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Stephen Ministry

St. Armands Key Lutheran Church is a Stephen Ministry Congregation. The Stephen Ministry is a laity led care ministry. Our Stephen Ministers are trained to be compassionate listeners to persons experiencing special needs. Who can benefit from the help of a Stephen Minister?

Those who are...

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hospitalized

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grieving the loss of a loved one

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lonely

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depressed

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separated or in the process of divorce

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homebound

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terminally ill and their families

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experiencing loss of a job or a financial setback

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in trouble with the law and their families

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struggling with their faith in God.

Stephen Ministry Training

- The Stephen Series is a complete system for training and organizing lay persons in the congregation to do caring ministry. This program consists of fifty hours of initial training. They learn how to listen, encourage, comfort and share with individuals facing many common life problems. They are not counselors or advisors.

Stephen Ministers are trained to offer five basic types of care:

Crisis Care

Follow-up Care

Chronic Care

Preventative Care

Supportive Care

Following the training, the new Stephen Ministers are formally commissioned in a Sunday worship service to represent the church in providing Christian care. Stephen Ministers are asked to commit two years to the Stephen Ministry program. Many Stephen Ministers serve much longer as a choice because it has been a joy and a blessing and "becomes a way of life."

After commissioning, there are bi-monthly meetings of Stephen Ministers for supervision and continuing education. This is structured so that there is peer support for the care-givers who meet weekly with their care-receivers. These meetings also provide education and nurture for the Stephen Ministers personally, so that each Stephen Minister remains physically, emotionally and spiritually capable of serving in a care giving relationship.

This program is open to anyone of late high school age or older. Interested persons should speak to the pastor or one of the Stephen Ministry leaders listed below:

Sherry Moore (379-4507)

Ray Walborn (921-1981)

Visit the Stephen Ministries national web site.

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