About the Stephen Ministry
Stephen Ministers are Christian volunteers who are available to support you when dealing with deep personal issues. Stephen Ministers care by listening, supporting, encouraging, praying, being dependable and trustworthy and maintaining confidentiality in their caregiving.
Why the name Stephen?
The name Stephen comes from St. Stephen, who was the first lay person commissioned by the apostles to provide a caring ministry to those in need as recorded in Acts 6.
What does a Stephen Minister do?
A Stephen Minister gives one-to-one, lay Christian care.
One-to-one: Stephen Ministers meet privately with one care receiver of the same gender.
Lay: Stephen Ministers are trained and supervised lay volunteers, not professional counselors or therapists, pastors, or physicians. Stephen Ministers are not authorized to give legal, medical, financial, or any other advice, but Bible-based encouragement.
Christian: Stephen Ministers are Christians who care in the name of Christ. They are willing to talk about spiritual issues but won’t force them.
Care: Stephen Ministers care by listening, supporting, encouraging, praying, being dependable and trustworthy and maintaining confidentiality in their caregiving.
Who are Care Receivers?
Care Receivers are ordinary people going through difficult life challenges such as loss of a loved one, divorce, unemployment, aging, pregnancy/miscarriage, chronic illness and many more. Stephen Ministry is a confidential ministry: the identity of those receiving care and what takes place in each caring relationship remains completely private.
If you would like to request the care of a Stephen minister, please contact the pastor.
Confidentiality
Stephen Ministers keep personal information confidential. Therefore, you can feel free to share with your Stephen Minister without worrying that everyone else will know about it. There are rare occasions when a Stephen Minister must share confidential information in order to save a life. Those occasions are suicide, homicide, or abuse.
Small Group Peer Supervision
Stephen Ministers meet twice a month in small groups to give and receive peer supervision, which is necessary to help them provide quality care and grow as caregivers. In supervision, Stephen Ministers talk about their caring relationships and their own feelings about caregiving. They may share small amounts of information about their care receivers, but they never tell the care receiver’s name and they do not share information that would reveal the care receiver’s identity. Stephen Ministers may also receive individual supervision from a Stephen Leader or pastor, but the same rules apply.
Professional Consultation
On rare occasions, a Stephen Minister, in consultation with a Stephen Leader or pastor, may decide that the best way to care for a care receiver is to consult with a mental health professional. In such cases, confidentiality is strictly maintained.
Referral to Professional
Some care receivers end up needing professional care. In such a case, a Stephen Minister or Stephen Leader will inform the care receiver and help him or her obtain the care he or she needs. That may mean the caring relationship with the Stephen Minister will be interrupted or even have to end. When a care receiver needs professional care, the relationship with the Stephen Minister may only continue after the care receiver has met with the professional and the professional has given permission for the Stephen Ministry relationship to continue.
