How to Start a Felon Ministry
Prison ministries are created to provide spiritual guidance to inmates who may already have a relationship with God, and to reach inmates who do not have a religious foundation. Many churches establish prison ministries as part of their outreach services to the local community, but there are also individual pastors, preachers and religious instructors who start ministries without the association or support of a church.
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Instructions
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Talk to your head pastor or outreach program director about your desire to start a prison ministry, if you're part of a church. If you're not part of a church, visit local churches in your community to gauge interest in starting a prison ministry.
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Research the prisons and jails in your community by visiting the Bureau of Prisons website to obtain phone numbers and addresses of prisons in your area . Call these prisons to determine what religious programs are allowed or currently available. Find out if there are volunteer programs providing religious services to the local prisons. Focus on the prisons that do not have a regular ministry. Visit websites such as InmateHelp.com, which provide a list of prison ministry resources, and may also have a list of prisons and jails in your community that lack ministry services.
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Write a proposal of the kind of ministry you want to start. You can conduct nondenominational church services for a large group, start a smaller Bible study class, provide one-on-one discipleship for those who want to learn more about the Bible, organize a penpal service in which ministers and pastors write to inmates, or start a Bible correspondence course. Explain the objectives of your ministry, detailing how your program will help inmates and the prison. Describe the type of equipment and room space you will need, depending on the kind of program you decide to institute.
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Send your proposal directly to the prison you have targeted or to the head pastor of a church if you are working under its auspices.
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Secure volunteers after you have met in person with prison officials and your proposal has been accepted. Use the local church (if applicable) to help you advertise for volunteers, or use social media such as Facebook or Craigslist to recruit qualified volunteers. Depending on the kind of ministry activities that the prison has agreed upon, you may need people with prior ministry experience, bilingual volunteers, former felons and experienced pastors.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't be discouraged if your proposal is denied by a prison or church. Identify another church and another prison and start the process again. It may take several attempts before a church is willing or able to sponsor you and a prison accepts your offer to start a ministry.
Avoid starting a ministry in a prison that already has religious services and activities, as this may cause conflict with the established ministry.
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