Rev. Ray Newman has served as Chaplain at Carroll County Detention Center since the fall of 2002. He is employed by Good News Jail & Prison Ministry, a faith ministry that exists to provide Christian chaplains to jails and prisons, both nationally and internationally. Chaplain Newman provides a pastoral presence for the facility. He ministers to inmates and correctional staff members alike. In addition, he coordinates and supervises the religious programs that are conducted in the Detention Center.

Presently, there are 12 weekly religious activities and services carried out by volunteers and 2 conducted by the chaplain himself. In 2006, we had 460 religious activities in CCDC with 3405 inmates in attendance and 860 volunteers involved. On Sunday, volunteers from the community conduct 5 separate worship services for men & women from both the Roman Catholic and Protestant faiths. When needed, an Islamic Jumah Service is offered on Fridays.

In the fall of 2006, Chaplain Newman combined the Catholic and Protestant Men's Bible classes to run Alpha, a 15 week program dealing with basic Christian theology. During the first hour of the class time, a volunteer led in worship and introduced the subject for the evening. The class then watched a video dealing with that subject. The second part of the class was spent in small group discussion with a volunteer leading each small group.

This two-hour format was enjoyed by all so much that we are continuing it into 2007. We are now focusing on discipleship using Thirty Discipleship Lessons, a book put out by the Billy Graham Association. The aim of these lessons is to instill in the students principles to live by that will change their lives and develop them into mature, productive individuals. The Detention Center is thankful for the chaplain and religious volunteers. They play an important role in achieving the goal of breaking the cycle of crime in individual lives.