Name: Charles “Chuck” Colson

Why you’ve heard of him: Colson was Richard Nixon’s “hatchet man” and spent seven months in prison for Watergate-related charges. Entered Alabama’s Maxwell Prison in 1974 as a new Christian and became a staunch advocate for prisoners. After telling his story in the bestselling book Born Again, Colson used the royalties to found Prison Fellowship, the world’s largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, crime victims, and their families.

Position: Founder and Chairman of the Board for Prison Fellowship and Prison Fellowship International (1976 to present); Commentator for Breakpoint

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Name: R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

Why you should know him: Oft-quoted for his views on cultural and religious issues. Time.com called Dr. Mohler the “reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the U.S.”

Denomination: Southern Baptist

Position: President and Professor of Christian Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary—the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world; Editor-in-Chief of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology

Previous: Editor of The Christian Index; Associate Editor of Preaching; Host of “The Albert Mohler Program,” a daily radio show distributed nationwide by Salem Communications.

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Several years ago I started an blog series that provided brief profiles of influential evangelicals. The purpose was to help those who may see a name mentioned by the media—Albert Mohler, Richard Land, Jim Wallis—but not know  about them or why they are significant.

At the instigation of Justin Taylor, I’ve decided to bring that series to Evangel. I’m hoping that my fellow contributors will adopt the format and produce entries of their own.

If you have a recommendation for a profile, please leave it in the comments section.