Purpose

To provide resources to chaplains for themselves and for prisoners/detainees in Her Majesty's Prisons, Young Offenders Institutions and Immigration Removal Centres.

Such resources will include, but will not be limited to:

• The preaching and teaching of the Bible; Christian material in the form of books, DVDs, CDs etc.
• The training of volunteers to work in prisons and provide these resources.
• To link with, and support, churches in which released prisoners will continue in Christian maturity and be integrated back into society.

Vision

We aspire to see prisoners becoming Christlike and reflecting this in their reverence for Christ and the Bible.

A Christlike person will also demonstrate a wholeness that will be attractive to those outside the Christian faith both inside prison – in the way they relate to staff and fellow prisoners/detainees – and, after their release, in how they function in the community.

Our aim is to operate throughout the UK and to do so in harmony with other Christians working in Her Majestyʼs Prisons and with the support of local churches.

Governance

For policy and pastoral oversight of CPR the Governing Board consists of Brian Edwards, David Fortune (as Director of Ministry) and John Temple with Timothy Laurence on a consultancy basis.

CPR is a charity currently being registered with the Charity Commission and is a company limited by guarantee.

Governing Board

Brian Edwards was pastor of an evangelical church in south west London for thirty years before taking on a wider ministry supported by his home church. He is the author of twenty books including Christian theology and historical biography, and edits the popular Day One Travel Guide series. Brian was President of the FIEC for three years and now preaches and lectures in the UK and abroad and is Chairman of the Praise! hymnbook Editorial Board. Together with his wife Barbara, who died in 1998, they authored the widely used marriage preparation book No Longer Two.

David Fortune pastored two churches, in the West Midlands and South East London, over a period of twenty five years. Since 1990 he has combined his pastoral ministry with voluntary visiting to prisons, first in Belmarsh and then Brixton. Since then he has worked in some twenty-five establishments.

John Temple is an international business man having been Chief Executive of the listed multinational Plessey based in South Africa until 1998 and then founded the Saratoga group of companies trading in the USA, UK and South Africa. He has held virtually every office in a local church from youth leader to elder and has devoted much of his energy to living out the practical implications of his faith. He lives with his wife, Yvonne, in the UK. He serves on several committees and writes on the practical applications of sound doctrine. He has two books in print and a third about to be published. He holds a Ph.D from Kings College, London.

Timothy Laurence is serving as London Chairman and Public Theology Associate for the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship. Formerly a financial institutions lawyer in the City, he is now studying at London Theological Seminary and the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics at Tyndale House, Cambridge. He is also working at his home church on a council estate in South East London.

Sean Willis is a Managing Director for an international conference company. He was saved in October 2001 and has been working in gospel-based prison ministry in South Africa and London since 2003. Sean lives in South West London with his wife Sally and they have been blessed with two children. Sean and Sally are active members of their local church. He holds a B.Soc.Sc. (Hons) and an MA. Like David, he delights in sharing Christ in prisons and immigration removal centres.