As a group of men and women, young and old, gathered outside the Coles County Jail at noon Saturday, the thermometer topped over 95 degrees and the humid, still air drew sweat to their brows.

In the span of three hours, more than 40 individuals came to the jail as visitors, waiting in line outside for their chance to see and speak with loved ones held inside.

Before the doors of the jail were unlocked to admit the visitors, Charleston residents Chris Thoren and Bob “Bear” Taylor rolled their wheeled cooler up to the steps. Familiar calls of “Hey, Bear!” and “How’s it going, Chris?” come from the crowd.

Thoren and Taylor, members of By the Well ministry, opened their cooler and began offering the visitors free ice-cold bottles of water, bags of candy and mints and instantly started striking up conversations.

By the Well seeks to provide comfort and company to people who come to visit inmates and whose lives might have been upturned by the incarceration of a loved one, Thoren said.

Thoren is a member of Salisbury Church of Charleston and began volunteering with the group around three years ago.

He explained that the name By the Well “refers to the scripture (John 4:1-42) where Jesus met the woman by the well and he asked her for a drink of water, and he began to explain to her that he is the eternal, living water.”

Many of the individuals and family groups are regular visitors to the jail, Thoren said, and the opportunity to see familiar faces and encounter kind acts helps relieve the anxiety of their situation.

“People who come up here to visit maybe aren’t used to somebody doing something for them for nothing,” he said.

By the Well began 5 years ago and is funded by Salisbury Church.

The group normally consists of two to five people who come to the jail every visiting day, Tuesday 6:30 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays 12:30 to 3 p.m., Thoren said.

However, the group does not leave until the last visitor has left.

Along with offering visitors water and candy in warm seasons and hot chocolate and coffee in the winter, the group also offers to pray with visitors on the spot.

When visitors would ask group members to pray for individuals, Taylor said, group members used to assure them they would do so in church or when they had the chance to personally connect with Jesus.

However, Thoren and Taylor soon began to offer to pray with visitors then and there if the visitor desired.

“As we hand out water,” Thoren said, “we also hope to be able to share with people the eternal hope of salvation through Jesus.”

Bobby “Bubba” Brown, who came to visit his sister, first met Taylor when he came to pick up a friend from the jail in January of this year.

Brown said he was going through a very hard time early this year after losing his job at R.R. Donnelly in Mattoon and had turned to alcohol to relieve his pain. Taylor was there to speak with him and pray for him.

“I realized I was going down the wrong road and needed to change some things,” Brown said, and By the Well helped him to regain control of his life.

Taylor is a member of Salisbury Church and began volunteering with By the Well in August 2010 after he saw Thoren rolling his cooler down the street and asked him what he was doing.

Taylor has been coming to the jail nearly every Tuesday and Saturday since.

Taylor said that he has a unique perspective into the experience of serving time in a county jail.

In April 2007, at the age of 46, Taylor was arrested on a federal charge of interstate wire fraud and was incarcerated for 38 months.

Taylor served 21 months in Dewitt County Jail in Clinton, 11 months in Moultrie County Detention Center in Sullivan, and 6 months in a federal prison in Chicago.

“I’ve been where these inmates are, and, quite frankly, county jail is the toughest time of incarceration,” he said, describing how county jails often do not let inmates outside to exercise and get fresh air.

Therefore, Taylor said, he can empathize with the harsh reality of inmates’ situations and the toll it takes on their families.

Both the visitors and the community at large have been very supportive of their work, Thoren said.

“I’d say it’s been 100 percent positive reception,” he said.

The only challenge that Thoren said the group has encountered is gathering volunteers.

“We would hope, due to the nature of the ministry, that the person helping at least had a Christian belief if not an actual personal relationship with Jesus,” he said, “but we would never turn anyone down who wants to help with us.”

Charleston resident John Schubert is a member of Immanuel Luther Church of Charleston and volunteers with the group every other Saturday with his wife, Kendra.

They first began volunteering after a friend of John told him about the group at Bible study.

“It’s nice for them, even if they don’t want water, candy, company, a chat or a prayer,” he said. “I wonder if it doesn’t make a difference to them.”

Tim Deters can

be reached at 581-2812

or [email protected].