Stephen Ministry is a ministry at Centenary UMC in which trained and supervised lay persons, called Stephen Ministers, provide high-quality, one-to-one, Christ-centered care to people in the congregation and the community who are experiencing life challenges or difficulties.  

Stephen Leaders: Stephen Leaders are trained to oversee and direct our Stephen Ministry. They recruit, select, train, organize and supervise Stephen Ministers, identify people in need of care, and match them with a Stephen Minister. 

Stephen Ministers: Stephen Ministers are lay church members.  They have been through 50 hours of training in Christian caregiving, including general topics such as listening, feelings, boundaries, confidentiality, assertiveness, and using Christian resources in caregiving.  In addition, their training covered specialized topics such as ministering to those experiencing issues with divorce, hospitalization, extended illness, bereavement, aging, family issues, parenting, or postpartum depression.

Care Receivers: Care Receivers are the recipients of Stephen Ministry care. Care Receivers are people from our church or community who are having trouble or challenges in their lives. Anyone over the age of 18 can receive care from a Stephen Minister, and Care Receivers are matched with Stephen Ministers of the same gender. Stephen Ministers usually meet with their Care Receivers once a week for about an hour for as long as the Care Receiver will benefit from the relationship.  

Stephen Ministers are caring Christians who listen, understand, accept, encourage, and pray for and with Care Receivers who are working through a crisis or a tough time.  

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 find the care they really need.  

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.  

In Acts 6, Stephen was among those chosen to provide caring ministry to those in need. A caring ministry has been a hallmark of the Christian community.  

Our ministry staff and clergy are the primary caregivers for the congregation, but there is no way our staff can meet all the needs for care.  God has called all of us, not only our paid staff, to minister to one another.  Stephen Ministry multiplies ministry by turning our ministry staff into equippers, so they can enable lay persons to provide caring ministry as well.  

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. Centenary UMC is one of more than 9,000 Stephen Ministry congregations in more than 100 denominations. Stephen Ministries, St. Louis, the organization behind this international ministry, is headquartered in Missouri.  To learn more, visit www.stephenministries.org.  

You can fill out a referral request form HERE for yourself or someone you know, or you can contact Rev. Oliver Helsabeck, Associate Minister for Congregational Care.  

Stephen Ministry is a caregiving ministry available to our members and community free of charge.  Likewise training to become a Stephen Minister has no financial costs.  

Begin by talking to one of our Stephen Leaders: Deena Morgan, Judy Ingram, Becky Tate, or Sheila Brame. They can help you to discern if Stephen Ministry is a ministry for you and for using God’s gifts in your life. Stephen Ministry training is offered periodically in our area.    

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. 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.