Stephen Ministry

People often ask, “What exactly is a Stephen Minister?”

One way to put it is that Stephen Ministers are the After People. Stephen Ministers are there:

• After the phone call you hoped you’d never get. . . .
• After the funeral, when everyone has left and the emotions you’ve held at bay come crashing in on you. ..
• After the relationship falls apart and the bottom falls out of your life. . . .
• After the doctor says, “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing more we can do.” . . .
• After the nursing home director shakes your hand and says, “Welcome to your new home.” . . .
• After the last child honks the horn, waves, and drives away—and the house suddenly seems empty. . . .
• After the gavel comes down, the handcuffs go on, and your loved one is led away. . . .
• After the baby arrives, demanding more of you than you ever dreamed possible. . . .

Stephen Ministry extends the caring reach of the congregation far beyond its pastors— providing one-to-one ministry to people in the congregation and community who are experiencing divorce, grief, unemployment, hospitalization, a terminal illness, relocation, loneliness, a spiritual crisis, and other life difficulties.

The role of a Stephen Minister is to provide emotional support, to pray with and for their care receiver, and to walk with the person for the duration of the crisis. A Stephen Minister typically meets with his or her care receiver once a week for about an hour.

Caring relationships last as long as the need is there—perhaps only a month or two, in the instance of someone recovering from surgery, or possibly a year or more, in the instance of someone grieving the loss of a loved one.

Please contact the church office is you are interested in our Stephen Ministry Care