STEPHEN MINISTRY

Who are Stephen Ministers?

Stephen Ministers are members in the church who are trained by Stephen Leaders to provide one-to-one Christ-centered care to hurting people. These are people with a compassionate heart who have been equipped with the skills to listen, encourage, and offer support when someone is in need.

A Stephen Minister typically has one care receiver at a time and meets with that person once a week.

Stephen Ministers provide high-quality one-to-one Christian care to individuals facing a variety of crises or life challenges – people who are experiencing grief, divorce, cancer, financial difficulties, hospitalization, chronic illness, job loss, disabilities, loneliness, a spiritual crisis, or other life struggles.

Stephen Ministers often provide care for people in the broader community, including relatives, friends and co-workers of church members and attenders, and others seeking help.

Stephen Ministry at our Church

Our Stephen ministers at our church serve the needs of members of our church as well as members of our larger community outside of our church. They support members of our community who are grieving the loss of a loved one or at a point of change in their lives. By providing a Stephen Minister, we come alongside them to listen and offer support. We have no predetermined goal in mind; we let the care receiver see the agenda.

Stephen Ministers’ work is confidential. While we meet monthly for support and to report, we do so without using the names of our care receivers. We never introduce ourselves as someone’s Stephen Minister. We work quietly behind the scenes. We offer Stephen Minister training when we have enough interest to form a class of 3 or more trainees. The training involves 25 modules or classes, each lasting 2 to 2.5 hours and includes topics such as listening skills, Christian caregiving, grief, depression, suicide, hospital visitation, long-term care and more.

For more information on the Stephen Ministry, please contact our church office at 510-782-6010.