooms of the U. S. Hence, PFM International was formed in 1979 and has since expanded to include national chapters in 88 countries.

Two Commissions

PFM’s mission is two-fold: (1) “to exhort, equip, and assist the church in its ministry to prisoners, ex-prisoners, victims, and their families,” and (2) to promote “biblical standards of justice in the criminal justice system.” PFM’s initial outreaches primarily involved the evangelization of prisoners. Colson testifies that, at this early point in the ministry, “nothing more occurred to me than fulfilling the Great Commission” (cf., Matthew 28:19). However, Colson soon began to reconsider the scope and nature of prison ministry. During a 1979 visit to what was at that time one of the worst prison facilities in America, Colson discovered that the prisoners had planned a riot in which he was to be taken hostage as a means of getting publicity. The prisoners had just been allowed out of a months-long lockdown (due to the murder of a guard), and were eager to take some action that would draw attention to their plight. That action involved taking Colson hostage. Fortunately, during Colson’s message to a couple hundred tense inmates, one of the key would-be instigators was converted and the riot was called off. When Colson found out about this aborted plan (from the inmate himself), he concluded that PFM could no longer just evangelize – they had to also care about issues such as prison conditions and justice in society. Colson immediately began working with inmates and state legislatures to change conditions inside prisons. The promotion of justice in the criminal system has led Colson and PFM to think deeply about the broader cultural issues that contribute to crime and impact the way we deal with criminals. In fact, it is fair to say that social, political and religious commentary and analysis could be considered a third aspect of PFM’s mission. Colson believes that prison ministry and worldview training “are an absolutely necessary fit.” The “cultural commission” to cultivate righteousness in society and the Great Commission to baptize and make disciples of all nations reinforce one another, strengthening the work of God’s kingdom.

Reaching the Penitent

Evangelism and discipleship continue to be integral features of PFM’s prison outreaches. The majority of PFM’s program expenses are related to the first facet of PFM’s mission – training and assisting church leaders and other volunteers to minister to prisoners and the people affected by their crimes. PFM believes that reconciliation must begin with repentance; hence, their prison outreaches are designed to change the “inner man” through Gospel proclamation, Bible studies, and the inculcation of biblical principles of personal and social morality.

In year ending June 30, 2000, PFM began to address some operational challenges in its prison outreaches. Partly in response to a decline in the organization’s net assets during a period in which donations slowed while major programs were being implemented, PFM decided that its ministry could be more effective and more in line with a biblical model if it increasingly used volunteers from local churches while reducing the number of its paid staff. As a result of these changes, PFM’s two major outreach programs now feature a smaller core of paid staff that develop new ministry initiatives while providing training and supervision for a large body of volunteers.

Operation Starting Line (OSL) is one of the first fruits of PFM’s new approach to prison ministry. OSL is an evangelistic outreach which links the resources of collaborating Christian organizations with believers from local churches to saturate prisons with the message of Christ’s forgiveness and power. OSL events seek to draw out the non-chapel going prisoners by well-known Christian entertainers, athletes and speakers who will attract even the most skeptical inmate. The mission of this program is to give every prisoner in every prison in America the opportunity to hear the Gospel and respond. PFM’s many partners are the key to achieving this goal. Dozens of Christian ministries have responded to this program by supplying curriculum and materials for follow-up Bible studies and Christian growth courses. Collaborators include The Billy Graham Center, Crossroad Bible Institute, Good News & Jail Ministry, Moody Bible Institute, Morning Star Ministry, The Navigators, Promise Keepers, Walk Thru the Bible, and Youth Direct Ministries. Thousands of local churches supply volunteers for in-prison events and for mentoring and counseling for those prisoners who voluntarily respond and wish to participate. PFM provides training, counsel and guidance for these volunteers. Recruiting is done through participating churches and through the constituencies of the collaborating organizations. Funding for in-prison events is paid for by contributors to these participating organizations.

OSL is aptly named, as it is merely the “starting line” in the restoration of the lives of prisoners and their families, victims and communities. Although the decision to start walking may be the work of a moment, the road to recovery cannot be traversed in an instant. PFM first calls prisoners to conversion, together with the spiritual moral transformation which is part and parcel of that decision, and then to complete restoration, which involves the progressive and practical outworking of regeneration.

PFM’s InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI) is designed to promote exactly this kind of restoration. IFI is a Christ-centered, faith-based, 24-hour-a-day program that is “anchored in biblical teaching that stresses personal responsibility, the value of education and work, care of persons and property and the reality of a new life in Christ.” The IFI model is built upon the belief that prisoners can only be “cured” once they learn to identify sin as the root of their problems. In the IFI program, “[i]nmates learn how God can heal them permanently, if they turn from their sinful past, are willing to see the world through God’s eyes, and surrender themselves to God’s will.” IFI’s plan of restoration begins 18 to 24 months before a prisoner is released and continues for an additional six to 12 months of aftercare once the inmate has returned to the community. This long-term process consists of the following phases: (1) Focus on the prisoner’s internal transformation process, which includes building spiritual and moral discernment. (2) Test the inmate’s value system in real-life settings in order to prepare him for life after prison. During this phase, inmates may spend much of their time in off-site prison work programs. (3) IFI members are transferred to a Work Release or Halfway House facility to continue their transition process. (4) Inmates can now live out their transformed lifestyle upon release from custody in aftercare. During this final phase, IFI assists the ex-offender in assimilating to his family, community and workplace by means of continued association with a Christian mentor, IFI staff, and church family. As in the OSL program, PFM draws heavily upon local churches to provide volunteers for a wide range of services designed to help both the inmate and his family during the course of his participation in IFI.

Volunteers are also an integral part of PFM’s Angel Tree Ministries, which seek to serve children who have at least one parent in jail. Angel Tree programs are designed to provide comfort and aid in a time of confusion and vulnerability. Also, many children are saved from a generational cycle of crime by means of mentor relationships and instruction. Angel Tree programs include Christmas outreach, summer camps, and personal mentoring. Each program includes an evangelistic dimension, as volunteers share the Gospel and help children to become involved in a local church.

Fighting for Faith

As a participant in President Bush’s Faith Based and Community Initiatives program, IFI is partially funded by the government. Tax dollars are used for security and operating costs at the state facilities which host the program. Private donations to PFM cover the remainder of IFI’s expenses. These donations cover salaries and benefits of program staff, costs associated with Bible-based instructional and educational materials for the program, and staff and volunteer training materials and expenses.

Despite the fact that IFI’s specifically faith-related activities are funded by PFM and not by government aid, the program has been the target of public criticism as well as two lawsuits (filed in February 2003). These critics maintain that government support for IFI is unconstitutional. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the group which filed the lawsuits, claims that “It is unconscionable for the government to give preferential treatment to prisoners based solely on their willingness to undergo religious conversion and indoctrination.” In response to this attack, PFM points out the following facts:

• PFM is clearly within constitutional boundaries. State money goes solely for nonsectarian purposes.
• IFI is open to inmates of all faiths or no faith. Christian conversion is not a requirement for the program.
• IFI is a voluntary program. No one has to participate if they do not want to.
• Published studies have shown that IFI works. The recidivism rate among participants in the program has been shown to be much lower than the rate for inmates who qualified for the program but did not participate. Those who attack IFI are attacking success.
• IFI involves hard work. This is not a ticket to easy time. Prisoners in the program get up at 5:30 am for Bible study, and then go for a full day of work and instruction.

The controversy about IFI is ultimately about bigger issues than the effectiveness or source of funding for one prison outreach ministry. Charles Colson has clearly defined the question in this fight as being ideological; namely, what is to be our nation’s basic approach to solving social problems? Is secular humanism, powered by big government and void of transcendent values, the answer? Or is real and lasting social change best effected by “armies of compassion” comprised of ordinary men and women who love God and want to help their neighbors by working for true justice based upon unchanging principles? Clearly, PFM favors the latter approach.

Restorative Justice

PFM’s philosophy of ministry centers upon the idea of “restorative justice.” Colson claims that restorative justice is a biblical concept, rooted in God’s call for restitution and for healing to the victims of crime (e.g., Exodus 21–22; Luke 19 – the “story of Zacchaeus”). The goal of restorative justice goes beyond punishment (without excluding it) to include restoration and peace between the guilty, the victim, and the community. PFM believes that this ideal stands in stark contrast to our current criminal justice system, which focuses primarily on government punishing offenders for breaking the law. Restorative justice must also be distinguished from “rehabilitation” models of criminal justice, which fail to hold prisoners accountable for their choices. Restorative justice affirms both the personal culpability of criminals (hence, they must make amends for their crimes) and the need to effect changes in their thinking and behavior. The great “link” between these emphases is the Gospel itself – “Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God . . . Who in his sacrifice on the cross displayed the Creator’s justice that calls sinners to accountability, repentance, forgiveness, and restoration.” Jesus Christ changes the heart, and that is the indispensable element in the overall work of transformation. “Repentance and redemption for the individual, and restoration of shalom – peace and harmony – in the community.” These are the twin pillars of restorative justice.

PFM realizes that not every prisoner is willing to repent; but they are committed to seeing that every prisoner is given the opportunity to do so. Likewise, they know that many people do not want to hear a message of social justice that is predicated upon the Christian worldview; but Colson and company continue to articulate that message and to defend the worldview on which it is based. PFM communicates its vision to the public through BreakPoint, a daily radio program featuring Colson’s commentaries on justice, culture, politics and religion. BreakPoint airs each weekday on more than 1,000 outlets with an estimated listening audience of one million people. This program, together with PFM’s online resources, serves as a rallying point for groups and individuals who are concerned about America’s criminal justice system and who want to bring Christian ideas to bear on the question of how we deal with the millions of people who inhabit our prisons.