A Kairos Moment for Justice and Liberation

What is waiting to be born and who will give birth to it? For the Kairos Center, the ancient Greek word “kairos” describes a time of great change, when the old ways of the world are dying and new ones are struggling to be born. In May’s “We Conspire” series, Adam Barnes, Director of Religious Affairs for the Kairos Center, explores grounded contemplative reality as both a critique of the world’s injustices and an invitation to envision a place where people care for each other and abundance is shared so all can thrive.  

This kairos moment calls for bold and imaginative action from those wishing to break free from the intolerable conditions of poverty, systemic racism, militarism, and ecological devastation. [1] “If we’re going to have a movement to end something,” says Barnes, “it has to be led by those most impacted.”   

With two decades of commitment, Barnes immerses himself in the struggle with people who have experienced injustice and are pushing back, experiencing their pain, and recognizing their resistance as holy. While serving in the Peace Corps (2004-2006) in West Africa, Barnes was awakened to the reality of poverty and injustice on a massive scale. He was politicized by a group at Union Theological Seminary in 2004 called the Poverty Initiative that organized with the poor.  

In 2013, the Poverty Initiative expanded to become the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice, a national organization committed to building a movement to end poverty, led by the poor. As a center for movement strategy, coordination, and education among the poor across all lines of division, Kairos co-anchors the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. A major aspect of Kairos’s work today, the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) is an unprecedented vehicle to advance the long-term goal of Kairos—building a movement to end poverty. [1]  

Barnes says Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic legacy of a broader moral and spiritual vision of the PPC was a movement that brings people together across differences. The Kairos Center is attempting to reignite Dr. King’s vision. “Kairos as an organization is committed to the vision of change that unites the poor across lines of division. That means going to the poor, going where people are suffering.”  

Prophetic energy manifests in those grounded in local struggles, and also seeing themselves as part of something bigger. Barnes finds a sense of truth and sincerity among those living a grounded prophetic witness amid the noise and madness of today, who, instead of blaming their neighbor for divisions, are called to unite with others across difference. “In this way,” says Barnes, “the prophet is not isolated in the struggle but very rooted in community.”  

Kairos helps to develop unsung leaders emerging out of poor and oppressed communities, those who have been the first to feel the pain of injustice and the first to strike out against it, connecting them in a wide network of grassroots and religious organizations and political efforts. Kairos brings these leaders together across historic lines of division like race, religion, age, and geography, in order to build up the unity and organization of the poor in this country, creating a network of justice work.[1]  

Poverty, shorthand for interlocking systems of injustice, systems that deny the fullness and abundance of life, is a defining issue. Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Executive Director of Kairos points out that the jubilee codes of Deuteronomy are a prescription for ending poverty and organizing society around a value for life. [2] Barnes says, “With resources to end poverty in our grasp, we don’t have to accept the way things are. Ending poverty is possible.”   

References:   
[1] https://kairoscenter.org/about-us/ Accessed 04/09/2025  

[2] Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Noam Sandweiss-Back, You Only Get What You’re Organized To Take: Lessons from the Movement to End Poverty (Minneapolis, MN: Beacon Press, 2025).    
 

Reflect with Us  
How have spiritual practices rooted you in the pain of the world without becoming overwhelmed—so that you might be led by those most impacted and called into collective transformation? Share your reflection with us. Share your reflection with us.   
 

“We Conspire” is a series from the Center for Action and Contemplation featuring wisdom and stories from the growing Christian contemplative movement. Sign up for the monthly email series and receive a free invitation to practice each month.