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The Stephen Ministry at East Liberty Presbyterian Church
is an extension of pastoral care. It is a religious and
educational system of training and organizing lay persons for
caring ministry. It was named for Stephen, one of the first
deacons in the early church who was commissioned by the
disciples to care for the needs of the community. It is
one-on-one ministry by trained, caring lay members of this
congregation, as a response to Christ’s instruction to “Love one
another. . . as I have loved you.”
Our Stephen Ministry addresses the
needs of. . .
- people who are hospitalized
- people who are depressed
- people who are separated or
in the process of divorce
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Stephen Ministry at ELPC
Care Ministries
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- people who are shut-in
- people experiencing the
birth of a child
- people who are dying, as
well as the families of those who are terminally ill
- people attempting to cope
with the death of a loved one
- people experiencing loss of
a job or financial setbacks
- people and families of those
who are in trouble with the law
- people who are new to our
church, or who are inactive members
- people who are struggling
with their faith with God
Confidentiality. Stephen
Ministers abide by the rule that, “All transactions, all
observations or impressions, and all records made concerning the
person are and will remain confidential.”
A Stephen Minister serves as. . .
- a child of God who walks
beside a person who is hurting
- a congregation member with
gifts for caregiving, who was carefully selected to serve in
this role
- a lay person who has
received 50 hours of training in providing emotional and
spiritual care
- a caring Christian friend
who listens, cares, prays, supports and encourages
- someone who will “be there”
for his or her care receiver, meeting faithfully for about
an hour each week, for as long as there is a need.
We want to emphasize what a
Stephen Minister IS NOT. A Stephen Minister IS NOT a
professional counselor or psychologist; IS NOT a social worker
providing lots of physical services; IS NOT an expert in law,
finance, church doctrine, etc.; IS NOT a brief, superficial
visitor touching base with people now and then.
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