History of Ekklesia Prison Ministry
The Ekklesia Prison Ministry was first known as the Kairos Prison Ministry that traces its origins
to 1976, when a small group of volunteers conducted a three-day “Short Course in
Christianity” called Cursillo in Prison inside Union Correctional Institution at Raiford,
Florida
This initial program was inspired by the Cursillo movement and aimed to provide spiritual
guidance and Christian fellowship to incarcerated individuals. By 1978, similar programs were
being held in six states, prompting the national Cursillo office to request a standardized program
tailored to inmate needs.
In 1979, the ministry adopted the name Kairos, a Greek term meaning “God’s Special Time”
This marked the official beginning of Kairos Prison Ministry as an independent,
interdenominational Christian organization. The first official Kairos weekend focused on
fostering spiritual growth, accountability, and community among inmates.
Over the next several years the Kairos Prison Ministry would be introduced to other state
prisons across the country.
In 1982 Bill Potter and Bill Fay would bring Kairos into Colorado and introduce Kairos to the
Fremont Correctional Facility in Canon City. As the success of the Kairos Prison Ministry
became known to other prison facilities across Colorado other state prisons in Colorado would
eventually adopt this ministry into their facility!
This ministry would eventually be introduced to the Limon Correctional Facility in 2002 by Dick
Evans. This prison ministry continued at the Limon Correctional Facility until April of 2012 when
the Chairman of the Colorado Chapter of the Kairos Prison Ministry sent a letter to Matt Winden
at the DOC HQ to let him know that we could not use the name of Kairos anymore. His reason
was because Limon, being a level 4 prison, we could not follow the outline set up in the Kairos
Manual that we needed to follow. Matt Winden then contacts the warden at the LCF prison and
told him that Kairos needed to be shut down there at LCF. The Warden then turned around and
contacted Captain Rusher. Captain Rusher then called Dick Evans, our volunteer coordinator at
the time, to advise him that our ministry would not be allowed into the Limon Correctional
Facility under the Kairos Prison Ministry title. Captain Rusher realized the positive impact the
ministry was having on the inmates there at LCF and told Dick that he did not want this ministry
to be discontinued and suggested to Dick change the name of this prison ministry or do
something so that this ministry could continue there at LCF. Dick then called a meeting with the
team of volunteers, and the inmates serving on the inside team at LCF to brainstorm of coming
up with a new name for this prison ministry. One of the inmates that we refer to as our brothers
in green suggested Ekklesia as a new name for this ministry.
The Biblical Usage, and of the Greek translation ekklesia translates the Hebrew word qahal,
meaning “assembly” or “congregation” of God’s people.
The captain sent Dick the form that needed to change the ministry name, and after many hours
of developing a ministry manual the Ekklesia Prison Ministry was formed in 2012.