Making a Difference in America's Huge Prison Population: Prison Fellowship Ministries Has Distributed More Than 1 Million Bibles

In the quiet solitude of their prison cells, many find solace and faith through the written word of Scripture. In recent years, Prison Fellowship has seen a surge in such transformations, bolstered by their initiative to make more Bibles and religious resources available to inmates. They have actually provided more than a million Bibles since 2019.

“From an average annual distribution of 5,000-6,000 Bibles before 2019, we’re now distributing more than 250,000 Bibles each year,” Jim Forbes, the spokesman for Prison Fellowship, declared. “The demand for Bibles continues to grow remarkably.”

Access to Bibles in prison is not as straightforward as one might think. Prison rules often preclude parcels from individual senders or unrecognized organizations, and when available, Bibles might not be easy to read due to small fonts or the literacy challenges that half of the adults incarcerated in U.S. federal and state prisons face. Yet, these hurdles have not dampened the yearning for faith within prison walls.

Capitalizing on modern technology, Prison Fellowship has set up The Storehouse, an online portal where prison chaplains can order free resources including Bibles, books, DVDs, and more. Included in their selection are large-print and Braille versions of their Life Recovery Bible, an edition that Jim Forbes states, “provides additional content and context for those who suffer with addictions of any sort.”

Complementing their Bible distribution, Prison Fellowship has been dispensing one million copies of its quarterly newspaper, Inside Journal, to 900 facilities across the nation since its inception in 1990. The paper, launched in 1990, serves as a source of valuable life skills including conflict resolution, parenting, addiction, trauma, presentation of the Gospel as well as transformative faith testimonies from prisoners.

In addition to their adult-focused initiatives, Prison Fellowship hasn’t neglected the youngest victims of incarceration – the children. Since 2016, they have been providing free ZonderKidz Adventure Bibles for all kids participating in their Angel Tree program, a project aimed at delivering gifts to prisoners’ children. They also provide Bibles to pre-teens and teens who attend Angel Tree Sports Camps or Angel Tree Camping programs.

“The demand right now is unlike anything we have ever seen,” remarked CEO James Ackerman, implying a spiritual awakening unfolding behind prison walls.

Do you think Prison Fellowship is a good program?

Prison Fellowship, the largest Christian nonprofit serving prisoners, former prisoners, and their families in the U.S., has an interesting backstory. Founded by Charles Colson, a former aide to Richard Nixon imprisoned for Watergate-related crimes, the ministry emerged from his personal redemption after finding faith in prison 50 years ago.

This extensive ministry operates on an annual income of $61 million, according to their readily available financial reports. As stewards of this income, Prison Fellowship allocates 68% directly to ministry programs and 31% to overhead costs. While their material and supply costs exceeded $5 million in 2022, the exact annual expenditure on Bibles remains undisclosed.

The Prison Policy Initiative claims more than two million people are serving time in America’s prison networks. Prison Fellowship is doing great work in this huge population. They’ve earned a one-star rating and an “A” transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, accompanied by a donor confidence score of 82.

Amid these challenging statistics, prisoner’s lives are being changed by the transformative power of faith that Prison Fellowship is facilitating, one Bible at a time.

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