History

The story of Prison Fellowship is the compelling story of God behind bars. In a very real sense, Prison Fellowship was born behind bars in the heart of Chuck Colson, the notorious American “Watergate” prisoner who discovered
the reality of God’s redemptive love and transforming power in Jesus Christ among his fellow prisoners. During
imprisonment he realised that only God could change the hearts and lives of people, both in and out of prison, for good.

When Chuck Colson completed his sentence, he was planning to pick up the pieces of his life and return to
practising law.  But that was not to be, God did not let him forget his fellow prisoners and their families.  Chuck was drawn back into prison to visit the men he’d left behind, and he realised that God was using the worst experience of his life for good and was giving him a life sentence.  

This was the beginning of the Prison Fellowship movement, the story of one man serving time in prison where
he realised that the God who had given him new life was real and present, especially behind bars – then returning to prison with groups of his friends from the outside to visit other inmates because God loves and cares for those who are in prison.

Chuck had no intention of venturing beyond the prisons of America. But the remarkable story of Chuck and his friends captured the imagination of people in other countries who wondered what God might do if they
followed his example of creating a “prison fellowship” of caring friends from the outside reaching out to inmates with the compassion and grace of God.

Scotland was among the very first countries where the idea of “prison fellowship” took root.  In 1983 representatives from fledgling Prison Fellowship groups in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England joined together in hosting a gathering of people from around the world who, like them had expressed a desire to reach out to those who were alienated and forgotten in prison.

More than one hundred and fifty people from forty countries responded and met in Belfast, Northern Ireland to share their ideas and experiences, to hear each other’s stories, and to consider the reconciling power of Jesus Christ. Among them were ex-prisoners like Chuck Colson, judges, prison officials, Members of Parliament, priests and pastors, business people, and many others representing a wide range of cultures, denominations, and ethnic backgrounds. During that gathering, Prison Fellowship International was born, a movement that now encompasses Prison Fellowship groups in more than one hundred and twenty-five countries