Stephen Ministry

Stephen Ministry is a one-to-one lay caring ministry.  

Check Out Our Promo Video

Stephen Ministry is a Christ-centered program that equips and empowers trained lay volunteers, called Stephen Ministers, to provide confidential, one-to-one care to people experiencing life challenges such as grief, illness, or major life changes. Through compassionate listening, prayer, and consistent support, Stephen Ministers walk alongside those in need, offering hope and encouragement during difficult times.

Stephen Ministers receive extensive, Christ-centered training that prepares them to provide compassionate, confidential care to people in need. The training, led by Stephen Leaders, covers active listening, confidentiality, distinctively Christian caregiving, setting healthy boundaries, and recognizing when to refer someone for additional help. This equips Stephen Ministers to offer skilled and Spirit-led emotional and spiritual support to those facing life’s challenges.

Details

Weekly training sessions begin in late January and conclude in late May. Starting in June, newly trained Stephen Ministers continue to meet once a month for additional training and once a month to support one another as they care for others.

‍

What Stephen Leaders do

• build awareness of Stephen Ministry within the congregation and community
• recruit and train Stephen Ministers
• meet with potential care receivers to assess their needs
• match care receivers with Stephen Ministers
• provide Stephen Ministers with ongoing supervision and continuing education

To contact the Stephen Leaders: dan@tlc.org

To contact the Church Office Care Ministry Team: care@tlc.org or 831-465-3368

Why the name Stephen?

In the book of Acts, Stephen was chosen to provide caring ministry to those in need. Since the time of the Apostles, caring ministry has been considered a hallmark of the Christian faith community.

Who makes a good Stephen Minister?

A Christian who is a member of Twin Lakes Church, and has a compassionate heart for those who are hurting and feels the call from the Holy Spirit to listen, care, pray, encourage, and offer emotional and spiritual support to others makes.In what types of situations does a Stephen Minister offer care?

Stephen Ministry is appropriate for people experiencing: grief, divorce, cancer, hospitalization, physical rehabilitation, long-term care, chronic illness, terminal illness, job loss, loss of a home, military deployment, the onset of a disability, loneliness, spiritual crisis, or other life struggles.

What does the training consist of?

The 50-hour training is an intensive broad-spectrum course of caring approaches. Classes are held every Tuesday evening from 6:30 to 9:00 from January through May.  Stephen Leader teachers present topics and class members participate in role playing and discussion to prepare them to minister.  There are also outside class reading assignments.

Will anyone commit to all that training?

Yes—and more than 600,000 have done so since 1975. Laypeople are eager to use their God-given gifts in meaningful ministry to others. The ministry is fulfilling. Stephen Ministers also discover they can use the training to meet the needs of the hurting people in their own personal lives. It equips them to deal well with their own loved ones.

Isn’t a two year commitment a heavy responsibility?

Many individuals have been with the ministry much longer than that. They find it rewarding to help others and feel being involved leads to great personal growth. There is camaraderie among the group of Stephen Ministers and serving with these people is a pleasure.

Once I’m trained will I be on my own?

No. Twice a month, Stephen Ministers gather with their Stephen Leaders for supervision and continuing education. In addition, the Pastor of Care and the Director of the ministry are always available to answer questions and discuss concerns.

Am I just assigned to a stranger without any introduction?

The ministry has Referral Coordinators, one for men and one for women. This person prayerfully matches an available Caregiver with a waiting Care Receiver. Then the Referral Coordinator calls the CG with the proposed match and asks the CG to pray and seek God’s will in the pairing. The CG is able to say yes or no depending on what they hear from the Lord. Then at any time during the caring relationship, either party can contact the Referral Coordinator about any problems or issues in the relationship. No one is ever stuck in a caring relationship. Both parties have the right to say the relationship is not working for them.

Will I just be handed another person’s problems to try to solve?

No. Stephen Ministry is about caring, not about fixing problems. The focus is always on the process and not the results. All a SM is required to do is to show up consistently and listen. It is amazing how this process strengthens another person to address their own problems.  The Stephen Ministry logo is so odd.

What does it mean?

The Stephen Ministry logo represents a care receiver’s journey from brokenness toward wholeness through the cross of Jesus. In this way, it illustrates “Christ caring for people through people,” which is the Stephen Ministry motto.I see the Stephen Ministers on the prayer team.

Is this part of the commitment?

No. Praying with others in church is not on a Stephen Minister’s job description. This is purely voluntary.

How many Stephen Ministers does our church need?

Stephen Ministry headquarters suggests an ideal ratio is ten percent of a congregation serving as Stephen Ministers. That mean our ideal at TLC is to have around 300 trained Stephen Ministers. Our church presently has more than 50.

Do Stephen Ministers care for people outside our congregation?

Our ultimate goal is to provide care for people in the broader community, enhancing and expanding our congregation’s outreach in a powerful way. However, in our present reality, we do not have enough Stephen Ministers to meet the need in our own church. So our focus is not on outreach at this time, but on meeting the needs of those already connected with Twin Lakes Church.