Stephen Ministers
What are a dozen people doing in the Commons during the second service? They are not skipping church, and it's not an overflow Sunday School class. It is UPC's first class of Stephen Ministers in training.
Stephen Ministry is a program that provides congregations with the structure, training, and resources to establish and carry on a system of one-on-one care giving for individuals in crisis or difficulty. Established in St. Louis in 1975 by Dr. Kenneth Haugk, a pastor and clinical psychologist, Stephen Ministry is now used by more than 10,000 congregations and 150 denominations to minister to hurting individuals in and around their churches. Stephen Ministers go through 50 hours of training, learning how to listen and respond with loving, Christian care to the grieving, hospitalized, terminally ill, separated, divorced, unemployed, relocated, and others facing challenging or difficult circumstances.
Pastor Mike Osborne explains why the Stephen Ministers program is being implemented at UPC: "I have long desired UPC to be a Stephen Ministry church. In fact, my familiarity with Stephen Ministry (SM) goes all the way back to the 1980s when I was a pastor in St. Louis, Missouri. Since Stephen Ministry is headquartered in St. Louis, I was able to attend an SM training event to become better acquainted with the program." Mike's encounters with Stephen Ministry in the intervening years convinced him that it "will help UPC become more of the caring community that God desires us to be."
Michael Saunders, an ordained PCA pastor, along with assistant pastor, Seth Hammond, is leading the class of twelve through training. Class time consists of lecture and discussion, as well as role-playing situations in which Stephen Ministers are likely to find themselves in a few months. Outside of class participants are expected to complete several dozen pages of reading each week on appropriate care-giving motivations and techniques.
Saunders knows first-hand the benefit of having a group of men and women trained in ministry, having served in churches that had Stephen Ministers. "Pastors," he asserts, "are not called to do all the ministry within a congregation. Rather they are called to the ministry to "equip the saints" to do the work of ministry - that is to teach God's people how to make disciples and how to minister to each other." In a congregation the size of UPC (500 members), with three pastors, a counselor, and a handful of elders, "there is no way they can minister to all of us - especially not long-term. By training Stephen Ministers we are teaching God's people to walk through the trials of life with one another. Not just a pastoral visit, but someone to walk the length of the trial or crisis with their brothers and sisters in Christ.
What prompts people, many whose lives are already full with family, work, and other church responsibilities, to commit to yet another role? Some have been the recipients of the kind of care that Stephen Ministers provide and want to "give as they have been blessed." Others recognize their gifts of ministration and welcome this avenue to use them. John Karraker "sees the Stephen Ministry as a way to put legs on my faith. James says that faith without works is dead. If the Church is to be Christ to the world, then his love is going to be expressed in tangible ways - through Christian care, concern and help."
For Sarah Stroub Stephen Ministry training allows her to "mesh my two desires to serve God and his people at UPC, and help me get the tools I need to support someone who is in crisis. "
Whatever their particular motivation, each class member is a testimony to the truth that those who experience the blessings of God's saving grace in their lives are compelled to respond in gratitude and loving service. For those dozen people meeting in the Commons on Sunday mornings, their response means becoming a Stephen Minister.
For more information about becoming a Stephen Minister, or to meet with a Stephen Minister, contact Seth Hammond or 407-384-3300.