Stephen Ministry Program
Our congregation is enrolled in the Stephen Series System of Lay Caring Ministry, developed by Stephen Ministries, a nonprofit religious and educational organization based in St. Louis, Missouri. Three members of our congregation attended the extensive, week-long leadership training for Stephen Ministries held in Portland. They graduated and were commissioned as our Stephen Leaders. During this last summer nine candidates from our church spent 50 hours in training-coming together each Monday morning for two and one-half hours of lectures and role playing. In addition to this formal classroom training, each person read three assigned books as homework. These nine lay ministers are now graduates and will be commissioned by our congregation during an upcoming worship service.
First Christian Church is developing a lasting program of distinctively Christian caring ministry based on the Stephen Ministry’s system of training and organization. This model is already working in thousands of congregations throughout North America and is equipping lay people to minister to others who are in need.
This will be an exciting time for First Christian Church. The Stephen Ministry both multiplies the amount of caring ministry that goes on in our congregation and deepens the level of participation by lay people in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.
