Stephen Ministry

What is Stephen Ministry?

“Christ caring for people through people” or in other words, members of our congregation willing to come alongside each other in difficult times and illustrate God’s love for one another. What does it mean in the life of our church?

It means having someone available to help you sort through a tough situation. It also means a group of individuals our Pastors and staff can rely on in caring for a large congregation.

Why would anyone want or need a Stephen Minister? There is an old saying “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Stephen Ministers know that sometimes the tough can’t get going! Sometimes, people need to know others care for them and are willing to help them.

If you are hurting or seeking guidance for a stressful situation and would like to talk to someone in confidence, contact Joellen Grooms at 988-0008, Christy Day, the church office at 886-7466 or one of our ministers to assist you in finding a Stephen Minister.

If you feel this might be a ministry you would be interested in joining and you still have questions, there is information below the sanctuary in Fellowship Hall to look through. In the meantime, be in prayer about this ministry and how you might fit in.

Stephen Ministry Frequently Asked Questions

Where Did It All Start? Stephen Ministry has been around since 1975, when Kenneth Haugk, a pastor and clinical psychologist, began it to multiply the caregiving in his congregation in St. Louis, Missouri. We have had Stephen Ministry here at First United Methodist Church - Orange since 2004, and are one of more than 7,000 Stephen Ministry congregations from more than 90 denominations. Stephen Ministries St. Louis, the organization behind this international ministry, is headquartered in Missouri.

How Can Someone Receive Care from a Stephen Minister? Rev. Terry Brown and Joellen Grooms are our Stephen Leaders who coordinate referrals. If you, or someone you know, could benefit from the care of a Stephen Minister, you can talk to Joellen, to one of our pastors, or our other Stephen Leader, Christy Day. Any of our Stephen Ministers would also be happy to help you through the process. (If you want to talk about Stephen Ministry for someone else, make sure you get his or her permission first.)

How Much Does It Cost? Stephen Ministry is a caregiving ministry available to our members and community free of charge.

How Can Someone Become a Stephen Minister? Begin by talking to one of our Stephen Leaders or Stephen Ministers and they can tell you more. We usually train a new class of Stephen Ministers every other year, and we plan to begin our next training class in mid-summer. Stephen Ministers make a two-year commitment to train and serve.

What Does the Stephen Series Logo Mean? The Stephen Series logo consists of a cross and circle together with a broken person and a whole person. The broken person behind the cross symbolizes the brokenness in our lives due to our sin and imperfections. The whole person stands in front of the cross because it is only through the cross of Jesus that we are made whole. The circle symbolizes both the wholeness we receive through Christ and God’s unending love for us.

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.

Can I Trust a Stephen Minister? Trust is essential to a caring relationship, and Stephen Ministers are people you can trust. Confidentiality is one of the most important principles of Stephen Ministry, and what a care receiver tells his or her Stephen Minister is kept in strictest confidence.

Why the Name Stephen? 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.

What’s the Pastor’s Role? 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. Stephen Ministry multiplies ministry by turning pastors into equippers, so they can enable lay people to provide caring ministry as well.

The Ministry of Listening

Think of a time when you really felt cared for. Chances are someone focused on what you had to say, was attentive to your needs, and listened to how you felt instead of telling you how you should feel or what you should do. Listening is one of the most powerful ministry tools at our disposal. It demonstrates that you care about the other person. In Stephen Ministry, a great deal of time is spent in teaching and practicing listening skills because of its importance as a care giving tool. You too can become a more caring listener by understanding and applying these six listening concepts from Stephen Ministry training:

1. Listening is active. It takes energy and commitment to listen really well. Focus your attention on what the other person has to say, instead of thinking of what you’ll say next. Look at him or her while you listen, and nod along from time to time so the person knows you’re tuned in.

2. Listening takes patience. You need to build trust before someone will open up to you. Constant, patient listening is a key.

3. Listening involves more than just words. Pay attention not only to what is said, but to what is not said—or to what is said with a smile or a sigh. Pay attention to body language, too. Does it agree with or contradict a person’s spoken words?

4. Good listeners aren’t completely silent. They restate key thoughts or ideas to be sure they understood correctly or ask focus questions to encourage the person to reach a little deeper.

5. Listening happens over time. One conversation might build upon an earlier one. As you listen over several conversations, are there any recurring themes or patterns in what the person has said? Are there any contradictions from what was said earlier? These are signs there may be more to explore underneath.

6. Listening is confidential. A great way to build that trust and to show the person you really care for him or her is to maintain confidentiality and not to share with others what was told to you in private conversation.

Jesus was the model of a good listener. Much of his ministry was listening to people. By listening to what people had to say he demonstrated how much he really cared about them. Remember the stories of the woman at the well, Nicodemus, or the disciples on the road to Emmaus. All were times when Jesus showed his care and concern by first listening to people and then giving them what they needed.

We all want First United Methodist Church to be a caring place, where members and guests truly feel people care about who they are and how they feel. Just as our Stephen Ministers use good listening skills to communicate how much they care, so can you. Follow and practice these listening principles and make a concentrated effort toward becoming a better listener. Listening is a great gift we can give to one another, and one we can all use in order to make First United Methodist Church a more caring place.

Synoposis

What Exactly is Stephen Ministry? Stephen Ministry involves trained and supervised lay persons from our congregation, called Stephen Ministers, who provide one-to-one Christian care to individuals facing life challenges or difficulties.

Who Is Involved? Stephen Leaders are the ones who oversee and direct our Stephen Ministry. They recruit, select, train, organize, and supervise our Stephen Ministers, identify people in need of care, and match them with a Stephen Minister. We have four Stephen Leaders. They are: Rev. Rob Fisher, Rev. Terry Brown, Joellen Grooms, and Christy Day.

Stephen Ministers are the caregivers. They have been through 50 hours of training in Christian care giving, including general topics such as listening, feelings, boundaries, assertiveness, and using Christian resources in care giving. In addition, their training covered specialized topics such as ministering to the divorced, hospitalized, bereaved, and aging. We currently have 16 active Stephen Ministers. Care receivers are the recipients of Stephen Ministers’ care. They are people from our church or community who are experiencing divorce, grief, loss of a job, loneliness, hospitalization, terminal illness, or any of an endless number of other life difficulties. 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. If you or someone you know would benefit by having a Stephen Minister, contact Joellen Grooms at 988-0008, Christy Day, the church office at 886-7466 or one of our ministers.

Field Trips

Stephen Ministers and other church members attend seminars and training in grief counseling and in managing grief. Pictures of FUMC Stephen Ministers participating in area seminar.

For the safety of our children, all adults that work with children or youth are Safe Sanctuary trained and must pass a background check For more information about the many other opportunities we offer, contact our Youth Director at your convenience.