Prison Fellowship: A Timeline

1974
Charles W. Colson, a top aide to President Richard Nixon, entered a plea of guilty to Watergate-related charges; although not implicated in the Watergate burglary, he voluntarily pled guilty to obstruction of justice. As a new Christian and the first member of the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges, he entered Alabama's Maxwell Prison in 1974. He served seven months of a one- to three-year sentence.

1976
After leaving prison in 1976, Colson founded Prison Fellowship, the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families, and BreakPoint, which equips Christians to live out their faith in the culture.

1979
Prison Fellowship International was formed in 1979 under the direction of Colson. It has since expanded to include offices in 112 countries.

1982
Prison Fellowship introduced Angel Tree^®, a year-round program that works with children of prisoners and their families through thousands of local churches.

1983
Prison Fellowship began its criminal justice reform program Justice Fellowship, which advocates for prisoners' rights and works with federal and state governments to help them apply the principles of restorative justice to America's criminal justice system.

1988
Prison Fellowship first awarded its annual William Wilberforce Award to Filipino democracy advocate Benigno Aquino (posthumously). The award is bestowed annually on an individual who has made a significant contribution to confronting and rectifying societal problems and injustices. It is given in honor of William Wilberforce, an 18th century British parliamentarian who stood against his party in his campaign to abolish the slave trade.

1991
Prison Fellowship launched a daily radio feature called "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson," a unique attempt to provide a distinct Christian perspective on current issues and conflicts. Today, BreakPoint equips Christians to live out their faith in the culture via radio, interactive media and print, with the syndicated radio program aired daily on some 1,000 outlets nationwide.

1991
In an effort to help Christians view the issues of the day from a biblical perspective, Colson and BreakPoint launched The Wilberforce Forum, a network of writer's scholars and speakers who promote a Christian worldview and annually recognize Christians of influence through the Wilberforce Award.

1992
In response to a request from Aaron Johnson, the secretary of North Carolina's Department of Corrections, Prison Fellowship brought a unique faith-based outreach program to all of North Carolina's 94 prisons. This began Starting Line, a nine-year ministry run by Prison Fellowship that conducted programs in more than 500 prisons in America.

1993
Colson received the Templeton Prize for progress in religion, donating the $1 million prize to Prison Fellowship.

1995
Prison Fellowship launched Neighbors Who Care, a nonprofit victims-assistance organization, that addressed how to care for and respond to those who are often overlooked in the justice process-the victims. Though Neighbors Who Care ceased to be a subsidiary of Prison Fellowship in 2000, Prison Fellowship continues to equip churches with resources to minister to victims of crime.

1997
Prison Fellowship launched The InnerChange Freedom Initiative on April 21. The first prison to implement this full-time, faith-based prison program is located in Richmond, Texas. Prison Fellowship provides all programming and staffing.

1999
In January, the Winfield Correctional Center in Kansas opened the second InnerChange Freedom Initiative program. To accommodate more inmates, this program has since moved (June 1, 2002) to the Ellsworth Correctional Facility.

1999
The third InnerChange Freedom Initiative program opened at the Newton Correctional Facility in Newton, Iowa, on April 1.

2000
Angel Tree expanded its program to a year-round outreach to children of prisoners and began working with churches to test a long-term mentoring and summer camp experience.

2000
Prison Fellowship joined a collaboration of more than a dozen Christian organizations to bring a unique, faith-based prison outreach program called Operation Starting Line to every prison in the United States.

2001
Prison Fellowship's Angel Tree Camping^® program launched in eight cities and sent 4,100 kids to Christian, summer camps.

2002
In February, former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley was named president and CEO of Prison Fellowship. In July, the fourth InnerChange Freedom Initiative program opened at the Lino Lakes Correctional Facility, in Lino Lakes, Minn. In its second year, Angel Tree Camping sent 6,500 children of prisoners to summer camp.

2003
2003 In June, a University of Pennsylvania study was released, showing that graduates of InnerChange Freedom Initiative in Texas were 50 percent less likely to be re-arrested and 60 percent less likely to be re-incarcerated, compared to the matched comparison group.

2004
Some 550,000 children received gifts from their incarcerated parent through Angel Tree Christmas, while some 10,000 children of prisoners went to summer camp through Angel Tree Camping.

2005
Prison Fellowship relocated to its new campus in Lansdowne, Va., which includes a state-of-the-art training center.


2006
Founder Chuck Colson stepped down as chairman of the board of Prison Fellowship USA and announced the board's selection of Michael Timmis as chairman. Colson remained a member of the board and continued to pursue his extensive writing, speaking, and teaching work with Prison Fellowship. The InnerChange Freedom Initiative expanded, launching a men's program in Arkansas and women's programs in Arkansas and Minnesota.

2007
The InnerChange Freedom Initiative added a men's program in Missouri in March and a women's program in June. The faith-based prisoner rehabilitation program now operates in six states. Prison Fellowship's parent company changed its name to PFM. The Christian, non-profit organization is now comprised of Prison Fellowship, the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families, and BreakPoint, which equips Christians to live out their faith in today's culture. In addition, BreakPoint launched a new daily radio commentary on 187 outlets in 33 states across America. Titled The Point, the program hosted by Mark Earley offersin a quick 60-second bitea biblical take on issues that Christians confront each day.

-30-