>From Care to Leadership to Discipleship

Speaking the Truth in Love: How to Be an Assertive Christian
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Discovering God's Vision for Your Life: You and Your Spiritual Gifts Leader's Planning Set
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Caring Criticism: Building Bridges Instead of Walls
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Journeying through Grief
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Leading Beyond the Walls: Developing Congregations with a Heart for the Unchurched
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From Care to
Leadership to Discipleship:

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church's Journey with Stephen Ministries St. Louis

From left, Daniel R. Burris, youth director; Jennifer D. Lutz, associate pastor; David A. Sloop, senior pastor; Ann K. Kuhar, youth ministry team leader; Carol J. Henderson, director of music ministries; Paul D. Phillips, resource ministry manager

When the six-person leadership team from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, returned home from the October 2006 Breakthrough Leadership Conference (BLC), they realized that quality small groups were key to the emerging vision they had for their congregation. "One crying need that surfaced," Pastor Jennifer Lutz said, "was for small groups where people could grow in their faith together."

The Path to ChristCare

Good Shepherd's ChristCare Equippers: From left, Deanna Klimek, Carla Kraehenbuehl, and Pastor Jennifer Lutz

While at the BLC, the Good Shepherd team had attended an optional meal meeting that introduced them to the ChristCare Series system of small group ministry. After carefully thinking about the information and discussing it together, they recognized that the ChristCare Series provided everything they needed to begin, support, and grow quality small groups in their congregation.

Good Shepherd's leaders decided that ChristCare would help the congregation meet its needs for community, growth, and in-depth discipleship, so the congregation enrolled in the ChristCare Series in early 2007.

"It was a no-brainer," Pastor Lutz said. "Our church's mission statement, in its shortest form, is 'Believe, belong, and serve.' The way ChristCare is focused, it's a living embodiment of our mission and the ways God is calling us to serve.

"While our decision was largely based on how well ChristCare fits with our mission statement, I also was motivated by comments that have haunted me for the last two or three years--from people in our congregation who know members well enough to say 'Hi' on Sunday but haven't any close friends here," Pastor Lutz said. "ChristCare will help them find Christian community.

"We also need ChristCare Groups to help members grow in their Christian faith. Some of our young mothers, for instance, have said that they're not always comfortable teaching their children to pray. They really want to raise their children in the faith, and their ChristCare Groups will help teach the moms to pray more confidently so they can teach their children to pray."

Expanding the Vision for ChristCare

In April Pastor Lutz and two lay leaders who likewise have a passion for small group ministry attended the Equipper's Training Course (ETC). Their vision for ChristCare has grown well beyond their original plans.

"I didn't realize how far-reaching ChristCare could be," Pastor Lutz said. "Before I attended the ETC, I saw it as a tool for building community. But now I see ChristCare having a much greater impact on all aspects of our congregation's ministry--from community to faith formation to outreach."

The Equippers Team members are especially excited about using ChristCare with youth. At the ETC, they attended the special ChristCare with Youth luncheon to get specific ideas on how to develop small groups with young people.

"ChristCare provides the opportunity for youth to serve as apprentices and to co-lead groups for their peers or for younger children," Pastor Lutz said. "So often young people feel they aren't full members of the church, that they don't have a voice and aren't important. Training individual youth to co-lead a ChristCare Group with an adult will certainly involve them in important ministry.

"I'd like to use ChristCare to provide even more support and guidance for all our youth. It may even change our approach to confirmation."

ChristCare: A Wonderful
Future for Good Shepherd

The Equippers Team has developed a clear vision for ChristCare at Good Shepherd. As Pastor Lutz put it, "You start small and you keep working at it, and before you know it, you've created a new passion for faith and ministry. I know that God will use ChristCare to bring about some amazing things far beyond what we can even dream."

Strengthening and Serving the Church--
in Many Ways
by Kenneth C. Haugk

Dr. Kenneth C. Haugk, Founder and Executive Director
Stephen Ministries

We at Stephen Ministries are delighted to be playing a part in strengthening the ministry of Good Shepherd, which is one of a growing number of congregations that are using both Stephen Ministry and ChristCare Group Ministry and have also sent leaders to the Breakthrough Leadership Conference.

We're excited about providing congregations with high-quality, distinctively Christian resources and training that get results.

We serve God by offering resources and training that are distinctively Christian.
We want our training and resources to make a big difference in people's lives and in the lives of those they lead and serve.
We're passionate about building excellence into everything we do. We want our ministry systems to work and last, and we want our training courses to be superlative in every way.

For many years we at Stephen Ministries served congregations primarily through the Stephen Series. Now we can help congregations thrive in many ways:

We look forward to helping Good Shepherd--and thousands of other congregations and organizations--do excellent, life-changing ministry for generations to come.

From Care to Leadership to Discipleship: