A post on my Facebook page this afternoon fleshed out a persistent rumor into an unsettling reality: Chaplain Ray Anderson, David Wade Correctional Center’s chaplain for more than twenty years, has put in his retirement papers. According to Ray, as of May 1st he’ll be a full-time motorcyclist. Chaplain Ray has been the best friend Kairos could have had during those twentyplus years. His first was around #5, and we just finished #40.
In his recently published book, Called to Heal the Brokenhearted: Stories from Kairos, author William H. Barnwell quotes Chaplain Anderson:
Since 1995 we have had about a dozen regular volunteers who provide once-per-month ministry meetings with the general population and also with the protective unit. There is never a shortage of applicants for the March and September four-day program. The weekly Kairos meeting groups have very good participation.
The Kairos program has introduced a moral compass into the lives of many offenders over the years. Currently here at DWCC there are over one thousand offenders on record as attending a Kairos program since 1995. Many have been discharged, moved to other facilities and many remain at DWCC and continue to assist in the ongoing Kairos program. As a chaplain, I cannot speak highly enough of the overall success of the Kairos Ministry. It is a great tool to initiate a challenge in an offender’s life for that person to consider a change in his (her) life.
Kairos #41, scheduled for this coming September, will certainly be different from those most of us remember. No doubt, the Holy Spirit will be there and working in a mighty way. No doubt, those who participate from the free world will have a front row seat for a miracle. No doubt, the sometimes firm, sometimes gentle, often humorous guiding hands and heart of M. Ray Anderson will be acutely missed.
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The author of Called to Heal the Brokenhearted: Stories from Kairos, William H. Barnwell, has been involved in Kairos since 1991. His book focuses on Angola #53, held in November 2011. It is available from Amazon.com and Google Books, where you can read an extensive online preview.