Father Robert Hughes, pastor of Holy Family Parish, Sewell, and Father Sanjai Devis, parochial vicar, pose for a photo with 26 parishioners who have trained as Stephen Ministers. Ther new ministry provides care to those grieving, those terminally ill, those who are home bound, those who are lonely or discouraged, those with a chronic illness, those separated or divorced and countless other situations in which someone is experiencing a crisis or difficult time.
Last year Father Robert Hughes of the Church of the Holy Family, Sewell, was encouraged to look into the Stephen Ministry, and he suggested that Father Sanjai Devis attend the training sessions offered to Stephen leaders.
When I was approached to participate in this ministry by Father Devis, he described this new ministry as one that provides care to those grieving, those terminally ill, those who are home bound, those who are lonely or discouraged, those with a chronic illness, those separated or divorced and to others experiencing a crisis or difficult time.
He told me that the Stephen Minister would be able to give on-going, one-to-one Christian care because the minister would be trained for on-going support that would be offered to hurting members of our parish. Each Stephen Minister would be instructed, supported and supervised during the entire journey and given continuing education as the ministry evolved.
Stephen Ministry receives its name from St. Stephen, who was one of the first seven deacons called to serve the community as reported in the Acts of the Apostles. Stephen Ministries is based in St. Louis, Mo., and was founded in 1975 by Dr. Kenneth Haugk, a Lutheran pastor and clinical psychologist. It is an international and interdenominational ministry in more than 11,000 congregations, from more than 150 denominations, in 50 countries. Within the last 37 years, 60,000 Stephen leaders have been trained, and the trained leaders have in turn trained 500,000 Stephen Ministers in this caring ministry.
Stephen Ministry is Christian caring for people through people. Basic to an understanding of Stephen Ministry is that God is the one who has called us to Stephen Ministry, and that care receivers meet Jesus in Stephen Ministers. It is through our offering of prayer with the care-receiver that Christ becomes the center of our ministry.
Mary Burns comments on the prayer aspect of Stephen Ministry: “A Stephen Minister is only a care giver while God is the cure giver. Consequently, prayer is vital to a caring relationship so that a care-receiver is open to God’s healing touch.”
Christ cares for people through Stephen Ministers through their listening, in speaking words of encouragement, prayer and hope.
Stephen Ministry provides a place where those who have the gifts for caring ministry can put them to use in a meaningful way.
Those who benefit from Stephen Ministry are the persons who receive the care. He or she no longer has to walk alone through life’s struggles. A Stephen Minister walks alongside this person for as long as he or she needs care, bringing Jesus’ unconditional love and acceptance to the person.
Father Devis began the ministry by building awareness in our parish through the bulletin and our website. From those who volunteered, 26 entered the training program.
A volunteer, Ed McGuigan, comments on our training: “The training has allowed us to be better prepared to provide Christian assistance to meet the needs of our care-receivers. The skills learned in the Stephen Ministry training can be used for personal and spiritual growth.”
During the past four months we have been given 60 hours of training in Christian caregiving. The topics included listening, expressing our own and receiving others’ feelings, holding onto boundaries, being compassionate and yet assertive, Christian care-giving as a way of life, training with specific skills to meet difficult life issues and knowing where we can locate resources in caregiving when we find a professional is needed.
The training sessions, two-and-a-half hours long, include oral and video presentations by Father Sanjai with time for small group discussion/sharing and time for questions.
One of the most important characteristics that we learned was that in all of our contacts, confidentiality is a priority. The confidentiality of Stephen Ministry lets people know they can discuss difficult concerns with their Stephen Minister and not fear their private life will be divulged to the public.
Listening is one of the most powerful ministry tools at our disposal. It demonstrates that we care about the other person. During our instruction we found that a great deal of our time with our care-receiver will be spent in listening. It takes patience, it takes skills and it builds trust when a care-receiver knows we will maintain confidentiality.
Another important aspect of Stephen Ministry is peer supervision. Part of a Stephen Minister’s covenant is to faithfully attend twice monthly supervision meetings.
Tiffany Kane said, “Peer supervision is so vital to being a Stephan Minister; it affords me new input that I may otherwise overlook. It’s empowering to know I am not alone, and the added supervision is a way to keep me engaged.”
Ginny Licata is a member of Holy Family Parish, Turnersville, and a Stephen Minister.
For more information on stewardship contact Deacon Russell Davis, Office of Stewardship, at 856-583-6102.
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