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The Good Listener
Price: $9.95
Don't Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart: How to Relate to Those Who Are Suffering
Price: $13.95
More than a Parting Prayer: Lessons in Care-Giving for the Dying
Price: $15.00
God's Love in Action Bulletin Inserts--Finding Care Receivers
Price: $5.00
God's Love in Action Pew Cards (package of 100)
Price: $5.95
Stephen Ministry: A New Approach to Pastoral Care
You can offer comfort to hurting members of your church family--and help out your pastor at the same time.
By Lynn Waalkes
Focus Over Fifty
February 2002
What if all you had to do to make a difference in someone's life--to help them weather a divorce, job loss, or a disability--was just . . . listen? If this sounds appealing to you, you may want to consider Stephen Ministry as your servant opportunity.
The Stephen Ministry movement was born more than 27 years ago in St. Louis, Missouri. It was designed to give clergy much-needed support while revolutionizing the concept of pastoral care.
Named for the Acts 6 account wherein Stephen and six other saints were commissioned to care for church members, Stephen Ministry provides lay people with training to become one-on-one caregivers in their churches. Since 1975, this dynamic ministry has grown to encompass more than 300,000 lay ministers from 100 denominations.
Stephen Leaders take a one-week course at the ministry's St. Louis headquarters, then return home to train other church members as lay ministers, matching them with hurting individuals in their church and community. They learn to encourage without officially "counseling," and they suggest community resources and referrals.
Stephen Ministers, who typically come to care deeply for the people they meet with, must have the spiritual strength to stand back and allow God to work in the individual's life in His time.
"You're totally dependent on God because you walk alongside people--you don't try to fix situations or solve their problems," says Stephen Minister Lynn Alberti. "You have to have faith that God can work through others. You have to trust God for the results."
"If you have a caring type of personality, it's the most rewarding experience you could possibly have," Alberti adds. "It's incarnational--Christ ministering through you."
One woman who met for six weeks with a Stephen Minister remembers her own experience: "I had been unemployed for a long time," she says. "I was depressed and had reached a point where I never left my apartment.
"The Stephen minister showed up like clockwork every week. She prayed with me, listened as I unloaded all my fears and helped me see that things weren't as hopeless as I thought they were."
Care receivers aren't the only ones who benefit. Volunteers find the listening skills they learn are easily transferred to their own relationships with family, friends and co-workers. As they encourage and pray for individuals, their own faith grows stronger. They rejoice with those they minister to and relish the camaraderie and support they share with other Stephen Ministers.
If you have a heart for those who are experiencing difficult times, whether it's divorce, bereavement, terminal illness or unemployment, consider getting involved in this caring ministry. You'll grow in compassion, and your church will grow in strength as you walk alongside someone who needs your emotional and spiritual support.