AUGUSTA -- Church and jail are two worlds that traditionally intersect under more grave circumstances.

But if Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty gets his way, the jail plans to help inmates by providing religious counseling and services such as Holy Communion and Mass while they are incarcerated. Liberty and his administration Tuesday sat down with representatives from churches in the Greater Augusta area and from Waterville -- all from various Christian denominations -- to outline which religious services inmates most desired and what potential obstacles could stand in the way.

Liberty said there has been "a deficiency" in inmates' access to religion-based programs, and several representatives from central Maine's religious community have seemed interested in becoming involved with counseling inmates.

"We do have both non- and faith-based programming for inmates and they are welcome to pick either," Liberty said. "We just want to make sure there are options out there for everyone."

The Kennebec County jail currently offers such secular counseling as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, as well as variety of family and individual counseling from the Crisis & Counseling Center and Family Violence Project.

Some inmates are required to attend the programs, depending on their particular sentence, but many merely have the option.

Clergymen and jail staff said one obstacle that has hindered more unified religious programs from entering the jail is the physical space within the gray-bricked compound. But spatial changes in the facility may open up classrooms to host religious services and programs such as Bible studies.

Another concern clergymen identified is how to provide counseling to individual inmates, specifically if the clergyman or lay person would have the proper qualifications to dispense advice to someone who is incarcerated and requests such services.

Sgt. Don Williams of the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office, who is a pastor in Augusta and serves as chaplain to multiple law-enforcement agencies, said one-on-one counseling between an inmate and member of a religious community "has become more necessary" in recent years.

"That's where you do the most good," Williams said of individual spiritual guidance. "(These programs) give people something to live for and hope for."

Pastor Sam Richards, of East Winthrop Baptist Church, did not disagree with Williams but emphasized that religious beliefs must not be forced on an inmate, even if the inmate seeks solace from a clergyman.

"We need to articulate the difference between counseling as a clergyman and counseling as a professional," Richards said.

Those who provide counseling or religious services to inmates must also be appropriately trained to interact with them, he added.

Though only representatives from central Maine's Christian community attended Tuesday's roundtable, Liberty and his staff expressed a desire to have additional denominations, such as Judaism or Islam, also provide religious services or counseling if available.

Kevin Kidd, pastor of Elim Christian Fellowship in Augusta and president of the Greater Augusta Pastors Society, said how well inmates do in jail could be rooted in their religious beliefs while they are fulfilling their sentence. Religious bearing also may affect how well they adjust to life once they leave jail, as well.

"A faith-based community can offer love and freedom," Kidd said. "I do not see it as a closed mindset at all."

Liberty said inmates will continue to have the option to select a religion or faith-based or a secular drug counseling program, regardless of what religious programs are implemented at the jail.

"Like I said, we just want to make sure there are options for the people who want them," Liberty said.

Meghan V. Malloy -- 623-3811 Ext. 431

mmalloy@centralmaine.com