Stephen Ministry
Questions and Answers about Stephen Ministry
What Exactly is Stephen Ministry?
Stephen Ministry is a ministry in our congregation in which trained and supervised lay persons, called
Stephen Ministers, provide one-to-one Christian care to individuals facing life challenges or difficulties.
What Do Stephen Ministers Do?
Stephen Ministers are caring Christian friends who listen, understand, accept, and pray for and with care
receivers who are working through a crisis or a tough time.
Are Stephen Ministers Counselors?
Stephen Ministers are not counselors; they are trained lay caregivers. Their role is to listen and
care—not to give advice or counsel. Stephen Ministers are also trained to recognize when a care
receiver’s need exceeds what they can provide. When that happens they work with care receivers to help
them receive the level of care they really need.
How Can Someone Become a Stephen Minister?
If you would like more information about Stephen Ministry, how to receive care from a Stephen Minister,
or how to become a Stephen Minister, please contact the church office. The 50 hours of Stephen Ministry
is broken down into twenty 2 and a half-hour sessions that will be held a time determined by the persons
in the group. Among the training topics are:
- The Art of Listening
- Distinctively Christian Caring
- Assertiveness: Relating Gently and Firmly
- Maintaining Boundaries in Caregiving
- Confidentiality
- Ministering to Those Experiencing Grief
- Caring for People before, during and after Hospitalization
The Story of Stephen Ministry
Stephen Ministry-where did it all begin? It dates back to 1974 when Kenneth C. Haugk, a pastor and clinical
psychologist, was pastor of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in St. Louis, Missouri. Fresh out of seminary, his
strengths and heart were in caregiving ministry, and he was looking forward to making a positive impact on
his congregation and community by providing pastoral care to all those experiencing divorce, grief,
hospitalization, discouragement, and other life difficulties.
Very quickly, though, he found that the needs for care by far exceeded that which he alone could provide.
He faced one of a pastor’s greatest frustrations: seeing people slipping through the cracks because their
urgent needs were going unmet. In November of 1974, he discussed the situation with two seminary friends
over a cup of coffee. The conversation turned to Ephesians 4 and “equipping the saints for the work of
ministry.” Haugk realized that God didn’t intend for pastors to monopolize ministry. Rather, God gave all
his people gifts for ministry and one of his roles as pastor was to equip others to use their gifts in
ministry. Haugk returned to St. Stephen’s with a plan. In the coming months he recruited nine lay people
who had the gifts and heart to do caring ministry. He then used his combined backgrounds in theology and
psychology to develop a training program in Christian caregiving. By March 1975 the nine were commissioned
as “Stephen Ministers.” Their first care receivers included a widower, a blind person, a young woman with
cancer, a truck driver forced to retire early and an inactive member struggling with faith issues.
The impact was immediate. People began receiving the focused Christian care they needed. Fewer people were
slipping through the cracks, and Haugk found he had more time to perform his other pastoral duties. The
Stephen Ministers were surprised by the spiritual growth they encountered as they saw God working through
them to bring love and healing to others.
The story would have ended there, had not two of the Stephen Ministers cornered Haugk on a hot May morning
after worship services. “This is good stuff, they said to him. We’re not going to let you go until you
promise to bring this ministry to other churches!” Still wearing his vestments and perspiring from the
heat, Haugk gave in and agreed to find a way to bring Stephen Ministry to other churches.
In November 1975 Haugk and his wife Joan founded the not-for-profit Stephen Ministries organization and
began bringing Stephen Ministry to other congregations. It spread like wildfire. First Methodist is one
of more than 7,000 congregations from more than 90 Christian denominations that now has Stephen Ministry.
Over a quarter million people have been trained as Stephen Ministers, a number that grows by tens of
thousands each year. More than a million people across the United States, Canada, and the world have
been touched by God’s love through a Stephen Minister. And that is the mark of God’s doing, because
finally the story of Stephen Ministry is a million stories and more of caring ministry.
If you would like more information about Stephen Ministry, how to receive care from a Stephen Minister,
or how to become a Stephen Minister, please contact the church office.