DECATUR - It was not quite the hand-clapping, praise and worship service that goes on in some churches, but the men behind bars in Macon County Jail got the message.

Marvin Perry played the keyboards, and several of the inmates followed his lead in singing "Just a Closer Walk with Thee."

Each Thursday, the Revs. Tim Roberts, Joseph Ryan and Willy Wilder, along with Perry and Steve Carberry, bring the word of God into Macon County Jail.

Ryan began his prison ministry work in 1951 with Baptist minister Fred Eichel.

Since then, Ryan said, most of the men from the original group have passed away.

He and Roberts began a similar program for a time in Effingham before coming back to Macon County.

"The Lord put us together, and we started talking about going to the jail and ministering to the men. Now, I can't get rid of him," said the 71-year-old Ryan of his work with Roberts.

The men may joke with each other, but their love for God comes first.

"We don't go in and judge anybody, whether they've been accused of murder or rape," said Roberts, 53, who is an evangelist.

"These men have souls, just like you and I have. They are all God's children, but just went in the wrong direction."

Roberts and the other men gather in the lobby of the Law Enforcement Center about 6:30 p.m. and head up to the second floor, going through a series of buzzers and doors before getting into the jail.

The keyboard is plugged in, and inmates are handed hymn books. They start the service by singing a few songs.

"How many of you know that Jesus loves you?" Roberts yelled out. Several of the inmates raised their hands.

Roberts pulled out his Bible and flipped the pages to Luke 16.

"Tonight brothers, unless you have Jesus, you have nothing," he preached.

He pulled out a handkerchief from his back pocket to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Each one of you look at me, you are not junk,"he said. "The Lord did not make junk; you are special. It hurts God to see where you are, but you can change and turn your life around. God gives you a second chance, a third chance, and he'll keep working with you."

Chief Deputy Tom Schneider of the Macon County Sheriff's Office said he met Roberts and Ryan two years ago when he was jail superintendent.

"Any time you have individuals confined in this type of environment, they need guidance," he said. "A lot of these inmates don't have family members that they can talk to, and the ministry helps them kind of escape from their incarceration. And I think it is important to give them this avenue of reform."

As Roberts preached in one room of the jail, Wilder, 55, a member of House of Miracles Church, spoke in another room. He told inmates about how Jesus went to the cross to die for their sins.

Ryan, who is a member of Camp Wilson Foursquare Church, began reading from John 10.

He then asked the inmates a question: "How many of you, if you die tonight, know that you'll go to heaven?"

A few of the inmates raised their hands.

Later, the ministers had the group bow their heads and led them in prayer.

Toward the end of their brief worship service, Roberts hugged some of the trusties who were allowed to be in the same room with him; he reached through to shake hands with the other inmates, separated by bars.

The inmates seemed rejuvenated and lifted by the message that evening.

"They are doing a lot spiritually, and I can't say enough about these guys," Schneider said of the men bringing their spiritual message to the jail.

"The word gives light, and that is the whole purpose of doing this," said Perry, 78, who is a member of Faith Baptist Church in South Shores. He also began ministering at jails in the mid-1950s.

Ryan said he always feels good about what he is doing. He has been doing it for the past 35 years and seen lives changed.

"A few years ago, I went into this gas station in Arthur. This man who remembered me came up to me. He had been in the Taylorville prison. I gave him a big hug, and he told me how good things were going for him. That gave me a lot of joy."

Sheila Smith can be reached at sheilas@herald-review.com or 421-7963.