Just over thirty-two years ago, Charles Colson launched Prison Fellowship ministry after having spent seven months in Alabama’s Maxwell Prison for obstruction of justice in the Daniel Ellsberg Case of 1974. Colson voluntarily pleaded nolo contendre to the charges, perhaps due to his recent religious convictions occurring merely months before that moment. In the midst of the Watergate scandal, Colson converted to Christianity (August 12, 1973) after some discussions with then Raytheon CEO Tom Philips and digesting excerpts from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, as well as various Bible passages. Following his release, Colson began to build what has become the world’s largest prison outreach and became one of America’s top twenty-five most influential evangelical Christians of 2005, according to Time magazine. Indeed, Colson’s consistent advancement of the kingdom of God can be seen, heard, and experienced on many platforms throughout the world.
Colson’s largest endeavor to further God’s kingdom on earth has been Prison Fellowship, International: a $50 million organization that began in 1979 and now operates in every state and in over 110 countries with a volunteer populace of over 40,000. Prison Fellowship (PF) uses a variety of programs and methods to reach as many people as possible with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Drawing from his personal experience, Colson realized that “reconciliation among offenders, victims, their families and communities should be the ministry of the church.”[1]
One example is Operation Starting Line (OSL), which is an inventive evangelistic campaign. With only 20% of the 2.1 million prisoners willing to attend a chapel service, OSL offers high-energy events and performances (e.g. athletics, comedy, dynamic speakers) in collaboration with 29 PF-led ministries to attract nonreligious prisoners. From 2000-2005, OSL reported a cumulative total of 12,702 first-time commitments to Christ, 23,115 rededications to Christ, and 40,126 prisoners attending correspondence Bible courses.
Another prevailing PF ministry is Angel Tree, which helps to “connect prisoners’ children with their imprisoned parent and with Jesus Christ.”[2] People purchase a gift and deliver it to the prisoner’s child on behalf of the prisoner. During Christmas 2004, approximately 341,000 children were exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ through the Angel Tree card, and just under 5,000 accepted that invitation to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Another venture to invade prisoners’ lives with the gospel is Penpal Ministry, which encourages prisoners through the mail with volunteer pen pals and the bi-monthly circulation of Inside Journal: The Hometown Newspaper of American Prisoners. Roughly 2,640 facilities currently receive Inside Journal, and an estimated 3,190 readers have reported to committing their lives to Christ in 2004.
Although these numbers deserve much praise, Colson is far from satisfied. His vision expands far beyond that of reaching the prison population, extending deep into society, politics, and culture through spoken and written word. In 1976, his autobiographical book Born Again documented his conversion to Christianity and became the nation’s best-selling of all genres. It was also made into a feature length film. Since then, Colson has authored twenty books, written dozens of articles, and spoken in numerous venues, including the Ivy League Congress on Faith and Action in April 2005 at Princeton University.
To help shape life with a Christian worldview and help Christians interact and think Biblically inside and outside the church, Colson founded The Wilberforce Forum—named after the 19th century abolitionist William Wilberforce, who tirelessly and successfully lobbied for the end of slavery through Britain’s colonies. Wilberforce’s secret for success was his ability to unite philosophical opponents in pursuit of common goals; and his secret for leadership was rooted in his unwavering faith and his belief that “from one man [God] created all men” (Act. 17:26, NIV). Both characteristics of this Englishman reflect the mission and vision of Colson’s Wilberforce Forum.
Like Wilberforce, Colson seeks to build bridges across cultural and philosophical borders. Colson has sat on the Board of Advisers for the American Alliance of Jews and Christians[3] since 2002, and currently hopes to build a center on Christian worldview in conjunction with the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. President James White envisions a center where Christians could learn how to “reclaim the culture through such areas as media, education, science, and law.”[4] The Wilberforce Forum also consists of BreakPoint—a radio show offering Christian perspectives on today’s news and trends. In 2004, over 1,000 radio outlets aired “BreakPoint” to an estimated one million listeners.[5]
There’s no telling how far this 1953 Brown University grad will go to bring the gospel to as many people as possible. At eight-five years young, Chuck Colson still holds fast to the foundation PF was built on (Isaiah 42:3) while continuing to empower others with the mission the LORD has given PF: “God has given us a vision and a ministry to go to the last, the least, and the lost of our society and bring hope to them.”
[1] http://www.breakpoint.org/Bio.asp?ID=211
[3] This group is now known as Toward Tradition www.towardtradition.org.
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