A ministry built on faithfulness, one returning man at a time.
1992 · Kenosha
New Song Prison Ministries began in 1992, when Pastor Jerry and Nancy Christensen started meeting with men in Kenosha who were coming home from prison and jail. What began as personal pastoral care — showing up, listening, helping where they could — grew over the next two years into a recognizable ministry, rooted in the conviction that the gospel meets people not only inside the walls, but on the long road home.
In 1994, New Song Prison Ministries was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, giving the work the structure to grow and the credibility to serve.
Three decades, one returning man at a time
In the years that followed, New Song became part of the fabric of reentry work in Southeast Wisconsin. Volunteers gathered with returning men for weekly Bible studies and fellowship. The ministry opened transitional housing, providing a place to land for men who had nowhere else to go. Jobs were found. Families were prayed with. Meals were shared. Sunday worship services became a weekly anchor. The work was rarely visible and almost never glamorous, but it was steady, and it was faithful.
Ministry leadership passed through several hands during these decades, including George Hockney, who served as ministry director, and most recently Mike and Deborah Rodgers, who carried New Song forward with quiet, consistent dedication.
April 2026
In April 2026, after years of faithful service, Mike and Deborah Rodgers stepped back from day-to-day leadership of New Song. A new board was seated to carry the ministry forward, with Joseph Jester, a CPA and ordained chaplain serving in Wisconsin correctional ministry, as President.
The mission has not changed. The men we serve have not changed. What has changed is the season, and with it, the vision for what the next thirty years can look like.
Today, New Song continues to gather each Sunday for worship at the Salvation Army in Kenosha, led by Reverend Edward Mitchell and supported by a small, faithful team. Men share meals together twice a month. The relational, walking-alongside work that has always defined this ministry continues.
And something new is being built. Cornerstone 118 is our flagship residential reentry program: an eighteen-month community combining structured housing, peer mentorship, and a social enterprise career ladder. It is the most ambitious thing New Song has ever undertaken, and also the most natural, because every element of it grew directly out of three decades of learning what returning men actually need.
The conviction beneath the work
We believe that no one is beyond restoration. That the gospel is good news on the long road home as much as in a sanctuary. That returning men need more than a room and a job. They need a people, a purpose, and a Father who has not given up on them. And we believe the church is called to be present in places most people never go, and to stay long after everyone else has moved on.
Hebrews 13:3 is our anchor: “Remember those who are in prison, as if you were their fellow prisoners.” That single verse has shaped this ministry for thirty years, and it shapes it still.