What is the difference between Care ministry and Stephen
Ministry?Care Ministry
meets the short term needs of people.They provide rides to appointments, meals upon the arrival of a new baby or a return from time in the hospital, flower delivery during
the week to shut-ins or people who haven’t been able to be at church
due to illness or other difficulties.They send out birthday cards and deliver cookies and cards at
Christmas.Everyone in the
church can be a part of Care Ministry.
Stephen Ministry provides emotional care for the long term.Stephen Ministers are members of the congregation who have gone
through special training on how to develop relationships built of trust,
where a care receiver can feel safe to express their deepest feelings.Stephen Ministers know that God is the cure-giver and they are
simply the caregiver.Knowing
this, they don’t feel that they have to fix the person but simply walk
beside them, listen to their story, and provide emotional support for as
long as needed.
Everyone's
Job, Everyone's Joy The opportunity and responsibility for
doing ministry has been given to all Christians. When was the last
time you heard someone say, "That is the Pastor's job," when referring
to some aspect of ministry? Ministry is not just the job (or,
better yet, the opportunity) of the clergy. The upcoming fall
Stephen Ministry training class is a chance to be trained and equipped
for caring ministry. So, exactly what do Stephen Ministers learn
during training??? A big part of a Stephen Minister's care-giving
is concerned with helping care receivers recognize, accept, and express
their feelings, and then trust God to give them healing and wholeness.
Stephen Minister trainees are taught to create a "Safe House" for care
receivers, founded on grace-based acceptance and structured around
listening, empathy, trust and confidentiality. If this is
something that you would like to learn more about, contact your Stephen
Leaders and register for the next Stephen Ministry Training class that
is forming now! You can also download the application here and
return it to the church office; then a Stephen Leader will contact you
directly. Your Stephen Leaders are: Alison Jones and Skip & Leslie
Armbruster.