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Training & Certification

GOD BE WITH US.

Following is an outline for our training and certification.  If you we've been invited to your jail or prison we want you to be confident in our intentions.  If you are interested in becoming certified to minister with us, this outline shares our values and beliefs so you can determine if your values align.  Reach out to us anytime with inquiries.

CFL Training
Welcome, and congratulations!
You’ve chosen to share your faith and minister to others. Jail and prison ministry is rewarding, challenging, and sometimes heartbreaking. CFL has prepared a short training manual to help you face these challenges with wisdom, courage, and love.
With over 30 years of combined ministry experience in county jails, state prisons, and federal penitentiaries, we’ve learned valuable lessons about evangelizing and ministering to men and women from every background.
This manual isn’t designed to answer every situation you may encounter, but it does provide practical advice and biblical principles for reaching a diverse population.
Our prayer is that God equips you to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19).

 

Training Overview

  1. Facilities

  2. Inmates

  3. Your Perspective

  4. Gospel Presentation

  5. Salvation: Entering the New Covenant in Christ

  6. Addressing Doctrinal Differences

 

1. Facilities

  • Types of Facilities: County jails, state prisons, federal penitentiaries.

  • Layout: Pods, segregation units, men’s and women’s sections.

  • Rules & Access: Each county and facility has unique policies on materials, training, and visiting frequency.

Key Principles

  • Be patient and supportive with facility staff.

  • Remember: It is a privilege to be allowed in.

  • CFL teams are separated into men’s and women’s groups (exceptions only for accountability or necessity).

 

2. Inmates

  • Diversity: Inmates represent every background—religion, race, class, literacy level, and mental health condition.

  • Addiction: The majority struggle with alcohol and/or drug addiction.

  • Recidivism: Studies show high rates of repeat incarceration, but ministry participation significantly reduces this cycle.

  • Mindset: Some inmates view incarceration as security (food, shelter, medical care). Others return quickly to destructive lifestyles.

Your role: Bring hope, purpose, and the message of Christ where it’s often missing.

 

3. Your Perspective
Your heart posture determines the effectiveness of your ministry.

  • Ask yourself:

    • How do I see the incarcerated?

    • As criminals… or as people created in the image of God?

    • As hopeless… or as brothers and sisters Jesus died for?

  • Scriptural Mandate:

    • Matthew 25:34–40 – “I was in prison, and you came to Me.”

    • Luke 4:17–19 – Jesus proclaims release to the captives.

  • Bottom Line: The love and compassion you show directly impacts how inmates receive the Gospel.

 

4. Gospel Presentation
What is the Gospel?
The “good news” that salvation is available to all through Jesus Christ:

  • Conceived by the Holy Spirit

  • Born of a virgin

  • Lived sinlessly

  • Crucified for our sins

  • Rose on the third day

  • Ascended to heaven

The Great Commission: Matthew 28:18–20 – Go and make disciples of all nations.
Methods: Tracts, conversations, preaching, teaching, Scripture.

  • Be clear, uncompromising, and Spirit-led.

  • The Word of God never returns void (Isaiah 55:11).

 

Steps to Salvation (Acts 2:37–42)

  1. Hear the Gospel

  2. Believe in Christ

  3. Repent of sins

  4. Be baptized into Christ

  5. Live obediently in the New Covenant

 

5. Salvation & Entering the New Covenant

  • Many rely on the “Sinner’s Prayer.” While this can be a step toward faith, Scripture consistently presents a fuller process: faith, repentance, baptism, and ongoing obedience.

  • Follow the biblical model without compromise.

 

6. Addressing Doctrinal Differences
Christians hold many theological perspectives, but keep the main thing the main thing: the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Avoid divisive debates that distract from evangelism:

  • Hyper-grace doctrines or Gnostic teachings

  • Calvinist vs. Arminian arguments

  • Bible translation disputes

  • Tongues vs. no tongues debates

  • Conspiracy theories (flat earth, etc.)

 

Guiding Principle: If it does not compromise the Gospel or the nature of God, it does not need to divide us.
Closing Encouragement


You are stepping into a ministry field full of brokenness, addiction, and despair. But you also step into a place where light shines brightest in darkness.


Go with love, compassion, wisdom, and boldness—knowing that God has called you, equipped you, and is with you always.

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