LANSDOWNE, Va (WordNews.org), April 22, 2012 — Ministry leaders say the church has lost a giant in the faith following the death of Charles W. “Chuck” Colson.

Colson died Saturday at the age of 80.

Carl Moeller, the head of Open Doors USA, said he was moved by Colson’s conversion story in Colson’s autobiographical “Born Again” in 1976.

“As I have matured in my Christian faith,” Moeller said, “his influence has continued to encourage and direct me to my own area of influence in the kingdom.”

Moeller said Colson’s prominence and vision and abilities “have paved the way for many young leaders to take up the cause that so animated Chuck’s ministry for more than three and a half decades. I liken Chuck’s influence to that of a giant sequoia. Like a sequoia, Chuck Colson has seeded many of us on the issues of human dignity and religious liberty. For example, his book, How Now Shall We Live? (with Nancy Pearcey), which speaks so powerfully about the integration of the Christian faith into every area of human life—including art, politics and academia—thrilled me as I studied in seminary. Absorbing the message of this book marked a clear milestone in my Christian faith.”

The Family Research Council President said “Colson touched the lives of so many after building one of the most transformative ministries of our time – Prison Fellowship Ministries. Rooted in one man’s deliverance, Prison Fellowship now reaches incarcerated men and women in countries throughout the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ..”

Michael Anthony, chancellor/CEO elect of Reformed Theological Seminary, described Colson’s death this way: “A great oak has fallen.”

“The death of Chuck Colson (1931-2012) is so remarkable because of the life of Chuck Colson. His life is summed up in the scripture …’Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV).’

“Chuck Colson was truly a new man. His life forever will be remembered, not in a legacy of political intrigue, but with a legacy of new life in Jesus Christ that overflowed to the world with a robust intellect and dynamic message lived out in a heart of deep, demonstrable compassion,” Anthony said. “Yet the new life that transforms old legacies of shame into legacies of faithfulness is available to all who call, like Chuck, on the name of Jesus Christ in repentance and faith.”

Paul Crouch, founder and president of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, pointed to March 12 to sum up Colson’s life.

“From founding Prison Fellowship, the most influential outreach and advocacy group for prison inmates, to challenging a generation of Christians to engage and impact their culture through their faith, Chuck Colson took to heart Christ’s command in Mark chapter 12. Jesus said that we must love God with all we are and all we have, and love others in that same way,” Crouch said. “No one sought to obey those commandments more diligently than Chuck Colson. Countless thousands of inmates and their families have found new life and purpose because of the ministry of Prison Fellowship. And through Chuck’s books, columns, radio commentaries, and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, millions of men and women have gained the confidence to share their faith and be salt and light in their communities and beyond.”

Accreditation organization ECFA’s president Dan Busby called Colson “a pioneer in the realm of faith-based outreach to prisoners, now reaching 113 countries worldwide.” Prison Fellowship was a charter member of ECFA.

“Even as our hearts are heavy with this great loss to the church, we celebrate the life of this giant of the faith< Busby said. “His legacy includes untold thousands who have been eternally impacted by his outreach.”