History

The idea for The Saints Prison Ministry came about in 1982, when God burdened our ministry’s founder with a desire to combine his love for Christ and his love for sports for the purpose of reaching the lost.

After thinking and praying about the idea for several years, the ministry was birthed in 1987. Forming an all-Christian softball team, leadership contacted several area prison chaplains and recreation directors to schedule games. The first game played by the team, originally named The South Jersey Saints, was on June 6, 1987. That day, eight prisoners accepted Christ as Savior at the Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, NJ.

The Saints softball team played just five games that first season, but more than doubled its schedule the following year. A men’s volleyball team was also formed and visited correctional institutions for three years. In 1989, our basketball team was formed and soon supplanted the volleyball squad in popularity and effectiveness. In 2002, the Saints added a soccer team for the purpose of reaching Spanish-speaking inmates. Women’s volleyball followed shortly thereafter, and in 2010 the Saints expanded regionally by opening a Southeastern regional office in the Atlanta area. In 2012, Illinois was added to the family as a softball team was launched in the Peoria area and, most recently, another softball team was planted in Huntington, West Virginia in 2022.

Today, we operate six men’s softball teams, a soccer team, a basketball team, and two women’s teams – softball in the Southeast Region and volleyball in the Northeast Region. Our National Headquarters is located in New Jersey, as well as a regional office in Georgia, and a branch in Illinois.

Since 1987, The Saints have played over 5,300 games in more than 480 different prisons in 34 states and Canada. During that time, over 36,000 prisoners have made professions of faith in Jesus Christ.

Board of Trustees