John Leonardson

Background

About John Leonardson

Rev. John Leonardson has worked in various prison-related ministries since 1980. He now is the Executive Director of MentorCare Ministries. It assists aftercare centers and produces manuals and training. Formerly he was the Executive Director of Exodus Ministries, an aftercare center serving families as the parent leaves prison. Exodus has served over 500 families over the past 17 years. Before this, John served as Executive Director of the Coalition of Prison Ministries (COPE) a 20-year-old international organization whose members are involved in all aspects of prison-related ministries. COPE helps promote and grow these ministries through training, books and materials, conferences, consulting and fellowship. Prior to coming to COPE, John was the North Texas Area Director for Prison Fellowship. John also has served on the board of Restorative Justice Ministries Network of Texas. In April John founded MentorCare Ministries - Mentoring and Caring for Ex-offenders. MentorCare concentrates on recruiting and training mentors to serve people coming out of prison. MentorCare offers a mentoring manual and John travels around the country training groups in aftercare mentoring. MentorCare also helps find jobs for ex-offenders which leads to a higher success rate. John has developed a four-month program, Preparing for Success on the Outside, for inmates near release and was awarded the Texas Governor’s 2003 Most Innovative Program Award. The program is now being used around the country. John and Marian have been married since 1971, have three daughters and live in Bedford, Texas. Specialties: Most areas of prison ministry. Written a manual about mentoring offenders and ex-offenders. Developed a course for inmates called Preparing for Success on the Outside. Written another manual about operating an aftercare center for ex-offenders. Now has a book "From Dope to Hope: The Life Changing Power of Jesus." Latest book is The Prison Bible published in Dec.