Included in this brief essay are several true stories of convicts converted as Christians while in prison. Are they true believers? No more or less than the percentage of many people attending church that are spoon fed the gospel with closed eyes, ears, and cold hearts. Often, if you don’t agree with those parishioners, talk like them or dress like them, criticisms and barriers are raised. Christian parolees and ex-cons face fiercer discrimination almost daily.

Not all published studies sort inmate data the same way. Most recidivism studies disclose an overall reincarnation rate of 60% within a three years span after release. Since 1980, the number of USA incarcerated inmates has ballooned from 500,000 to over 2.2 million people currently in the nation’s prisons and jails — a 500% increase over the last forty years. Then consider the almost 4,000,000 ex-cons in the parole system. The prison inmate and parole aggregation exceeds the population of most cities in the United States except the very largest; New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Just because a person goes to the wrong side of the tracks and gets into trouble, doesn’t mean that he or she is destined to stay on the wrong side of society forever.

Statistics from the Justice Quarterly details Bible study participation, at the rate of 10 or more sessions per year, significantly lowers the likelihood of arrest during the follow-up period compared to non-participating prisoners. With 25 or more Bible study sessions per year, none of the released inmates were arrested during the follow-up year. A more recent study, tracking these same prisoners for an additional seven years, found that regular participation in volunteer-led Bible studies significantly lowered rates of recidivism for two and even three years past release.

But that does not change the facts that prisoners face almost insurmountable challenges when they return to society. When an inmate professes faith in prison that does not change the struggles of stable employment, acceptable housing, adequate transportation, and supportive family members. Because of these and other reentry difficulties, it is only a matter of time before many ex-prisoners return to prison. Many inmates, who experienced religious conversions in prison, are either unable or unwilling once released from prison to connect with a local congregation. When that happens, many will be behind bars again. What is your church going to do to reach out to the same kinds of people Paul dedicated his missionary endeavors towards?