What is Kairos?
Kairos Prison Ministry International, Inc. is the parent organization of a body of ministries addressing the spiritual needs of incarcerated men, women and children, to their families and to those who work in the prison environment. Kairos sprang from the Cursillo movement and is supported by volunteers from Cursillo and other movements that consider Cursillo as their root. Although a separate ministry, Kairos has received the blessing and encouragement of 4th Day movements such as Cursillo, National Episcopal Cursillo, Presbyterian Cursillo, Lutheran Via de Cristo, The Upper Room’s Walk to Emmaus, and independently ecumenical Tres Dias. Kairos Prison Ministry is a ministry rather than a movement

Kairos is a ministry of the church … a ministry of the apostles whom Jesus, the Christ, has called into community and sent forth into the environment of the correctional institution. Kairos has been called the best example of the early church in existence today.

Kairos Prison Ministry International, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation chartered in the State of Florida and has become known as Kairos Prison Ministry. The words, Kairos Prison Ministry, are repeated in the Kairos logo, a registered trademark. Kairos Prison Ministry authorizes chartered states to present Kairos ministries within their states, following directions contained in Kairos manuals, which are updated as specific needs arise.

The mission of Kairos Prison Ministry International, Inc. is to bring Christ’s love and forgiveness to all incarcerated individuals, their families, and those who work with them, and to assist in the transition of becoming a productive citizen.

Kairos (God’s Special Time) is a continuous interdenominational ministry devoted to building strong Christian communities in state and federal maximum security correctional institutions. The term “Kairos” is derived from two Greek words for time. One of them is “kronos,” meaning linear time (hours, days, weeks, etc.) The other is “kairos,” used in the sense of a time set by God for a particular occurrence. The use of “kairos” in correctional institutions carries a special significance because in this environment, the word “time” carries many special connotations.

History of Kairos
In 1975, Tom Johnson, a lawyer and Catholic Cursillista from Miami, Florida, attended an ecumenical Cursillo gathering in Atlanta, Georgia. Though delegates came from several denominations doing Cursillo weekends, this Atlanta gathering was heavily Lutheran.

Tom Johnson had been imagining a Cursillo program in prison for some months. When he heard some of the delegates actually planning a prison weekend in Iowa, Tom approached the Iowa delegate, Pastor Gene Hermeier and sought permission to attend. One week later, Tom was observing a Cursillo weekend in an Iowa prison and knew that he had found a calling. He returned to Miami determined to begin weekends in Florida prisons.

The first weekend was held at Union Correctional Institution at Raiford, Florida, in the fall of 1976. It was called Cursillo.

By 1978, six or seven states were doing Cursillo in prison. The national Cursillo office in Dallas, Texas, surveyed these prison Cursillos and determined that they would be ecumenical, they should be under a central authority, and that the format should be significantly altered to better meet the needs of those in prison. Cursillo asked the Florida group to design a program for that particular application.

After the first Kairos was presented in 1979, Cursillo requested those who were doing Cursillo in prison to quit the practice. Most of those districts became associated with Kairos.

Kairos dates its history back to that first weekend at UCI at Raiford, Florida. Kairos is now active in 25 states, England, and Australia. The ministry is active in 165 prisons and has 11 Kairos Outside ministries for wives and mothers. More than 95,000 incarcerated men and women have been introduced to the Christian community that is Kairos and the current rate of introduction exceeds 10,000 per year.

Why Prison Ministry?
Dr. Peter P. Legins, Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland, Institute of Criminal Justice and Criminology, is considered by most people to be the dean of American criminologists. In a meeting with a group of men who were the founders of Kairos, he said: “I have known for many years, as have most of the leading criminologists in this country, that the greatest hope for an inmate to avoid the revolving doors of our prisons is to undergo a religious conversion experience during his incarceration.”

What is the Purpose of Kairos?
The purpose of Kairos is the building of strong Christian communities within the environment of correctional institutions. That is done through the impact of small share and prayer groups of residents in the institutions. These groups meet weekly to share their lives on a very deep spiritual level and to pray for one another and for the residents and the staff.

How Does Kairos Begin in an Institution?
Kairos is a continuing prison ministry launched with the presentation of a three-day short course in Christianity in a correctional institution. Beginning with a spiritual introduction on Thursday evening, the course runs approximately twelve hours each day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Who Begins It?
The short course is offered, in cooperation with the Chaplain, by an inter-denominational team of some 50 – 55 men (or women in a women’s institution) made up of both clergy and lay persons drawn from the area surrounding the institution. It is attended by 42 carefully selected leaders chosen by the Chaplain and correctional staff from the residents of the institution.

How Do the Residents Respond?
Usually all 42 residents attending a Kairos weekend will have a major conversion experience during the weekend. For some, its effect will last only a day or two, for some a week or two, for some a month or two. For most, however, it will prove to have a life-changing experience of permanent impact.

How Does Kairos “Continue”?
The primary continuing ministry of Kairos is from resident to resident and occurs in small share and prayer groups which meet weekly.

Team members who work a Kairos team make a commitment to return to that prison once a month for a reunion with the residents. It is a time of sharing, of instruction, of worship, of fellowship, of renewal and strengthening … for both outmates and inmates.

How Does the Christian Community Spread Throughout the Institution?
Kairos weekends, with their subsequent two-day retreats, take place every six months once the ministry is launched in an institution. After these small groups have been meeting regularly and participating in the ongoing worship and activities of the institutions chaplaincy program for about twelve months, members of the group suddenly find their peers in the “negative” subculture, in which they have been leaders, coming up to them and saying, “Man, I don’t know what it is you’ve got, but I want it!” …and they then introduce their friend to Christ and the Christian community work of Kairos.

What is the Impact of the Ministry?
Even though prison sentences in the United States are long in comparison with other countries, most inmates will return to society in less than three years. Ninety-six percent of them will eventually be walking the same streets which we walk.

For a variety of reasons, from 30 to 70 percent of those released will return to prison again. Continuing studies being carried out in South Carolina, Texas, Colorado, and California indicate dramatic reductions in the recidivism rate among those residents who have experienced Kairos.

Kairos files are full of letters from prison superintendents, wardens, correctional officers and other members of the criminal justice system detailing the extremely favorable impact the Kairos ministry has had on the quality of life in prisons across the country and in Canada.

Kairos of Georgia
Kairos of Georgia is actively involved in 14 prisons in the state of Georgia: 12 men’s prisons and 2 women’s prisons. In addition, there is a Kairos Torch at Macon YDC (girls) and Sumter YDC in Americus and a Kairos Outside of Georgia (for the wives and mothers of those incarcerated.)

The two prisons in the Dayspring area at which Kairos is held are Georgia State Prison (GSP) and Rogers State Prison (RSP), both in Reidsville.

Other prisons in Georgia at which Kairos is held are: Augusta State Medical Prison in Grovetown, Autry State Prison in Pelham, D. Ray James Prison in Folkston, Dooly State Prison in Chester, Hancock State Prison in Sparta, Hays State Prison in Trion, Lee State Prison in Leesburg, Pulaski State Prison (women) in Hawkinsville, Valdosta State Prison in Valdosta, Ware State Prison in Waycross, Washington State Prison (women) in Davisboro, and Wilcox State Prison in Abbeville.