Teaming

Choosing a Director
The Kolbe Core group for each associated region prayerfully selects the retreat director for the upcoming retreat. Upon acceptance of the role, the retreat director selects one or more Co-directors and begins the process of team selection and formation. The Director and Co-Director must be a practicing Catholic and have served on at least one Kolbe Prison retreat team. If this is a mission retreat into a new Diocese, the “prior Kolbe team” requirement for the Co-Director may be modified to allow “prior parish ACTS team” members. The Kolbe Prison Board of Directors will select the Director for any new Diocese. When a Diocese has established a Kolbe Prison Core, then that Core should select the Directors for the prisons in their Diocese.

Choosing a Team
Outside team: Must be a practicing Catholic. A non-Catholic Christian, who has not turned their back on the Catholic Church, may be on team if that individual faithfully practices their faith. Based on prior experience, it is suggested that there be a minimum of 20 volunteers from the outside world. It strongly recommended that Team members receive prison / jail volunteer training prior to serving on team. The local core team should be able to provide specific information for the volunteer training for the facility that you are serving. The Chaplain can often grant temporary access to the unit as a Special Volunteer. The FBOP requires a volunteer to contact the unit Warden and complete an FBI NCIC background check. Every effort will be made to recruit new brothers and sisters (women’s prisons) into this ministry from the pool of parishes near the prisons.

Inside Team: As the second and subsequent retreats are held at any given facility, offenders who attended a prior Kolbe retreat should be asked to serve as “inside team” members. Inside Team members must be faithful Catholics or attending an RCIA program with the intentions of
becoming a Catholic. Although it is difficult in the prison setting, every effort should be made to rotate inside team members on subsequent retreats. Based on their abilities, they may hold any inside team position, including Co-Director, but not as a Director. They are also part of the table facilitators. They may wear costumes with the approval of the Chaplain. The inside team will be screened by outside team member volunteers to present the talks on future retreats. Talks given by Offenders are the testimonies of their faith journey. Their talk should show how God has positively influenced their personal development. If Catholic faith programs do not exist at the prison, it is all the more imperative that they be developed to build a relationship with the Catholic community within the prison. It is important to develop the inside team so there is overlap from one retreat to the next. We must remember that this is their Catholic Community, and we are serving to help the Prison Catholic Community grow.

Meetings
The number and location of team meetings will be at the discretion of the Director. Due to the nature and distances associated with prison ministry, team members don’t always live within the proximity of the prison or with each other. Every effort should be made to have as many meetings as possible with at least some of the team members. This is why it is important that outside team members have experience on prior teams. Those who choose prison ministry are few; most have served on prior ACTS retreats or Prison retreats and have served with each other. The bonding necessary to present a retreat already exists. Extra effort should be made to make new volunteers welcomed.