Care
ministries (< click link to see more) at St. Francis are based on our
parish vision -- to foster the feeling of family for each
Ecclesial community, demonstrating mutual support,
sharing and caring. One of newer care ministries
is Stephen Ministry.Stephen Ministry equips lay
parishioners to provide confidential, one-to-one
Christian care, to reach out with God's love to people
who are hurting, who are experiencing difficulties in
their lives.
A Stephen Minister is a caring, Christian
friend who walks alongside a person who is going
through a difficult time. A Stephen Minister listens, prays,
supports and encourages, with unconditional
acceptance. They are not counselors
or therapists. They do not intervene, give advice or
tell people how to solve problems or try to solve them
for them. They are not social workers or spiritual
healers. Stephen Ministers commit to “be there”
for his or her care receiver, meeting faithfully for
about an hour each week, for as long as they are
needed -- from a few weeks, to several months.
Our Stephen Leaders (
Joyce
Harper, Susan Begaand Elaine Swyt, along with Father
John) welcomed our new Stephen
Ministers for training last November 2005, following our annual
Stewardship renewal. They were prepared for
ministry, during 50 hours of in-class training,
spread over 6 months -- learning the limits of
confidentiality, how to pray with others, how to refer
people with serious problems to professional help.
On Holy Thursday, 2006 we commissioned 15 new Stephen
Ministers who are now being connected through a
careful process of referral to those in crisis. If you are
interested in receiving care from a Stephen Minister,
please call or email us. We'll discuss with you
how this can happen for you.
If you have any questions or want to be a Stephen
Minister, call us
at 223-1562 x345 or email us at
stephenministry@sfoasj.org
. You can see
more about what is happening worldwide with Stephen
Ministry by checking out their website:
http://www.stephenministries.org.
For the latest news >>
Downloads Available
Apply to be a Stephen Minister (Download
a Stephen Minister Applicant Information Package)
Informational Brochures (God
Gives Growth /
The After People
Recent Articles ("A
Servant Heart" / "A
Testimony of Service" /
"A
Fulfilling Life of Christian Service"
More recent
training curricula and schedule
Classes Described. These are
bulletin blurbs to be posted just ahead of each
class. Gives a description of curricula for
the upcoming session.
