| ISMagazine.com | Religion on the Net |
February, 2000 |
Crosswalk.com Says Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries Will Sponsor News & Culture Channel
CHANTILLY, Va., Dec. 2 -- Crosswalk.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMEN; AOL Keyword: crosswalk) said today that the Prison Fellowship Ministries (PFM) will sponsor a new News & Culture Channel at its website, www.crosswalk.com, which is the leading web portal serving the broad Christian community. When launched in the first quarter of the new year, it will be the portal's 15th channel. PFM who has a following of over a half million supporters, ministers to prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families, and victims of crime in all 50 states. Its 50,000 volunteers and staff of 400 serve approximately 200,000 prisoners annually, and work in 90 percent of American prisons. In addition, PFM serves prisoners in over 92 countries throughout the world. PFM will pay a sponsorship fee and engage in revenue sharing opportunities. Crosswalk.com will present on the channel, among other things, PFM content, donor acquisition campaigns, streaming media services, and the broadcasting of live and special events including founder Chuck Colson's Breakpoint radio broadcasts.
``This relationship serves several of our goals,'' said Crosswalk.com President and CEO William Parker. ``It adds to the content of our portal, and therefore helps us build and better serve our members. It provides us the opportunity to acquire members in bulk, and generates revenue in recognition of the sponsorship and services to be provided.''
``Prison Fellowship Ministries is honored to be a sponsor of the News & Culture channel on Crosswalk.com,'' stated Colson. ``Crosswalk.com provides a unique opportunity to advance the ministry of Prison Fellowship and we look forward to working together to help equip Christians to live out their faith.''
PFM is the largest prison outreach and criminal justice organization in the world. PFM programs reach prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families and victims of crime. Based on the premise that at the heart of every criminal act is a destructive decision, Prison Fellowship volunteers and staff help prisoners and ex-prisoners learn to reject crime and to become contributing members of their families and communities. Prison Fellowship targets the root causes of crime by providing programs such as job training, family counseling, one-to-one counseling and weekly Bible studies. PFM also operates a prison in Texas and in Iowa. By providing Christ-centered programming, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, PFM has proven to be effective in reducing recidivism rates (return to prison).
Charles W. Colson, former special counsel to President Richard Nixon, founded PFM in 1976, after he served seven months in prison for Watergate- related offenses. Since that time, Colson has emerged as one of the leading authorities on the causes of crime and responses to it. Colson, has also written 14 books-his recently released legacy book, ``How Now Shall We Live,'' equips Christians to articulate the truth of the gospel, live it accordingly, and give a defense of the truth to unbelievers.
About Crosswalk.com
Crosswalk.com, Inc. is the creator of crosswalk.com, the premier portal site for the online Christian community, with a focus on ``the intersection of faith and life'', covers a growing spectrum of everyday life within a Christian context. Members and visitors can now tap into channels targeting music, personal finance, careers, sports, homeschooling, and health; lifestyle channels focusing on men, women, families and spiritual life; and services ranging from free Web access filtering, a full-Web filtered search engine, and ``mycrosswalk'' customized start pages to online shopping, family-friendly movie reviews, bible study, greeting cards, games, chat, forums, local events, news, free email and more.
The Company generates revenues through the sale of sponsorships and advertising; the online retailing of Christian and family-friendly products manufactured or developed by others (music, books, apparel, gifts, etc.); commissions and referral fees from co-marketing relationships; and to a lesser extent, the continuing provision of technology services to various Christian organizations.
