| Stephen Ministry is a complete system for training and organizing lay people one-to-one Christian care to hurting people in and around the congregation. It is an incorporated, non-profit religious and educational organization started in 1975. It is named STEPHEN after one of the first persons commissioned by the Apostles to provide caring ministry (Acts 6).
When dealing with deep personal issues, it is important to have a good understanding of what a Stephen Minister is and does. The following information is provided to help you make an informed choice about receiving care from a Stephen Minister.
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 cargiving.
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.
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