Kairos of Texas 2008 Conference

Unity Among Community

Presenters & Guest Speakers

Saturday Morning Meditation, Chaplain Bill Pierce, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Director of Chaplaincy Operations.  Bill Graduated from Arlington Baptist College, Bible Baptist Seminary in Arlington, TX with a Bachelor of Divinity in 1974.  His first church was the Grace Baptist Church in Marion, Ohio as Associate Pastor/Youth Director.  In 1977 he moved back to Texas as the pastor of the Bible Baptist Church in Cisco.  In 1979 Pastor Bill was called to be the position pastor at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, Mt. Pleasant, TX.  In 1983 the Pierce family  relocated to Pampa, TX when Bill took the position of pastor at the Bible Baptist Church where they spent six years.  In 1989 he was called to the New Testament Baptist Church, Safford, AZ and it was there he started volunteer work in the prisons in Arizona.  In 1995 Pastor Bill took on the new title as the Chaplain of the  Formby/Wheeler Prison Units in Plainview, TX.  In 2000 TDCJ wisely promoted him to Regional Chaplain.  In 2002 Chaplain Bill took his present position as Director of Chaplaincy Operation in Huntsville.

Chaplin Bill and his wife Sharon have been married 37 years.  They have two daughters; Elizabeth and Emily and four grandchildren Chris, Brittany, Parker, Riley.

What is Torch?, Dean Cooke.  Dean was raised in Borger,Tx from the age of 5.  When he finally went to college he attended West Texas State in Canyon, Tx and received a degree in Industrial Technology. Dean returned to Borger and got into the water utility industry and partnered with my father in supplying water to about 700 customers outside the city limits of Borger.

In 1995 he started going through a divorce and spent a great deal of time on the road going to see his 18 month old daughter, and it was also during this time that he attended a Walk to Emmaus journey. The Lord was showing Dean that He didn't want him to totally focused on himself during the pain of divorce so Jesus showed Dean the way to Kairos in 1996.

According to Dean he has been blessed to be involved in both the Clements and Neal units over the years and the first Torch in Texas was held at the Youth Center of the High Plains in Amarillo. He holds the position of Financial Secretary for the Clements unit and state representative for the unit also.

In Dean's words, "KI and Torch are mission fields that need to grow. I believe God calls all of us to work in the fields even if it is 'only for a season' ".

KO Nuts & Bolts, Beth Haney, KO State Chairperson. 

KO Nuts & Bolts, Jeanette Maroney.  The Lord introduced the Kairos Prison Ministry to me back in 1997.  It was 3 weeks after my Walk to Emmaus that I served on a Team as an Outside Angel (as it was called back then) for the Smith Unit in Lamesa, Texas.  In 1998, I was elected to serve as Secretary on the original Ad Hoc Committee.  I am overjoyed to share that we are now on Kairos Outside Weekend #18.  The Lord continues to allow me to serve on both Kairos Inside and Kairos Outside Prison Ministries and I love each and every minute of both.  Through both these ministry experiences, I have received freedom from bondage in certain areas of my life, deeper faith, and a more intimate walk with our Lord and Savior.

Know Thyself, Laura Elwood.  Laura Elwood is a teacher, now retired, after teaching Drama and Speech on the High School level and then at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts Glassel School of Art for 13 years.  There she taught children and adults at the school and through school’s outreach program at area hospitals and senior sitizens’ centers in Houston.  The Walk to Emmaus was a spiritual turning point in her life and she worked for years at various Emmaus positions and on the Houston West Emmaus Board.  She served on the Kairos Outside Houston no. 10  team.  She served as a lay chaplain with St. Luke’s Chaplaincy Program and completed two levels of study with Francis McNutt’s Healing Prayer Ministry.  She is trained as a Theophostic Prayer Minister and works in the healing ministry at Serenity Prayer Retreat.  She serves as the chairman of the prayer ministry at West University United Methodist Church. 

Participants in this workshop will be able to consider the effects of birth order as it impacts their own volunteer activity and relationships in service as well as how it may have affected those we serve.  Generational healing related to family systems will also be explored.  Unity in community will be strengthened.

When We Differ…Working Toward Harmony, Kris Donley.  Kris Donley has served as the Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Center in Austin, Texas since 1994.  Since coming to the center, Kris has provided mediation, training and consultation services at the local, state, national and international levels.  She received her BA and Masters degrees in the social sciences from Texas State University and completed post graduate work  in psychology at the University of Texas in Austin.  She is a frequent university and college guest lecturer throughout Texas and has presented at national and international conferences on topics ranging from Community Mediation, Conflict Management in the Workplace and Trends in the Mediation field.  Her mediation expertise is in family and public interest, multi-party facilitations.  Kris shares that she is from a family of Christian ministers and understands the values we share as Christians.   One of the Center’s staff members has a husband that works in Kairos! 

KI Support Team Functions, Glenda Robinson.  I grew up in Shamrock and have lived here most of my life.  I have been married to Robert for forty -three years; have three married kids and seven grandkids.  As a member of the First United Methodist Church I have been a children’s Sunday School teacher for many years, Youth Coordinator, financial secretary, and chairman of the Endowment Committee.  We started working with Kairos at the Jordan Unit in l997 after attending the Walk To Emmaus because we felt this was where God wanted us to work.  I am the Food Control Coordinator at the Jordan Unit and at the State Kairos.  We work with mentoring through Prison Fellowship.  Each Christmas I have been the coordinator for the Blessing Bags that we hand to each inmate. 

Outreach & Fund Raising, Becky & Mike Fisher.  Mike was born and reared on the family cotton farm situated on the Hi-Plains of West Texas.  From his youth he felt the call to achieve success and to serve others.  He was blessed to attend two Boy Scout World Jamborees and to join the National Guard, serving for eight years and reaching the rank of Captain. During this time, he and his brother also managed the family farm and owned and operated two Ford dealerships.  Then he moved to Forth Worth and joined the Million Dollar Club selling insurance.  Later, he returned to his roots and took over complete control and operation of the 1200 acre family farm, as well as owing and operating a small independent oil company. Yet, he felt unfulfilled that he was not serving as the Lord would have him.  So in the 80's,  he and his family left the farm to attend Bible College in Indiana. There, Mike came to the realization that the Word of God should be one’s only source for living life to the fullest and that sharing the Love of Jesus and God’s matchless Word was his calling.

Returning to the farm, Mike continued its operation, but his love and joy was in sharing the Word with others.  Mike served for several years as a Volunteer-Chaplain for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and as Bible teacher for local churches.  During this time, Mike was blessed to participate in a Walk to Emmaus and became involved the local Emmaus community and served the Lord with the Montford Kairos Community for man years.  Now retired, Mike for the last several years has served as Chair for the Fund-raising/Sponsorship Committee for Kairos of Texas, and it has been his joy to help others find and employ methods for raising sponsorship for Kairos Communities across the state.

Becky came to the Lord early in life and knew from childhood that her calling was to teach.  For twenty-seven years, she served in the classroom as teacher and mentor teacher for several school districts across the state.  During her years as a classroom teacher, she taught all grades: pre-k through eighth. Presently, Becky is employed by the Windham School District, teaching a GED class at TDCJ’s Wheeler Unit. Becky has been involved with Kairos for man and years, serving with the Montford Kairos Community and at the state level on the  Outreach Committee.

 Mike and Becky have been married for thirty-four years. They have five children and seven grand-children and live on the family farm in West Texas

The people of Kairos are called by God to share the love of Christ with those impacted by incarceration.  It is a non-profit, volunteer driven ministry.  Therefore, two important areas of concern are Fund-raising/Sponsorship and Outreach.  This workshop will focus on methods and ways to introduce Kairos to our Christian brothers and sisters to give them the opportunity to serve the Lord through Kairos in one or both of these ways.

Treasurer & Financial Secretary Responsibilities, Bob Cole, Kairos of Texas Financial Secretary.  Currently, Robert "Bob" Cole, is CEO and CFO of  StarInvest Group, Inc. which is a public over the counter company.  He is also the President and founder of Permian Business Group (PBG), which was established in 1981 as a business consulting company specializing in the sale and installation of midrange computer solutions.  Over the past fifteen years, he has founded and expanded several companies in various business sectors.  His experience with finance, information systems, manufacturing, and marketing has  helped  small companies to maximize their potential.  Bob holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters of Science Degree in Computing Science from Texas A & M University, and a MBA from Houston Baptist University.  Currently, he serves on the Kairos of Texas Executive Committee as the State Financial Secretary and has been involved with Kairos since 1995.  He has been married for 39 years, has two children and 3 grandchildren. His family resides in Midland, Texas.

Kairos Networking, Shirlie Jensen (formerly better known as Warden Lobmiller).  KPMI Ex Officio Board Member, Retired Warden.  Masters Level University Graduate  (Law School Drop Out), Retired Prison Warden – Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Alabama (1996), Married to Charles D. Jensen – Retired Air Force Musician.  Children and grandchildren.  Hobbies – Yard work, reading, traveling, church activities (Sunday School Teacher), volunteer for several organizations, advisory and executive board member of several local, national and international groups.  Does missions and Habitat carpentry.  Does television programs and public/civic, motivational and Christian speaking.  Enjoys meeting and being with new and interesting people from a variety of backgrounds.  She fulfills this in Friendship Force International traveling to other countries throughout the world as well as hosting people from other countries in her home.  She has coordinated and assisted with groups of Open World Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors who came to Montgomery to study local and state governance as well as social issues.  During 2005, 2006, and 2007 she did Disaster Relief work in Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina.

Saturday Dinner Keynote Speaker, Chaplain Joe Burke, Connally Unit, Kenedy, TX.  

Saturday Nigh Entertainment, Sinful Sister and Fallen Floozies.  The group is made up of Christian women from Northwood Presbyterian Church in San Antonio.  They are officially called the Northwood Players.  The program they will be bringing to the conference is known as Sinful Sisters and Fallen Floozies.  They take women from the Bible and do a interpretation of each character.  They use comedy to tell each woman's story.  Some of those covered are Eve, Bathsheba, Jezebel, and others.  They also dress in character for each in modern day fashion.

Advisory Council Training, John Thompson, KPMI Executive Director.  In July of 2001, John Thompson began his new career as the executive director of Kairos Prison Ministry International, Inc. Kairos presents a lay-led ecumenical Cursillo-based Christian ministry in approximately 400 ministry sites in 31 states and seven countries. More than 25,000 Kairos volunteers donate their own time and financial resources in approximately 700 weekend events plus monthly reunions to share Christ’s love and forgiveness to adult and juvenile inmates (Kairos Torch). Kairos also ministers to the female relatives of male inmates (Kairos Outside). Prior to this, John practiced as an attorney in the field of medical malpractice litigation in Miami, Florida. John has served in leadership positions in various local organizations and state boards helping the faith-based community minister to inmates and the homeless.  John holds the following degrees; University of Miami (FL) B.B.A, University of Miami (FL) J.D.   John is or has been involved in the following areas of service and interest; The Florida Bar: Civil Procedure Rules Committee, Dade County Bar: Professionalism, Civil Litigation, and Medical Liaison Committees, City of Miami: Sister City Program: Ramat-Hasharon, Israel, State of Florida: Department of Corrections: Foundation for Correctional Excellence, Legal Services of Greater Miami: Executive Committee, Camillus House: Advisory Board, Christmas in July Food and Clothing Chairperson, Florida Academy of Trial Lawyers: Member, Martindale- Hubbell “AV” Rating: indicates highest standard of ethics and legal ability, Lectures for National Business Seminar: Various Legal Subjects, Presentations for Baptist Hospital and the Miami Heart Institute: medical-legal issues, Greater Miami Youth for Christ: Board Member, Volunteer and speaker in various prisons throughout the United States, University of Miami School of Law: Professionalism Workshop & Moot Court Judge, State of Florida HRS District 11 Human Rights Advocacy: Mental Health, The Walk To Emmaus: International Advisory Committee and McElmurry Lectures on prison ministries at Andrews University.