you have southern baptists, conservative nondenominational evangelical christians. i went to the prisons, went to interview people, sat in on classes, visiting different groups that met over a year ago, went to florida and angola prison in louisiana, i went to texas, california, ohio and ideally, it is to spend time with people and understand the world they live in but in prison that is difficult because you are not in prison, limit access, prison by prison, some prisons, move around and talk to people, the prisons have a reminder with me at all times, i could speak to somebody in a room and sometimes i couldn't and the access varies. i write about that in the book. whatever i said is limited by knowing who i was able to talk to. the women's prison, dedicated the book, they had all read the book and what was nice is a lot of them the this is familiar even though they are not operating under too much religious programming, they said it rings true and i also connected a lot to people who had been in prison especially where i see my research, talking to them was import

were quakers or buddhist who are practicing in that area come in basically a southern baptist, nondenominational. i went down to the prisons. i was able to interview people. i sat in on classes, spent time visiting different groups, so i went to florida. i went to angola in the women's prison in texas in the research i do is to spend time with people and understand the world they live in. a imprisoned, that's very difficult because you are not in prison and they limit access to the you can talk to. some i could move around and talk to people, others they had a binder with me at all times are sometimes i could speak to someone in a room. sometimes they couldn't. and so the access really varies. i read about that in the book, so whatever i said, is limited by who i am, who i was able to talk to. i just came back from the women's prison i dedicated the book to the students i work there and they all read the book. a lot of them see this is familiar to them even though they're not operating under too much religious programming. they said it brings true. a lot of people formerly in prison. talking to

remove bibles and altar and the christian cross from on top of the chapel which is supposed to be nondenominational before i shared of the people that i know i wanted to see if you could verify. >> good call, wish more people did that. the video here says that d.c.'s americans united for separation of church and state is the one pressuring the university. so we reached out to them first. attorney iian smith confirms they did send a letter saying a cross on a state campus violates the constitution which explicitly bars the institution from favoring one religion over another. >> it then becomes a space that all students can move for religious worship as i see fit. that increases religious freedom for all of the students. >> the letter is addressed to east central university are president patricia pierson who initially said they were looking at removing the cross but then had a change of heart after locals flocked to the chapel in opposition. >> i just don't want this building touched. >> the next thing we did was it comes from randall cristy, a pastor in oklahoma and alum, he's sponsoring a petition

>> reporter: one of 35,000 boys and girls nondenominational campus outside omaha founded by father edwardn. canonized by hollywood. >> i'll see they get a good home. >> reporter: unlike a detention center, kids live in family settings. >> hey, welcome home. >> reporter: kyrie with seven boys supervised by family teachers caroline and chris hack. there are no fences, there are no walls. what is it that keeps kids here? >> kids stay here because they're loved and cared for. they have positive activities. they have a great school to attend. >> reporter: of those who stay at least 18 months, 94% earn a high school degree and 82% work today. kyrie is one of the three amigos with deshawn bates and tajai davis. >> when we get mad we're all there for each other. >> reporter: today kyrie is motivated by his mom. >> i don't want her to ever have to work again, ever. i want her feet up somewhere in like italy or something. >> reporter: swagger rooted in confidence built ats anne thompson, nbc news, boys town, nebraska. >> we appreciate you spending part of your evening with us. that is "nightly news

so it's kind of a nondenominational or transdenominational preacher. wrote in his journal in the late 1730s, quote, i bless god, the partition wall of bigotry and sect religion was soon broken down in my heart, for as soon as the love of god was shed abroad my soul, i loved all of whatsoever denomination who loved the lord jesus in sincerity of heart. he doesn't really care about denominational differences, he's just about changing hearts and changing lives. anyway, george whitfield loved the common folk. benjamin franklin was a lifelong friend of his and that was one of the things that franklin appreciated about whitfield. he didn't just cater to the elite, in fact, he had a very troubled relationship with them. when he came over, he didn't have the proper license to preach, and so he was denied the pulpits in many anglican churches here. and so he improvised. and he had this thing built. he had a portable pulpit built. and so he said, okay, you're not going to let me into your churches, i'll go preach out in the fields. we'll see if anybody comes to

whitefield was evangelical and cal vannist and he was the most evangelical nondenominational preacher he's a forerunner of billy graham or rick warren in california. you recall the man who spoke at president obama's first inaugural. a non-denominational preacher. i bless god the partition wall of bigotry and sect religion was soon broken down in my heart for as soon as the love of god was shed abroad in my soul i love all of whatsoever denomination who loved the lord jesus in sincerity of heart. he doesn't care about denominational differences. he's just about changing hearts and changing lives. anyway, george whitefield loved the common folk. benjamin franklin was one of the lifelong things, and he didn't just cater to the elite and he had a troubled relationship with him and when he came over he didn't have the proper license to preach and so he was denied the pulpits in many anglican churches here and so he improvised, and he had this thing built. he had a portable pulpit built and he said, okay, you're not going to let me into your churches? i'll go preach in the fields and we'll