An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church

Kairos

1) Kairos refers to a time of crisis and decision. The concept is drawn from Greek philosophy. The Christian kairos reflects the availability of salvation in Christ, which calls for a life-changing response of faith by the believer. This turning point or moment of decision takes place in chronological (clock) time, which is also known as chronos. But it also transcends the moment in time. God's dominion over time is implicit in the availability of salvation. Paul Tillich distinguished chronos, or mere measured quantitative time, from kairos, qualitative time as in “time of fulfillment.” Kairos is time that is understood qualitatively in terms of moments of transcendence or redemption. See Chronos. 2) Kairos is the name for a movement of evangelism and conversion for prisoners. It is modeled on Cursillo, but adapted to the needs and requirements of the situation in prison. Kairos prefers to work with long-term prison residents, and seeks to christianize the prison environment. It provides an intense weekend of prayer, instruction, penitence, and celebration. Kairos seeks to bring Christ's love into the prison environment and to encourage conversion to Christ. See Cursillo.

Glossary definitions provided courtesy of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY,(All Rights reserved) from “An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians,” Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors.