What is Kairos?

Kairos is an ecumenical Christian ministry designed for use in men’s and women’s correctional institutions. The ministry is conducted, in cooperation with chaplains of correctional institutions, by teams of laity and clergy who are qualified by their experiences in Christian renewal movements.

The purpose of Kairos is to help build and nurture strong Christian communities among the residents of correctional institutions. The Kairos experience for residents starts with a 3-day short course in Christianity. This weekend involves 42 inmates selected by the Chaplain and a team of 55 lay and clergy persons. The weekend is modeled after renewal weekends like Catholic Cursillo, Cum Christo, Emmaus Walk and Via De Christo.

After a Kairos weekend, residents continue their faith walk by participating in small Prayer and Share Groups. These groups meet weekly to share their lives on a deep spiritual level and to pray for one another. Kairos participants also attend monthly reunions in the institution with Kairos volunteers. Kairos volunteers conduct 2-day Christian retreats twice per year.

http://www.kairosohio.org  for local (Ohio) schedules

How can you help -- MAKE COOKIES !  10,000 to 12,000 dozen cookies are needed for each Kairos Weekend!  

Each Kairos team member is to bring 200 dozen homebaked cookies to a Kairos Christian renewal weekend. That adds up to 10,000 dozen cookies.  How are so many cookies used? The cookies represent at least three truths of the Christian life:

1. God’s unending grace. Cookies are everywhere in the prison. They are a physical symbol of God’s grace, available to all believers (i.e. agape love)

2. The power of Christian Community. All Kairos cookies are home-baked, demonstrating that real people on the outside can see the inmates through the eyes of agape love and have prayed for the inmates while baking the cookies.

3. Availability of forgiveness. You can imagine that God’s forgiveness and self-forgiveness are difficult to accept in a prison. On Saturday evening, each Kairos participant is asked to take a bag of cookies to whomever in that institution he/she considers his/her worst enemy and ask for, or grant, forgiveness.

How are Thousands of Dozens of Cookies Used on a Kairos Weekend?

• On Thursday evening, cookies go with coffee and other beverages to soften the first tense minutes of the meeting between resident participants and team members.

• Every evening, each of the 42 participants takes back to his/her cell or dormitory many dozens of cookies that are shared with other inmates as the participants answer questions about the Kairos weekend.

• Cookies are available to the 42 participants every day, all day, in the meeting room.

• Cookies are provided daily to the security stations, break rooms and staff offices as a way of thanking the corrections officers and other staff for assisting Kairos and let them know that they too are loved by the Lord.

• All inmates not involved in the Kairos weekend receive two dozen cookies. This takes almost 5,000 dozen. In addition, Kairos participants return to their units on Friday evening with a second grocery bag full of cookies to eat and give away in their cell block or dormitory. By this time everyone in the institution knows that something really special is happening inside the walls.

• On Saturday, forgiveness day, Kairos participants learn about forgiving themselves, asking for and accepting God’s forgiveness and forgiving others. They each get an extra grocery bag of cookies to give to another inmate or corrections officer against whom they bear a grudge or from whom they desire forgiveness for something.

Only Home-Baked Cookies Are Used -- Baking and Packaging Instructions

• Cookie mixes, pre-mixed cookie dough (tubes or tubs) from your supermarket, or “frozen cookie balls” from food wholesalers are easy beginnings.

• Chocolate chip, oatmeal, cookies with M & Ms or butterscotch bits, peanut butter, plain sugar cookies are easy to make and popular. Rice Krispy bars and brownies are special.

• Don’t over-bake cookies; brittle cookies may break during shipping and handling.

• No raisins, icing or powdered sugar. 

• Cool cookies before packaging so they don’t stick together.

• Package in one gallon zipper-lock bags (no metal ties), 2 Doz. per bag. Mark bags “2 doz.” so dozens can be easily counted.

• Pray for the Kairos weekend participants as you bake and package your cookies, asking God to use the “agape love” cookies and the team as instruments for his love, forgiveness, healing, Christian renewal and evangelism.