Introduction to the Stephen Ministry

The Stephen Series is a complete system for training and organizing lay people to provide one-to-one Christian care for 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.

 

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.

 

  Your Pastors

    No longer shoulder the entire burden of caring in the congregation, as if the pastor were the only one able,
   willing, or called to do this ministry

    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

        Your 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 care giving 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

       Your 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                          
 

If you think you would like to become part of the Stephen Ministry program at Union Presbyterian Church, call Pastor Mark at 412-787-2095 or Gary and Nancy Kuehn at 724-693-7444

              Updated:  April 07, 2007