Churches Bring Gospel Hope to Sumner County Jail
According to Nashville’s WTVF News, 170 inmates at the Sumner County jail in Tennessee were baptized on a single day last month. Jerry Scott, one of the supervisors, said, “It matters because it’s something they didn’t expect.” Many prisoners lose hope, believing, “I’m in jail. I’m incarcerated—the world doesn’t care about me.” However, two Sumner County churches who partner with the jail, do care. And it is bearing fruit.
Few things embody the reality and power of Christ as when believers care for the sick, the outcast, and the imprisoned. Like adoption, which reflects God’s merciful care for those without hope, ministering to those in prison reflects God’s passion to love the unlovely and give grace to the guilty. After all, with few exceptions, inmates can’t claim innocence. Anyone familiar with the history of the Colson Center will know why this matters to us. It was during the incarceration of our founder Chuck Colson that the seeds were planted for what eventually became Prison Fellowship. Out of Prison Fellowship and Chuck’s deep concern that the Church be the Church, the Colson Center was born. In prison, Chuck saw people without hope and a system that was built on wrong ideas about human dignity, justice, and the potential for transformation.
Like the newly baptized people in Tennessee, prison became a context for a new life for Chuck Colson. As his daughter Emily put it, “When the judge slammed that gavel and pronounced my dad’s sentence, it seemed like the end. But it wasn’t. In fact, it was a beginning.”
That beginning meant reminding the world that committing a crime does not rob a person of humanity or dignity. Chuck spent the next decades of his life going back to prison, bringing the Gospel to those inside, including guards and wardens. He also adopted and expanded the Angel Tree program to reach the families of those in prison with the Gospel, and to keep children connected with their incarcerated parents. He also worked to reform the criminal justice system, so that it was based on something better than retribution.
Chuck also believed that the church behind the walls could have a significant impact on the wider culture, including the church outside the walls. Angel Tree demonstrates how right Chuck was in this belief. An estimated 1 in 28 children have a parent behind bars, without either a mom or dad in their daily lives, especially on important days like birthdays and Christmas. Angel Tree does not merely provide these children with a gift on Christmas, it provides them with a gift from their mom and dad on Christmas, while connecting the family to a local church. Most of all, it’s a way to share the love, joy, and dignity of God to those who too often don’t see it.
At the Colson Center National Conference this year, Prison Fellowship’s Heather Rice-Minus shared her thoughts on the beauty of this ministry.
I’ve actually had the privilege of being an Angel Tree coordinator for my church in Washington, D.C., and I’ve done this for five years. And the first family I ever delivered to is one that we’ve remained in relationship with. I’ve invited them to my dinner table. We’ve gone to Angel Tree sports camps with the girls.
They talked to their dad [who was incarcerated in North Carolina] on the phone every week but had never visited him in prison since he had been incarcerated.
So, I asked, “If all the hurdles were taken away” (because they’re living paycheck to paycheck,) “If you have a car to drive you there, if there was a hotel and you could stay, would you want to see your dad?”
And they said, “Yes!” So, we got a minivan, and we drove down, and I got to be a fly on the wall for this reunion of a father and his daughters and his granddaughter. They had not seen each other in person for 15 years.
Even if you are not yet thinking about the holidays, please take the time to learn more about Angel Tree and how to be involved this Christmas and throughout the year. Visit prisonfellowship.org/angeltree. Consider offering your prayers, your support, and maybe even your time to this important ministry.
Photo Courtesy: ©GettyImages/Motortion
Published Date: June 19, 2025
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
