Stephen Ministry
What is Stephen Ministry?
Stephen Ministry is a way congregations can provide high quality care and outreach to hurting people in the congregation and community.
Stephen Ministers are congregation members who have gone through 50 hours of training to provide one-to-one, Christ-centered care. Each Stephen Minister is matched with a hurting person and meets with them weekly to listen, care, pray and encourage.
Stephen Ministers care for those dealing with grief, divorce, job loss, hospitalization, financial struggles, loneliness, convalescence, terminal illness, and many other life difficulties.
- Stephen Ministries Website - Find links, videos, and books on Stephen Ministries.
- Stephen Ministry Video - Watch this PBS video about Stephen Ministries: Kenneth Haugk started Stephen Ministries in 1975, when as pastor of a church in St. Louis he found he just couldn't do it all. So drawing on his background as a clinical psychologist, he enlisted and trained a handful of lay people to offer confidential care to their fellow parishioners. And then it spread, becoming a nonprofit juggernaut.
- Revelations article on Stephen Ministry - Debby Daff-Siggins' account of Stephen Ministry training and its goals.