Stephen Ministry
A Stephen minister allows Christ to work through them to bring hope and healing to another person. Stephen Ministry is about providing pastoral care to hurting people, including those experiencing divorce, grief, hospitalization, discouragement, and other life difficulties.
Stephen Ministers receive fifty hours of training in Christian care giving and are also trained to recognize when a care receiver’s needs go beyond the care a Stephen Minister can provide and where and how to refer the care receiver for additional care. Stephen Ministers also meet monthly for peer supervision and continuing education.
A Stephen Minister normally is assigned to only one care receiver at a time and meets with the care receiver for an average of about one hour per week.
Stephen Ministers initially commit to two years of service, but many recommit to serve additional years.
For more information, visit the Stephen Ministries website at http://www.stephenministries.org/ or contact Ralph Smith at St. Paul’s Murfreesboro @ 556-6414.
Additional information
Stephen Ministry is a structured process of one-to-one caring. The primary steps by which this caring is initiated are:
- A person – either you, a relative, or a friend – is in need of Christian care, comfort, and support.
- The Stephen Ministry Referrals Coordinator learns about this need for care from the vicar, rector, friend, or you.
- The Stephen Ministry Referrals Coordinator talks with the person to explain about Stephen Ministry.
- With the person’s permission the Referrals Coordinator assigns a Stephen Minister to meet on a weekly basis with the person.
- The Stephen Minister continues to provide distinctively Christian care for the person with strict confidentiality.
History
In 1975 the Rev. Kenneth C. Haugk, Ph.D., a pastor and clinical psychologist, saw that people’s needs for care in his St. Louis congregation and community by far exceeded what he alone could provide. He developed materials to train nine of his congregation members to provide quality, one-to-one Christian care to individuals experiencing a life crisis.
Upon completion of their training, he commissioned them as "Stephen Ministers" and linked them with people with a variety of needs for care. "Stephen Ministry" was so successful in his church that other congregations wanted to become involved. Dr. Haugk then founded the Stephen Ministries organization and developed the Stephen Series, which now has been implemented in over 9,000 congregations from more than 100 Christian denominations in all 50 states, nine Canadian provinces, and 22 other countries. An estimated 450,000 people have been trained as Stephen Ministers, who in turn have ministered to more than a million care receivers.
The Name
The name Stephen comes from the first lay person commissioned by the apostles to provide caring ministry to those in need (Acts 6).
Types of need
- a new parent
- a new church member
- an "empty nester"
- retiring
- in personal/spiritual crisis
- experiencing broken relationships
- hospitalized/ill
- bereaved
- in a job crisis
- a single parent lonely
- homebound
- disabled
- in times of transition
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.
Important Note
- Stephen Ministers are not counselors. They are trained Christian caregivers. Their role is to listen and to care – not to counsel or advise.
- Stephen Ministry is a supervised ministry. Stephen Ministers engage in once or twice-monthly supervision to ensure that they are providing the best quality Christian care for their care receivers.
- Stephen Ministry is a confidential ministry. What a care receiver tells a Stephen Minister remains confidential. Even in supervision, the names of care receivers and specific details are never discussed.
- Stephen Ministers do not visit without permission. They are assigned only to care receivers who agree to receive the care of a Stephen Minister
The Stephen Ministry Logo
The logo Stephen Ministry congregations use consists of a cross and circle, together with a broken person and a whole person. The broken person stands behind the cross, symbolizing the brokenness in our lives as a result of our sin. The whole person stands in front of the cross because it is through the cross of Jesus that we again are made whole. The circle symbolizes both the wholeness we receive through Christ and God’s unending love for us.
