Discover resources, ideas, and support for Stephen Ministers and lay caregivers who complete at least fifty hours of Stephen Ministry training.
St. Edward Church's Stephen Ministers, 2023
Left to Right:
James Strahsburg, Dave Mole, Mary-Rose Andersen, Lee Edson, Joyce Hunt, Anne Cowen, Katie Boes, Sally Ahlers, not pictured Bill Freshwater
Stephen Ministry is the one-to-one lay caring ministry that takes place in congregations who use the Stephen Series system. Stephen Ministry congregations equip and empower lay caregivers, called Stephen Ministers, to provide high-quality, confidential, Christ-centered care to people who are hurting.
Stephen Ministers are laypeople Christian men and women trained to provide one-to-one care to people experiencing a difficult time in life, such as grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, relocation, or separation due to military deployment.
Stephen Leaders first undergo training. Stephen Leaders:
• recruit, train and commission Stephen Ministers
• identify care receivers and link them to Stephen Ministers
• meet regularly with care receivers
• receive supervision and continuing education
• continue an ongoing cycle to recruit and train new Stephen Leaders and Stephen Ministers.
Stephen Ministers are the "after" people: After a job loss, after a divorce, after a serious illness, after a death in the family, after moving to a nursing home, after any life circumstance or crisis that becomes difficult to deal with alone.
Learn more about Stephen Ministry from the Stephen Ministry Organization website. This link opens in a separate tab.
Stephen Ministry began in 1975.
Stephen Ministry has now been established in more than 13,000 congregations from more than 170 Christian denominations, in all 50 states, 10 Canadian provinces, and 30 other countries.
More than 645 churches in Ohio are registered Stephen Ministry congregations.
More than 75,000 pastors, church staff, and laypeople have trained as Stephen Leaders at a Leader's Training Course.
More than 600,000 people have trained as Stephen Ministers in their congregations.
More than one-and-a-half million people have received care from a Stephen Minister in a formal one-to-one Stephen Ministry caring relationship, and millions more have been touched by Stephen Ministry in informal ways.
