About the people behind New Brothers Fellowship
TO, BY, FOR
The most important people behind New Brothers Fellowship are the members of the Body of Christ. Without the support of the men and women of God, this ministry could never take place. From the beginning, the Lord made that clear. He called us as missionaries to bring that truth home to us in a very practical sense. He never wanted us to think this was about Doug and Caroline. This ministry is all about Him, and His Body---to the Body, by the Body, and for the Body for Christ. We recognize that without the men and women of God who give, pray, and serve, NBF would not survive. They are very much who New Brothers Fellowship is, and always has been.
HISTORY
Around 1996, Paul Sidmore, the Chaplain at the Essex County Correctional Facilities, recognized the need for Christian fellowship for men who had come to know Christ during their incarceration. He knew that if they did not continue to walk with God after their release, they would soon return to their old ways, and eventually be back in prison. To address this need, he would call on men himself and organize times of fellowship as often as possible. He was the originator of this ministry, and passed down the duties of leadership to his successor, Chaplain Ray Perez.
Chaplain Ray brought a little more definition to NBF, but at this time the demands of a full-time chaplain ministry made it impossible for him to develop NBF’s potential himself. He recognized that this work needed a dedicated, full-time director. In 2004, he felt led of God to share the vision of New Brothers Fellowship with a recent prison ministry volunteer, Doug Gregan.
This where we enter the history of New Brothers Fellowship, and it is an honor to be in such a line of men of God. Our story before Doug’s appointment to Directorship of NBF will have to saved for another time and place. However, we would like to share some the continuing story of New Brothers Fellowship.
THE GREGANS
In September 2004, after approximately a year of volunteering at the EECF, assisting Chaplain Ray, the Lord called Doug into full-time prison ministry. Two months later, he was appointed the Director of NBF, and our family entered full-time prison aftercare ministry as home missionaries. At this point in time, NBF consisted of a few sheets of paper. We weren’t really clear about anything, but we knew the need, saw the potential, and recognized this was the opportunity of a lifetime. We eagerly said, “Yes, Lord!” We were excited, naïve, inexperienced, and willing. We had no idea what being full-time missionaries meant, but we knew this was the call of God.
Entering the mission field and full-time ministry the way we did was certainly unorthodox by most people’s standards. We have sometimes thought that only people in our position, without proper ministerial training or experience, would have accepted such a position. In other words, anyone else would said, “But, there’s no job description, no salary or benefits, nothing to even build on!” They would have been smart enough to know this was an assignment destined to fail according to every standard of man. If we had relied on man’s standards as our test of God’s faithfulness, we probably would have quit the next month. Instead, somehow, we realized this job was going to cost us everything, but God would take care of us.
And, He has!
"And while He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, "Why has this perfume been wasted? "For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. "For the poor you always have with you, and whenever you wish, you can do them good; but you do not always have Me. "She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. "And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, that also which this woman has done shall be spoken of in memory of her." (Mark 14:3-9)
The idea that a leader whom we've known and loved should suddenly be exposed in a devastating scandal seems incomprehensible. Certainly leaders who have taught others could teach themselves. Is there not resident within all Christians biblical knowledge that would protect us from moral failure?
I started blogging almost ten years ago on Xanga, and thanks to 
If you attend church at all, you will undoubtedly hear a thousand sermons on “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18) for every one sermon you hear preached on “Be ye angry, and sin not” (Eph.4:26). This is a command! It is not a defense for a bad temper. It is not an excuse for an explosion of bitterness from your bruised ego for personal rejection. I am talking here of Holy Anger. God gets angry: “The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses” (Exodus 4:14); “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). (If you must have a bumper sticker, try this last statement for a while -- but be sure that you increase your insurance before you do so.) 
INTRODUCTION
"On September 2, Prison Fellowship chairman Charles Colson faced a situation that mirrors what the church as a whole faces. People of several faiths, many of whom were attending the Parliament of the World's Religions, gathered at Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago to hear an address on religious liberty. What do evangelicals have to say in a pluralistic setting? How do we talk about the cultural role of religion with those who worship other gods? As the winner of the 1993 Templeton Prise for Progress in Religion, Mr. Colson had earned the right to stand on the platform. What follows is . . . what he said when he got there." -- Taken from Moody magazine, November 8, 1993, page 31. Editor's Note (from the printed version of this message circulated by Prison Fellowship):
The most astounding thing about the subject of Christians drinking alcohol is the narrow focus that both sides of the discussion tend to stay on.