Prison Fellowship® (PF) is pleased to announce two highly qualified new leaders to take the helm of its 35-year-old ministry to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families. Beginning in July, Jim Liske will serve as the organization’s new CEO, and Garland Hunt will serve as president.
Prison Fellowship® (PF) is pleased to announce two highly qualified new leaders to take the helm of its 35-year-old ministry to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families. Beginning in July, Jim Liske will serve as the organization’s new CEO, and Garland Hunt will serve as president.
“A Pastor’s Heart, An Entrepreneur’s Spirit”
Jim Liske comes to PF after serving for nine years as the senior pastor at Ridge Point Community Church in western Michigan. Under his leadership, Ridge Point began a para-church organization that helps newly released prisoners deal with addiction recovery challenges, find employment, and transition back into the community.
Growing up on a family farm in Michigan, Jim gained a strong work ethic and a firm foundation in the Christian faith. He sensed a call to full-time ministry as a young man and earned a master’s of divinity from North American Baptist University in 1986. Since then, he has led churches and organizations in the United States and Canada. He is married to Cathy, his wife of 28 years.
He looks forward to the opportunities presented by his new position with PF.
“I’m honored and blessed to be given this amazing opportunity to serve God,” says Liske. “I’m energized by the rich history of Prison Fellowship and the organization’s role to reach the ‘least of these.’”
“We clearly see God’s sovereign hand in bringing Jim to Prison Fellowship,” adds PF founder Chuck Colson. “He has a pastor’s heart, an entrepreneur’s spirit, and a genuine passion for this work, which makes him extraordinarily well-equipped to lead this ministry into the future.”
“God Has Ordered My Steps”
Garland Hunt is currently the executive pastor of The Father’s House and vice-president of a community ministry organization, both based in Atlanta. Before moving to Atlanta, Hunt was also the pastor at Raleigh International Church, a congregation committed to racial reconciliation, from 1993 to 1999.
In addition to his pastoral experience, Hunt has a deep passion for ministry in a correctional context. He was appointed by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, a position he held from May 2010 to January 2011. He has also served as a member of the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles from 2004 to 2010. In addition, he was formerly a vice-president of the Association of Paroling Authorities International.
Liske looks forward to working closely with Hunt to provide daily oversight and strategic leadership to Prison Fellowship’s operations.
“Garland is a gift to Prison Fellowship,” he says. “[He] will bring immediate and strategic leadership to our core evangelism and discipleship ministries in America’s prisons.”
“I believe that God has ordered my steps through 26 years of ministry and eight years in the field of corrections to serve this great organization and impact the lives of inmates, their families, and our future leaders,” says Hunt.
“With Jim and Garland in place, along with the rest of our valuable staff and volunteers, we are ready to do great things in the name of the Lord,” adds Colson.
Liske and Hunt will both assume their new duties in late July. They will succeed Tom Pratt, who has faithfully provided interim executive leadership since October 2010.