STEPHEN MINISTRY

Stephen Ministry is a support network established to provide a friend to help you through any type of personal conflict or your "tough time."

To inquire about or connect with a Stephen Minister please click here

or call the church office and leave your contact information.

A Stephen Minister is a confidential friend (assigned man to man, woman to woman), someone to talk to, a very good listener.

A Stephen Minister is not: a professional therapist, an ordained minister, a preachy counselor, judgmental or critical, a "fixer."

  • Stephen Ministry is a program that equips lay persons to provide distinctively Christian one-to-one care to those who are experiencing all kinds of life needs and circumstances, both in the congregation of the church and community.
  • Stephen Leaders are lay persons who have completed a Stephen Series Leader's Training Course and are commissioned to lead the Stephen Ministry of the congregation.
  • Stephen Leaders can help you or someone you know receive care from a Stephen Minister tell you how to become a Stephen Minister tell you about Stephen Ministry Training and the next training class answer other questions about the Stephen Ministry program.
  • Stephen Ministers are committed Christian people who express God's care through their lives to others, and 
  • receive 50 hours of initial training in important caring ministry skills and concepts
  • are commissioned as Stephen ministers after completing their initial training
  • visit another person regularly and dependably and offer Christian support and care
  • are committed to preserving the confidential nature of the caring relationship
  • serve for at least two years
  • receive continuing education and skill building throughout the years of service.
 

Need a Stephen Minister?


"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion." Colossians 3:12

Stephen Ministry Meets the Needs of People:

There are times when each of us needs the care of another person, a Christian friend, a Stephen Minister!

These needs include but are not limited to

  • the hospitalized
  • the terminally ill and their families
  • people who move into or out of the community
  • those grieving a death or serious loss
  • the homebound and institutionalized
  • prisoners, ex-offenders and their families
  • those with a job crisis
  • the aging and elderly
  • those with disabilities and their families
  • those needing the support of a Christian friend
  • those facing life transitions
  • the separated or divorced
  • households experiencing birth or adoption
  • those in spiritual crisis

Stephen Ministry Multiplies Christian Care giving and Outreach

Stephen Ministers work together with their Pastor(s) to reach more people with Christian care than pastors can reach by themselves.


People who receive care from a Stephen Minister

  • receive quality Christian care
  • deepen their relationship with their Lord
  • grow in their desire to participate in Christian community
  • come to value ministry from another lay person while continuing contact with the pastor

    Stephen Ministry enhances outreach by ...
  • creating a "caring ministry explosion" where many instead of few are offering God's love and care in intentional, systematic ways
  • enable the entire congregation to grow as a warm, loving, nurturing community where people are cherished and cared for in Jesus Christ
  • identifying the congregation to the community as a place where people's needs are taken seriously


Stephen Ministry is confidential ministry:
those receiving care can be sure that their identity and what goes on in the caring relationship will remain private.

  "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2

 

How You Can Support Stephen Ministry

Pray for Stephen Leaders and Stephen Ministers as they provide Christian care to others

Pray for all who are receiving confidential care through the Stephen Ministry

Tell Stephen Leaders about those who might benefit from the care of a Stephen Minister - be sure to get that person's permission first!

Tell others in the community about the availability of Stephen Ministry and the care that it can provide

Receive Stephen Ministry when you are in need of supportive Christian care

Consider serving as a Stephen Minister

Support Stephen Ministry with your financial gifts

 Encourage one another and build one another up." I Thessalonians 5:11