Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls, SDOur Savior's Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls, SD
"love one another as I have loved you."
words of Jesus, in John 15:12
~ Listen ~ Grieving
~ Explore feelings ~ In a crisis
~ Pray ~ In need of long term care
~ Share Christ's Love ~ Dying
~ Maintain Confidentiality ~ Hospitalized
~ Attend to the caregiving process ~Experiencing losses as they age
and leave the results to God ~ Going through a crisis of childbirth
~ The family and friends of people in crisis
On
Is God calling you to serve
in this way?
Note: The Stephen Ministry brochure is in pdf
format (Adobe Acrobat 3.0).
If you need to get the free Adobe Acrobat Reader first, click here.
In our own times, the Stephen Ministry program was developed by Pastor Kenneth Haugk beginning in 1974, when he was serving at St. Stephen Evangelical Lutheran Church in St. Louis, MO.
From this beginning, Dr. Haugk and his associates have developed an attractive, effective, structured, well-organized program which has been adopted throughout the USA, Canada, and several other coutries around the world.
Stephen Series is the organized training program for people interested in becoming Stephen Ministers. There are now over 8000 Enrolled Congregations in the Stephen Series, representing more than 100 denominations. Over the years more than 40,000 people have attended the one or two-week Leadership Training Course which is presented several times a year throughout the USA by Stephen Ministries, the organization that Dr. Haugk founded to facilitate this program in an ongoing way. The national organization is located in St. Louis.
Stephen Ministries
2045 Innerbelt Business Center Drive
St. Louis, MO 63114-5765
Phone (314) 428-2600
Fax (314) 428-7888
Our Savior's Lutheran Church became a Stephen Series Enrolled Congregation in 1988. There are currently 40 Stephen Series congregations in South Dakota.
In the Stephen Series course, prospective Stephen Ministers receive 50 hours of training, over a period of three or four months, presented and guided by pastors and other Stephen leaders. A thorough Stephen Ministry Training Manual and other materials are used in the course. Prospective Stephen Ministers apply, are interviewed, complete the 50 hours of training, and (upon the mutual decision of the individual, pastors, and leaders) are Commissioned as Stephen Ministers.
Each Stephen Minister commits to two years of service, beginning with the Stephen Series class and continuing actively after Commissioning. At the conclusion of the two years of active service, the Stephen Minister may decide to continue year by year, or go on leave for a period of time, or retire from active service, perhaps returning in a later year. At Our Savior's since 1988, in round numbers 225 people have taken the Stephen Series class, 195 have been commissioned as Stephen Ministers, and 45 are currently active. Each Stephen Minister serves for two years, beginning with the Stephen Series class, and many continue beyond that. Stephen Ministers typically spend an hour a week with their Care Receiver, and four hours a month in Continuing Education and Supervision. 290 Care Receivers have been served in 345 Caring Relationships, ranging from a few weeks to ten years.
Stephen Ministers work with Care Receivers in relation to a variety of needs. Examples include
Loneliness
Death of a spouse
Separation and divorce
Hospitalization
Terminal illness
Grief
Spiritual crisis
Stephen Ministers do not replace pastors, but rather serve in cooperation with them.
If you may be interested in discussing the possibility of
then please contact Pastor Don Lehmann at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, (605) 336-2942,or send e-mail to Pastor Don Lehmann: dlehmann@oslchurchsf.org
The next Stephen Series class at OSL will begin in January 8 2008. Any member of Our Savior's is welcome to apply to take the class. Again, contact Pastor Don if you may be interested in participating in the class.