NCJ Number
75962
Journal
Angolite Dated: (January/February 1981) Pages: 31-56
Editor(s)
W Rideau,
B Sinclair
Date Published
1981
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article provides an historical overview of the church-prison relationship, interviews with religious leaders who minister to prisoners at the large maximum-security prison of Angola in Louisiana, and a discussion of such issues as religious freedom.
Abstract
Interviews are conducted with Angola's chaplain who supervises a staff of three full-time and four part-time chaplains at Angola; the Assistant Warden; the vice-president of the Angola chapter of Full Gospel Businessmen, who is serving a sentence for attempted murder; and a Muslim chaplain. The article discusses the lack of involvement in prison by established churches in the community, the impact of movements such as the Jehovah Witnesses and Islam, and the problem of insincere inmates who are hunting ways to secure their needs or to obtain help in regaining their freedom. The work of Prison Fellowship, founded by Chuck Colson, one of the former Watergate conspirators, is also described. The fellowship is a national prison ministry organization consisting of 60 staff members and 6,000 volunteers and is supported by contributions from about 45,000 people. It operates in over 200 prisons and helps prisoners with transportation, jobs, correspondence, and counseling. The article suggests that a volunteer program would help to meet the religious needs of the prisoners at Angola. Photographs are included.