Kairos Prison Ministry International is an interdenominational

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

ministry that aims to address the spiritual needs of incarcerated men, women, youth, and their families. Kairos Prison Ministry is composed of three programs: Kairos Inside, Kairos Outside, and Kairos Torch.

History

Kairos Prison Ministry began in 1976 in

Raiford, Florida Raiford is a town in Union County, Florida Union County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida, the smallest in the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,147. The county seat is Lake Bu ...

as a program called Cursillo in Prison, based on the

Cursillo ''Cursillos in Christianity'' ( es, Cursillos de Cristiandad, "Short courses of Christianity") is an apostolic movement of the Catholic Church. It was conceived in Spain between 1940 and 1949 and began with the celebration of the so-called "first c ...

movement. Dubbed a "short course in Christianity", the program had spread to six

US states In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

by 1978. It was eventually renamed "

Kairos Kairos ( grc, καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning 'the right, critical, or opportune moment'. In modern Greek, ''kairos'' also means 'weather' or 'time'. It is one of two words that the ancient Greeks had for 'time'; the other bei ...

", which is a Greek term meaning "

God's In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

Special Time". By 2018, Kairos Prison Ministry had become active in nearly forty US states and nine other nations.

Programs

Kairos Prison Ministry is composed of three retreat programs. Retreat attendants do not need to be Christians to participate in the events.

Kairos Inside

Kairos Inside is a program of Kairos Prison Ministry that works inside prisons to develop a sense of Christian fellowship. It is active in both men's and women's prisons, and is conducted by volunteers of the same gender. The 3.5-day retreat includes talks, discussions, and

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

meditations. The Kairos Inside program strives to create Christian communities inside prisons. These communities

pray Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified an ...

or share fellowship together on a regular weekly and monthly basis.

Kairos Outside

Kairos Outside is a program of Kairos Prison Ministry that ministers to female family members of the incarcerated. It offers a 2.5-day retreat that strives to create a support community with those navigating the incarceration of a friend or family member where women feel comfortable sharing experiences and can build relationships with others in similar situations. The retreat includes talks, music, prayer, and activities to build a supportive community. Though the program was originally created as a support group for those whose loved ones are imprisoned, formerly-incarcerated women who were not able to attend a Kairos Inside retreat while in prison are also eligible for a Kairos Outside event.

Kairos Torch

Kairos Torch is the youth mentorship program of Kairos Prison Ministry. It usually begins with a retreat in youth detention centers or correctional facilities for people under 25. The mission of the program is to engage the young prisoner's reasoning skills in order to help them make better life choices. Kairos Torch volunteers commit to a weekly mentoring process with youth for six months after the retreat. The process aims to break the cycle of incarceration in a family, as most incarcerated youth have at least one parent who was also incarcerated.

References

{{reflist Christian organizations based in the United States Law enforcement in Florida Organizations established in 1967