Stephen Ministry
Text Box: What is Stephen Ministry? The Stephen Series is a complete system for training and organizing lay people to provide one-to-one Christian care to hurting people in and around your congregation. The Stephen Series provides congregations with the structure, training, and resources to set up and administer a complete system for lay caring ministry (called Stephen Ministry) in the congregation. In Stephen Ministry congregations, lay caregivers (called Stephen Ministers) provide one-to-one Christian care to the bereaved, hospitalized, terminally ill, separated, divorced, unemployed, relocated, and others facing a crisis or life challenge. Stephen Ministry helps pastors and congregations provide quality caring ministry for as long as people need it. Click here for the national Stephen Ministry web site. How You Can Become a Stephen Minister You need to be a caring person who is willing to learn, grow, and serve. You must be willing and able to maintain confidentiality. You need to make a commitment to training, ministry, and supervision. If you meet those qualifications, your Stephen Leaders will equip you with the rest of what you need: training, support, encouragement, care, and prayers. Training classes are usually held in the spring. Applications are available in the office. For more information please contact Rev. Bill Case in the church office at (915) 584-2133 or associate524@sbcglobal.net 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 a 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 Our Pastors . . . No longer shoulder the entire burden of caring in the congregation Receive support and care from the lay people 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 Our Lay People . . . 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 Our 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 more 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 the unchurched who are hurting and introduce them to the healing love of Jesus in their time of need Sees itself as not 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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