RFI co-founder and senior fellow, Byron Johnson, and Michael Hallett, professor of criminal justice at the University of North Florida, co-authored an article published recently in Christianity Today titled, “The New Prison Ministry Lies in Bible Education.”

Contemporary evangelical Christian prison ministries are active, innovative, and, as it turns out, also quite effective. Johnson and Hallett observe:

While many evangelicals are familiar with prison ministry groups ranging from local church volunteer efforts to larger organizations like Prison Fellowship, newer and lesser-known models for evangelical ministry inside US prisons are drawing from innovative work at some of America’s largest and most violent institutions. This work emphasizes equipping prisoners for their own ministry and equipping prisons with resources from religious volunteers.

Some of these ministries are, in effect, building religious institutions within custodial settings, including within some of America’s most challenging and violent prisons. Without collaboration with prison leaders, however, these ministries would not be possible. Johnson and Hallett explain:

In what is quickly becoming a new national model, public-private partnerships between prison wardens, religious educators, and faith-motivated volunteers are now operating in 29 states and over 50 maximum-security prisons nationwide. Three seminaries now exist in women’s prisons, the third of which launched earlier this year.

Evidence shows that Christian ministries operating within prisons contribute to improved conditions for inmates. Crucially, they also reduce recidivism. Johnson and Hallett conclude:

It is time to take an objective look at the role of evangelical prison ministries. Today’s record shows that evangelicals remain a powerful force for good [in custodial settings].

It should also be underscored that these evangelical prison ministries are part of what the free exercise of religion looks like in the United States today.

Read the full article: “The New Prison Ministry Lies in Bible Education.”