What is Going on at the Colson Center?
Why have they scrubbed articles on DIVORCE written by Charles Colson (who was divorced and remarried himself)?
I was brought up in a wonderful Evangelical Christian home, and I’m an avid book reader. Chuck Colson’s book, Born Again, was one of my favorites.
It was the story of President Richard Nixon’s “hatchet man” who ended up in federal prison in the aftermath of Watergate. But God humbled him and made him a better man. He developed an organization called Prison Fellowship, a group I’ve supported. His book inspired me to do jail ministry myself, and for years I preached the Gospel to hundreds of women inmates at the largest women’s jail in the United States.
Mr. Colson passed away in 2012. Three years later, The Colson Center For Christian Worldview was formed in Colorado. It bears his name, but he didn’t found it.
Now let’s discuss the Colson Center* that was founded 3 years after Charles Colson’s death.
Chuck Colson himself was divorced and remarried. He did indeed feel that divorce “harms women, children, and the poor,” but when asked why, he quoted a Time magazine article mentioning the Waite and Gallagher study.
CHUCK COLSON DIDN’T READ THE 2002 WAITE AND GALLAGHER STUDY…OBVIOUSLY
Waite found that domestic violence and high-conflict marriages were the exception and that divorce in those cases had better outcomes than staying. (I’ve read the Waite study many times. Here are my highlights: “Does the Waite Study Really Say Your Marriage Will Become Happy If You Stay 5 Years? No!“)
Other researchers, such as Hawkins and Booth, as well as Amato, did more in-depth studies and found the same: that wellbeing of both mother and children improved after a divorce (on average) when the reason was to escape a highly toxic situation.
Recently Colson Center’s president, John Stonestreet, teamed up with Focus on the Family’s president, Jim Daly, to attack no-fault divorce laws and to mock those who take advantage of these laws to get free, suggesting that the only people who benefit are adulterers, and ignoring Christian domestic violence victims. These two leaders don’t really understand the importance of these laws to protect abuse victims. Focus on the Family’s official online divorce policy does not condone divorce for domestic violence … EVER.
Both organizations are based in Colorado Springs, CO, and both are sponsoring speakers and videos that mislead people about no-fault divorce.
They both promote a poorly researched article by Amy J. Desai that is full of 12 half-truths about divorce and kids. That article mentions many top researchers of the past 30 years, but misrepresents their views. (See my claim-by-claim analysis of it here: 12 Half-Truths in “How Could Divorce Affect My Kids?” from Focus on the Family by Amy Desai, J.D.) The article is so twisted and manipulative that there are only three websites on the internet that cite that article.
FOTF and Colson Center are two of the three, the third is classified as a “hate group.”
One mother in my Life-Saving Divorce Private group believed Desai’s article and stayed with her violent husband even though she wanted to divorce. He strangler her, beat her, discarded her lifeless body into a gully, and left her for dead — a year after she tucked that article in her Bible. Here’s is my video interview with her. (LINK.)
Now in 2025, they’ve posted yet another article suggesting the divorce destroys children age 5, with no exception for the serious reasons for divorce. No wonder men with abusive attitudes and women who judge other women for leaving an adulterer or addict seem to feel comfortable posting on the Colson Center’s Facebook page.
A divorced Christian domestic violence victim in my online Life-Saving Divorce group is a Colson Center fan. She was horribly shocked by John Stonestreet’s Feburary 2022 broadcast. She reached out to me in a panic. I checked it out myself. He was using the information from Desai’s misleading Focus on the Family article. Two times I sent him accurate research information, but he did not respond or retract anything. He doesn’t seem to care very much about domestic violence victims…or truth, for that matter.
Both Focus on the Family and Colson Center distort the conclusions of a famous researcher, Dr. Judith Wallerstein, in their articles/broadcasts that suggest that divorce is universally destructive to children. (See what Dr. Wallerstein said about divorce and children here: 10 Quotes on Kids and Divorce From Dr. Judith Wallerstein). She found that 7 in 10 kids of divorce turned out fine: “average,” “very well,” or “outstanding.” Wallerstein’s words:
“I am not against divorce. How could I be? I’ve seen more examples of wretched, demeaning, and abusive marriage than most of my colleagues. I’m keenly aware of the suffering… I’m also aware that for many parents the decision to divorce is the most difficult decision in their lives; they cry many a night before taking such a drastic step. -Judith S. Wallerstein, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce (New York: Hyperion, 2000), p. xxxix
“Children raised in extremely unhappy or violent intact homes face misery in childhood and tragic challenges in adulthood.” -Judith S. Wallerstein, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce (New York: Hyperion, 2000), p. 300.
“And I am, of course, aware of the many voices on the radio, on television, and in certain… religious circles that say divorce is sinful… But I don’t know of any research, mine included, that says divorce is universally detrimental to children.” -Judith S. Wallerstein, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce (New York: Hyperion, 2000), p. xxxix
- Colson Center was Registered in Colorado in 2015, and was granted their nonprofit tax-exempt status with the IRS in 2016, three years after the death of its namesake.
The Colson Center For Christian Worldview Board of Directors in 2022 listed on their public website.
Now the names of the board members have been scrubbed and are not listed on their IRS 990 forms.
(1) JOHN STONESTREET, PRESIDENT
(2) JOSEPH BACKHOLM, DIRECTOR – EMBASSY PROJECT
(3) STEPHEN MICHAEL CRAVEN, DIRECTOR – COLSON FELLOWS PROG
(4) WILLIAM BROWN, SENIOR FELLOW/COLSON FELLOWS
(5) DAVID CARLSON, SENIOR EDITOR
(6) STEPHEN VERLEYE, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
(7) DOUGLAS NAPIER, BOARD CHAIR
(8) PETER MAHON, SECRETARY
(9) ERIC PILLMORE, TREASURER
(10) SHANNON CAGNINA, DIRECTOR
(11) DAVID DOCKERY, DIRECTOR
(12) JENNIFER MARSHALL, DIRECTOR
( 13) EMILY COLSON, DIRECTOR
(14) EDWIN SIMCOX, DIRECTOR
STEVE VERLEYE, COO
BRIAN BROWN, VICE PRESIDENT
LYNN DAMEWOOD, CPA
TIMOTHY PADGETT, THEOLOGIAN
If you live in Colorado Springs, please share your story with these people.
Colson Center Officers listed in their public IRS 990 forms for 2023
1 John Stonestreet, PRESIDENT
2 Stephen Craven, VP, Equip &Mobilization
3 Peter Marra, Chief Strategy Officer
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