What Exactly Is Stephen Ministry?
Stephen Ministry is a ministry in our congregation in which trained and supervised lay persons, called Stephen Ministers, provide one-to-one Christian care to individuals facing life challenges or difficulties.
Who is Involved?
Stephen Leaders are the ones who oversee and direct our Stephen Ministry. They recruit, select, train, organize, and supervise our Stephen Ministers, identify people in need of care, and match them with a Stephen Minister, with the help of our Pastors. Union Church has three Stephen Leaders: Jeff From, Betty Hibler, and Mary Lou Wiese.
Stephen Ministers are the caregivers. They engage in 50 hours of training in Christian caregiving including general topics such as listening, feelings, boundaries, assertiveness, and using Christian resources in caregiving. In addition, their training covers specialized topics such as ministering to the bereaved, hospitalized, divorced, aging, or other kinds of life transitions and/or challenges. We are currently recruiting Stephen Ministers. Stephen Ministers are the care givers; care receivers are the recipients of that care. Stephen Ministers usually meet with their care receiver once a week for about an hour for as long as the care receiver will benefit by the relationship.
What is the Pastors’ Role?
Pastors will always be the primary caregivers, but there is no way pastors can meet all the needs for care. God has called all of us, not just pastors, to minister to one another. Stephen Ministry multiplies ministry by turning pastors into equippers so they can enable lay people to provide caring ministry as well.
Are Stephen Ministers Counselors?
Stephen Ministers are not counselors; they are trained caregivers. Their role is to listen and care – not to give advice or counsel. Stephen Ministers are also trained to recognize when a care receiver’s need exceeds what they can provide. When that happens they work with their receivers to help them get the level of care they really need.
Where Did It All Start?
Stephen Ministry has been around since 1975 when Kenneth Haugk, a pastor and clinical psychologist, began it to multiply the caregiving in his congregation in St. Louis, MO. Union Church is just beginning Stephen Ministry and we are one of more than 10,000 Stephen
Ministry congregations from more than 150 denominations. Stephen Ministries St. Louis, the organization behind this international ministry, is headquartered in Missouri.
How Can YOU Become a Stephen Minister?
The process begins with indicating your interest to any of the Stephen Leaders or Pastors Kent or Rachel to better understand the commitment. Applications for our first group of Stephen Ministers are due the end of June.
Copyright 2000 by Stephen Ministries, St. Louis
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