Kairos Prison Ministry
Kairos is a Christian, volunteer, lay-led, ecumenical, international prison ministry, in which men and women volunteers bring Christ’s love and forgiveness to incarcerated individuals and to their families. The Men’s and Women’s Inside Ministries address the spiritual needs of prisoners. Kairos volunteers go into prisons in teams of 30 to 40 to pray, share the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, share meals and fellowship with the incarcerated on a one-on-one basis. The first visit is a 3 ½ day weekend event, during which time the team teaches a short introductory course on Christianity through carefully coordinated talks, discussions, chapel meditations, and music. Subsequent visits are monthly half-day reunions with the prisoners over a twelve month period. Kairos Outside provides spiritual healing to families of the incarcerated. Kairos Torch provides a ministry to youthful offenders. Currently, only the Men’s and Women’s Inside Ministry is supported by St Monica.
In addition to being an “inside the walls” team member, Kairos also offers the community an opportunity to participate in the weekend from “outside the walls”. The community can provide prayer support of the weekend. The community can also participate by helping to prepare the expressions of Agape Love used throughout the Weekend by participating in the St Monica CookieBake making 400 dozen Kairos chocolate chip cookies, by making posters and placemats, by helping at an “outside the walls” kitchen to cook one or all of the meals served to the Weekend participants, or by providing financial support for the Weekend.
Kairos at St. Monica currently supports weekends at Plainfield Men’s Correctional Facility in Plainfield IN, and Rockville Women’s Correctional Facility in Rockville IN. The Plainfield weekends are in April and October and the Rockville weekends are in May and November. There are 6 team formation meetings for each weekend team and they generally are held during the 3 months prior to the weekend. We hold a discernment meeting in early January and late June to present in detail the Kairos Inside Ministry and answer any questions that interested individuals might have. Since the weekend is based on 4th day weekends, it is suggested that “inside the walls” team members have completed either Cursillo or Christ Renews His Parish weekends.
Contact: Jim Helbing, 255-6174.
