More than one in one hundred adults in the United States are in jail or prison. Given these numbers and the “crisis” created by imprisonment, one can easily see that this is a field ripe for a spiritual harvest!
For more than twenty nine years the church family at 56th and Vine has been involved in taking the gospel to area prison facilities. Currently Bill Hance serves this congregation as prison minister. He is assisted in this work by a number of loving volunteers (helping conduct studies, grading correspondence courses, transporting, etc.) After retiring from the Soil Conservation Service, Bill began to follow another ambition – sharing the good news with inmates.
Recently, Joe Stallard has joined Bill in entering into the jails and prisons to conduct worship and teach Bible studies. This is an exciting work engaged in by some dedicated servants who get to witness the power of the gospel as it works in the lives of others.
The last few years have shown this work to be extremely fruitful! We have often witnessed over 250 annual converts. All the praise belongs to God for blessing this work and creating its success!
Through the years this program has developed and matured into what it now is. Most of these brothers and sisters remain a part of the spiritual family within their correction facilities, however, a few inmates are transported to attend services and some residing in transitional facilities are also attending our services. Some come as members others as visitors who are seeking a new path. We want to encourage these individuals, right along with the rest of us, to enjoy the full forgiveness offered in Jesus’ blood and to grow in their walk of faith.
The January 2019 issue of Christian Chronicle contained a feature article on the prison ministry at Lincoln. You can access it at :
