Stephen Ministry is a lay ministry at St. Andrew through which some of our members are trained to help provide confidential Christian caregiving to other members of our congregation. This multiplies the amount of caring ministry St. Andrew can provide by giving us a whole team of skilled caregivers who are equipped to bring Christ’s healing love to people who are grieving, in crisis, or experiencing other stresses in life.

Stephen Ministry is based on the idea that all Christians are ministers. The responsibility for passing on God’s love is for all Christians, not just for a chosen few. God has given us all gifts for ministry and called us to put those gifts to use. Stephen Ministry is a calling where people with special gifts for caring ministry can use those gifts to bring Christ’s love to people in need.

We have many needs for confidential care in our congregation: people experiencing divorce, grief, a terminal illness, loss of a job, relocation, an empty nest, retirement, hospitalization, loneliness, and many other stresses or challenges. Often people with needs suffer silently or do not request or receive the level of care they really need. With only two pastors for a congregation of 300 members, you can quickly see why it would be impossible for our pastors to meet every single need of every single person. Stephen Ministry expands the care St. Andrew can offer by equipping and organizing members to provide confidential Christian care for one another. This gives us a larger pool of people with the gifts, skills, and calling to bring Christ’s love and care to those who most need it.

Everybody benefits from Stephen Ministry. Those receiving confidential care from Stephen Ministers benefit because they receive prayer and support throughout the crisis they face. Stephen Ministers benefit through the spiritual growth they experience from being involved in meaningful ministry. Our pastors benefit because caring ministry at St. Andrew is expanded, and fewer people will slip through the cracks. Most of all you benefit from the knowledge that special care is available to you should you need it. Stephen Ministry makes St. Andrew a much more caring place.

Stephen Ministers are members of St. Andrew who have gone through 50 hours of training in providing high quality, confidential, Christian care to individuals experiencing a crisis or challenge. Stephen Ministers are each assigned a care receiver and meet with that care receiver for about an hour a week. This confidential caring relationship will last for as long as the care receiver needs it.

Stephen Leaders are the ones who oversee and direct our Stephen Ministers. They recruit, train, organize and supervise our Stephen Ministers, identify people in need of care, and match them with a Stephen Minister. St. Andrew enrolled in Stephen Ministry in 1999. Eight members of our congregation have been trained as Stephen Leaders at a seven-day Leader’s Training Course taught by the faculty of the Stephen Ministries organization. Our present Stephen Leaders are Polly Frank and Patricia Lund.

Stephen Ministers are the caregivers. They have been through 50 hours of training in Christian caregiving, including topics such as listening, feelings, boundaries, assertiveness and using Christian resources in caregiving. Twelve of our members have been trained as Stephen Ministers and four are still active. They are Rick Bury and Shirley Mann.

Care Receivers are the recipients of Stephen Ministers’ care. They are brothers and sisters in our congregation who are experiencing a crisis or challenge -- some life difficulty. Stephen Ministers usually meet with their care receivers once a week for about an hour for as long as the care receiver will benefit by the relationship.

When someone requests a Stephen Minister, Joan Schneider, our Stephen Ministry Referrals Coordinator, will meet with that person, explain what Stephen Ministry is, and help determine whether Stephen Ministry is the kind of care that person wants and needs. Our Referrals Coordinator then matches that person with one of our available Stephen Ministers (the Stephen Minister and care receiver are always the same sex). By this process, only the Referrals Coordinator, Caregiver and Pastor know the identity of a care receiver. The Stephen Minister will then call that person and begin meeting with him or her for around an hour each week as long as the need is there. Everything a care receiver says to his or her Stephen Minister is kept confidential. The Stephen Minister doesn’t try to solve problems; rather, he or she listens, cares, prays, and helps the care receiver find his or her path to healing and wholeness.

Pastors will always be the primary caregivers, but there is no way pastors can meet all the needs for care. God has called all of us, not just pastors, to minister to one another.

The name Stephen comes from St. Stephen, who was the first lay person commissioned by the apostles to provide caring ministry to those in need as recorded in Acts 6.

If you would like more information on how to become a Stephen Minister, please call Patricia Lund at 540-338-3270 or Polly Frank at 540-554-8250. If you would like to receive confidential care from a Stephen Minister, call Stephany Crosby, our Associate Pastor and Stephen Ministry Referrals Coordinator at 540-338-4332.

Stephen Ministry Leaders:

Pat Lund 540-338-3270

Polly Frank 540-554-8250