Jamie MacDonald Credits Prison Ministry for Her Career: ‘It Just Changed My Entire Life’
The singer who burst onto the Christian music scene with hits like Desperate says prison ministry played a defining role in her journey, shaping not only her faith but the music she would later share with the world.
Jamie MacDonald received a Dove Award nomination last year for Desperate and, in recent weeks, has watched another song, Left It in the River, climb the Billboard Christian Airplay charts. Both songs appear on her debut studio album, titled simply Jamie MacDonald, a project that reflects her journey of faith.
MacDonald’s season in prison ministry came after an earlier chapter in Nashville around 2019, when she worked at The Cheesecake Factory to earn a living while trying to break into the CCM scene, only to leave Nashville discouraged by differences in musical styles. At the time, she says, the definition of Christian music felt far more “narrow” than it does today.
“I just wanted to find my love for music again,” she told Crosswalk Headlines.
During those in-between years, she sang backup vocals for a range of Christian artists, including Anne Wilson, Zach Williams, and Maverick City Music – and rediscovered her sense of purpose inside a Georgia prison.
“It was just such a God thing,” she said.
Eventually, she joined the prison staff part-time – a role that allowed her to return each week.
“I immediately felt at home. I mean, looking back at my past and everyone who I was running with throughout my teen years – these girls reminded me of who I grew up with,” said MacDonald, who described a turbulent season in her teen years marked by drugs and alcohol before – in her words – she cried out to God at age 21. Some of her friends from those teen years, she said, ended up in prison.
“I could be right there in prison with them for some of the places I was and some of the things that I was a part of. I wanted to give back.”
She took on a variety of roles inside the prison, helping lead musical worship and teaching songwriting.
“They ended up blessing me so much more than I thought I was going to be a blessing to them,” she said. “They walked me through losing my dad. They became, like, my home church.
“It just changed my entire life,” MacDonald added. “To be able to now go into prisons and share my faith and share my story – I was able to connect with them so quickly because I've been there.”
The experience opened her eyes in unexpected ways. She was surprised, for example, that the inmates had a passion for Christian music.
“Christian music has kept them filled with faith,” she said. “You wouldn't know they're in prison by the way they talk and the way they act, because they're just so filled with hope, and Christian music is a big part of that.”
The experience planted a thought: What if she tried Christian music again? And what if she recorded a hit song that touched not only the women she met behind bars, but people far beyond prison walls?
“So I thought, ‘Okay, I think I have my ‘why’ now. … It made it all click into place and make sense for me.”
MacDonald performed last year at two major award shows – first at the K-LOVE Fan Awards and then at the Dove Awards. Still, she says she has not forgotten the prison ministry that helped shape her calling.
“I have them in mind with everything I'm doing and everything I'm writing.”
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Photo Credit: ©Capitol Christian Music Group
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
Originally published January 29, 2026.
