Stephen Ministry
The Stephen Series, also called "Stephen Ministry," provides congregations with the training, resources, and ongoing support to organize and equip a team of lay caregivers--called Stephen Ministers--in the congregation.
Stephen Ministers provide high-quality, confidential, Christ-centered care and support to people experiencing grief, divorce, cancer, job loss, loneliness, disability, relocation, and other life difficulties.
Since 1975, the Stephen Ministries organization, based in St. Louis, Missouri, has helped more than 11,000 congregations implement Stephen Ministry. These congregations represent more than 150 denominations and come from all 50 states, 10 Canadian provinces, and 23 other countries.
Who Benefits from Stephen Ministry?
People Who Need Care . . .
- · Receive quality, Christ-centered, confidential care for their hurts and needs
- · Find hope, healing, and a new sense of self-worth through the support of a Stephen Minister
- · Know they are remembered and supported by their congregation in times of personal difficulty
- · Receive ongoing care for continuing needs long after the onset of crisis, when many others have forgotten about them
- · Grow in a deeper relationship with their Lord as they experience God's unconditional love for them through their Stephen Minister
Your Pastors . . .
- · No longer shoulder the entire burden of caring in the congregation, as if the pastor were the only one able, willing, or called to do this ministry
- · Receive support and care from the laypeople who are part of the congregation's Stephen Ministry team
- · Reach more members of the congregation with quality Christian care
- · Experience renewed joy and satisfaction as they equip others and so extend the reach of their own ministries
- · Have more time to focus on the ministries that only the pastor can do
Your Laypeople . . .
- · Discover, cultivate, and use the spiritual gifts they have been blessed with
- · See themselves as active partners in the mission and ministry of the church
- · Find all aspects of their lives enriched by the distinctively Christian caregiving skills they learn and practice
- · Experience great joy as they see God working through them to bring hope and healing to a hurting person
- · Grow spiritually as they experience the Lord's loving presence in community with other Christian caregivers
The Entire Congregation . . .
- · Discovers that many members want to be involved in meaningful ministry and will respond to the call to become a Stephen Minister or Stephen Leader
- · Becomes a more loving community that is sensitive and responsive to people's needs for care
- · Is able to provide more quality Christian care so that fewer people slip through the cracks
- · Is able to reach out to nonmembers who are hurting so they can experience the love of Jesus
- · Sees itself not as only being served by the pastor but as a caring body of believers actively involved in serving one another in love
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