Almost 35 years ago, Charles W. Colson was not thinking about reaching out to prison inmates or reforming the U.S. penal system. In fact, this aide to president Richard Nixon was “incapable of humanitarian thought,” according to the media of the mid-1970s. Colson was known as the White House “hatchet man,” a man feared by even the most powerful politicos during his four years of service to President Nixon.

When news of Chuck’s conversion to Christianity leaked to the press in 1973, the Boston Globe reported, “If Mr. Colson can repent of his sins, there just has to be hope for everybody.”

Chuck would agree. He admits he was guilty of political “dirty tricks” and willing to do almost anything for the cause of his president and his party.

In 1974, Chuck entered a plea of guilty to Watergate-related charges; although not implicated in the Watergate burglary, he voluntarily pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the Daniel Ellsberg Case.

He entered Alabama’s Maxwell Prison in 1974 as a new Christian and as the first member of the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges. He served seven months of a one-to-three year sentence.

In 1976, Chuck founded Prison Fellowship Ministries, which, in collaboration with churches of all confessions and denominations, has become the world’s largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, crime victims, and their families. Prison Fellowship International was formed in 1979 and today includes national chapters in 88 countries.

Chuck has visited over 600 prisons throughout the U.S. and the world and has built a movement working with more than 40,000 prison ministry volunteers, with ministries in 100 countries. In the course of touring prisons worldwide, he became deeply concerned with prison conditions and the need for better access to religious programs. Chuck encouraged the start of Angel Tree, a program that provides Christmas presents to more than 500,000 children of inmates annually on behalf of their incarcerated parents. These simple acts of kindness have revitalized hope and reconciliation among millions of children and their families, many of whom subsist below the poverty level.

Increasingly, Chuck sensed God’s calling to comment on the culture through the written and spoken word. He has written 23 books, which have collectively sold more than five million copies. His autobiographical book Born Again was one of the nation’s best-selling books of all genres in 1976 and was made into a feature-length film.

In 1991 Chuck launched a daily radio feature called “BreakPoint,” a unique attempt to provide a distinct Christian worldview on everyday issues and conflicts. The program is aired daily on over 1,000 radio outlets nationwide.

Chuck’s commitment to the unity of the Church led to his co-authorship of a cutting-edge document “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” that significantly helped to build an important bridge between Protestants and Catholics.

Like Billy Graham and Bill Bright, Chuck received the prestigious Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1993, donating the $1 million prize to Prison Fellowship. Chuck’s other awards have included the Humanitarian Award, The Others Award of The Salvation Army, and several honorary doctorates from various colleges and universities.

Despite his work critiquing the culture, Chuck’s heart is ever with the prisoner. He has clearly never forgotten the promise he made to his fellow inmates during his brief stay in prison: that he would “never forget those behind bars.”

The men of 2007 honor Chuck Colson for his devotion to following Jesus wherever he leads, his courage to confront ideas and isms the threaten the cause of Christ, and his passion for loving in Jesus’ name the prisoner, ex-prisoner, victims of crime and their families.

Stand in the Gap 2007
Washington, D.C.
October 6, 2007